#or like low quality random boxes

[level2janitor]

Introduction to the OSR

what's an OSR? it's a game that's kinda like old-school D&D. or is old-school D&D. or is compatible with old-school D&D. an OSR game generally has some or all of the following principles:

low character power with highly lethal combat. in old-school D&D a 1st-level fighter has d8 hit points and a longsword does d8 damage, and you die at 0HP. this is not to ensure characters die all the time but to emphasize the next bullet point:

emphasis on creative problem solving. most situations cannot be solved by straightforward use of your abilities (such as charging into every situation with swords drawn, if a fighter), so the game tests lateral, outside-the-box thinking.

emphasis on diegetic progression. spells are found, not obtained automatically on level-up. you get XP by finding gold more than killing monsters. most of your cool abilities come from magic items. making alliances & hiring followers is encouraged.

focus on managing inventory, resources, risk, and time. the players are constantly faced with meaningful decisions; this is the heart of the game.

very sandbox-oriented. the focus on creative problem solving means the game must be accommodating to players taking a course of action the GM didn't plan for. use lots of random tables to generate emergent story. some elements of new simulationism.

high tactical transparency, i.e., the optimal course of action is rarely system-specific, and ideally very possible for a new player to intuit.

usually semi-compatible with old D&D, but not always. usually rules-lite, but not always.

what does the OSR mostly NOT do?

focus on character builds. these change the focus too much to be on the rules than the fiction, can create situations where stuff everyone should be able to do is an ability locked to one class, and impede tactical transparency.

resolve everything with a die roll. combat uses dice to be scary, unpredictable and most importantly not your default course of action. everything else should bring up dice rarely - dice are your plan B when your plan A fails. the best plans need no dice.

use linear storytelling or put players into a writer/GM role. linear storytelling gets in the way of the decision-making so core to the playstyle; letting players write details into the setting is mutually exclusive with them discovering it.

rules for everything. 400 pages of crunch is worse at simulating a believable world than the GM and players' shared understanding. OSR games rely constantly on GM ruling.

mostly still applies to all the above. making your system a "pure" OSR game comes second to doing what's best for your game.

System recommendations

old D&D or a retroclone

old-school D&D - or old school essentials or basic fantasy or swords & wizardry, which are old D&D's mechanics repackaged with quality-of-life tweaks (and the upside of not giving WOTC your money) - are usually the go-to when recommending someone's first OSR game. they're actually not my first pick, though!

PROS:

very complete, with more robust rules than a lot of the lighter games on this list.

100% compatibility: most OSR adventures are statted for old school essentials. converting them to other OSR systems is usually simple, but not 1-for-1.

easier to find games for. anyone interested in the OSR space knows what old school essentials is.

CONS:

jank. these games largely still have weird saves, level limits for non-humans, some still have descending AC, etc etc. it's not that bad but it is there

i hate thief skills. lots of essential dungeoneering actions are locked to the thief class as abilities, with abysmally low success chances. this is stuff i prefer being handled without a roll. thieves in this system suck and make everyone else worse at dungeon crawling by existing.

there's just lots of really cool shit in other systems i'm about to go into that you just don't get here

Knave 1e and its various hacks

this is a 7-page super-lightweight system that boils everything down to just the essentials.

rolling a character takes like 5 minutes. roll stats, roll gear, roll traits, go. done. it's great.

characters are defined entirely by stats and gear, no classes. wanna be a fighter, have high strength and carry a big sword and armor. wanna be a wizard, have high intelligence and fill your inventory with spells. item slots are elegant and pretty limited.

initiative is instant: roll d6. 1-3, monsters go first. 4-6, PCs go first. swingy, but god it is so smooth and shaves like the most boring 5 minutes off of every combat

monsters are so very elegant. old D&D gives monsters a "hit dice" rating to determine their HP, e.g. a 3HD monster rolls 3d8 for hit points. knave takes this number (HD) and uses it for attack rolls and saves (aside from exceptionally bad/good saves), so a knave statblock looks something like this.

spells are all one or two sentences long & extremely easy to remember.

7 pages is so light. i have the system basically memorized.

DOWNSIDES: there's no dungeon crawling rules (standard for meatier OSR games & something i consider essential) and no real bestiary, though the second point isn't a huge deal cause they're so easy to make. it also kinda assumes you already know how to run OSR games, so there's very little real advice or guidance.

KNAVE HACKS

knave 1e is in creative commons & comes with an editable word doc for you to publish with modifications, so there's a ton of variants (there was a spreadsheet of them somewhere, but i can't find it).

Grave is a favorite - i'm two years into a grave campaign and it's fantastic. it's a dark-souls-y version of knave with some really elegant innovations.

you have a set number of deaths before you for-reals die, as every character plays an undead as is dark souls tradition. makes it good for OSR beginners! being able to tell when you're close to your final death is really good - it lets you emotionally prepare for losing your character & raises the stakes more the more you die. (though honestly you should probably cut the number of extra deaths in half, it's super generous)

XP and gold are combined into one resource, souls. legendary creatures drop big souls you can make into magic items. this has ended up being the coolest thing in my current campaign. my players love finding powerful souls to make into magic items it's so fun

uses preset packages of stats/gear instead of knave's rolled ones, filling the role of more traditional character classes. has the wonderful side effect of not making you get stuck with low stats cause you rolled bad one time.

you have stamina equal to your empty item slots. you spend stamina on spells if you're a caster, or free maneuvers (on top of your attack at no action cost) if you're not. it's super elegant.

there's 3 classes of spells: wizardry for intelligence, holy magic for wisdom, and witch stuff for charisma. nice and intuitive.

there's a page of 50 magic items each a couple sentences long. this PDF is worth it just for the magic items.

DOWNSIDE: see the downsides for knave 1e. all still apply.

i enjoyed grave so much i made a variant of it with the dark souls bits removed (and some dungeon crawl rules added!) to use for my standard fantasy campaigns.

Knave 2e

sadly knave 2e is not purchasable yet (i backed it on kickstarter so i have access, though). but when it comes out i highly recommend it.

much larger and denser than knave 1e. it finally has dungeon crawling rules, it has GM and player guidance, everything is refined and the layout is so so nice and readable.

combat is a bit more interesting than 1e. you can break your weapon against an enemy to deal max damage. you get a free maneuver on high attack rolls.

there's rules for stuff like alchemy, warfare, building a base. it all kicks ass.

there are so many goddamn tables. i rifle through it anytime i need inspiration.

DOWNSIDES: i personally can't think of any! it's a very complete good functional system.

Mausritter

you play tiny little mice! in a world full of big dangerous things that want to eat mice. cat = dragon. you get it. what more could you want

the mouse thing is just super intuitive. you get the dynamic between you and the big scary lethal world. fantastic OSR game to introduce kids

nice and robust ruleset; nothing feels missing

tons of super nice GM stuff! faction rules, tools for rolling up hexcrawls and dungeons, plenty of tables

super clean readable layout. font isn't too small to avoid being intimidating. guidance is really nice and clear.

combat is autohit. super fast & lethal.

100% free

look mausritter is just. good. i wanna run it so bad someday

Worlds Without Number

sort of a middle ground between OSR stuff and 5e.

lots of classes, at least in the paid version. the free version comes with just the warrior, expert and mage. there's feats and more of a focus on builds than most OSR games. if you like more mechanical build variety than a typical OSR game, this is a great game for you!

extremely good multiclassing. y'know how in most games if you just mash together two classes you think are cool you'll end up with a total mess? not here! every combo is viable and works fine! easily the best multiclassing of any game i've touched

an absurd amount of GM stuff and tables. easily more than any of the other stuff i've praised for also having them. but personally i haven't dug into them as much, so i can't really comment on them

skills the way modern D&D has them. you roll dice and try to beat a target number. i don't tend to like rolled skills, but most people do, so if that's your thing WWN has them

DOWNSIDES

the layout is terrible. everything is a huge wall of text with very little use of bold text or bullet points to draw attention to the important bits. the table of contents has like 15 things in it for a 400-page book! i couldn't find any of the paid-version-exclusive classes for like a month after i bought it! looking up rules is a nightmare.

the way the default setting handles "evil races" is like an exaggerated parody of all the problematic aspects of how D&D handles it. like, it wants so bad for you to have an excuse to genocide sentient free-willed people. but at least the default setting is easy to chuck in the trash

Dungeon Crawl Classics

the goal of this system is to take all of the crazy gonzo moments people remember playing old-school D&D in their childhood and turn all of that up to 11 while cutting the stuff that doesn't add to that. i think a lot of its innovations have ended up kind of standard in newer OSR stuff (like fighters getting maneuvers with their attacks), but it still has more to offer.

the funnel: you start the game with four randomly rolled dipshit peasants that you then throw into a meatgrinder to get horribly killed. you pick one of the survivors to be your 1st-level character.

maneuvers: fighters roll an extra die with each attack that gets bigger as you level. if it's a 3 or higher, you get to do a cool thing on top of your attack. pretty standard for OSR games, but this game popularized it!

crit tables: fighters also get more crits and nastier crits as they level. every crit, you roll on the crit table. maybe you chop off a dude's arm. maybe you just knock them over. maybe you shatter their shield. it's very cool

spell tables: i don't really like roll-to-cast mechanics, generally. but DCC goes so all-in on roll-to-cast that it still looks fun as hell to watch. you cast a fireball and maybe it goes how you want. or maybe you explode, or you nuke everything in a half-mile radius, or from now on you permanently ignite flammable materials you touch, or whatever. casters just have to put up with turning into a weird mutated mess across a campaign

there's no dungeon crawl rules, no encumbrance - this game is all about the big over-the-top wacky shit, and is not really interested in the more down-to-earth number crunching. it's more in the you-die-hilariously-all-the-time area of OSR than the you-avoid-death-through-clever-play area. not really my thing but the system knows exactly what it wants to be and i respect it

iron halberd

this one is mine! as the author i'm not qualified to tell you what isn't good about my system, so just assume it's worse than i make it sound, but here's a bunch of the selling points

semi-random character creation where you flip back and forth between rolling dice and getting your own input. roll stats, pick ancestry. pick starting gear kit, roll different dice based on which kit you picked. etc etc. stats are random but all equally viable (no rolling incredibly low or high stats). every time i run this game the character creation is a hit. seriously go roll up a character it'll sell you on the whole thing

you start out a lot stronger than a standard OSR character but grow way more slowly. i don't like 4th-level characters being 4 times as strong as 1st-level ones; HP never gets that high. emphasis is more on diegetic progression instead.

way too many subsystems for alchemy, crafting, strongholds, warfare, renown, rituals, likes 9 pages of magic items, a whole subsystem for becoming a cleric mid-campaign. i couldn't help myself i love this shit

in my current campaign we had a player permanently sacrifice some max HP to become a necromancer after deliberating on whether that's a good idea for like thirty seconds, which instantly made me think my necromancy system is a success

also free

Adventure recommendations

(in rough order of size)

Moonhill Garden (by Emiel Boven): look at this. look at it! this is like the best template for a little dungeon in an OSR game. all of the little factions are tied together. this would be a great oneshot to introduce people to an OSR system with.

A gathering of blades (by Ben Milton): a system-neutral, one-page sandbox. i ran this for an iron halberd game and it went super well. lasted like 7 sessions. highly recommend.

The Waking of Willowby Hall (by Ben Milton): a single dungeon with a million things going on. it's super chaotic with half a dozen different factions crashing into each other and a big angry goose. highly recommend, especially for kids

The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford (by Chance Dudinack): small sandbox with a fun fairytale vibe and a very fleshed-out little town. and a big nasty dragon.

Evils of Illmire (by Zack Wolf): this is a very dense, entire campaign's worth of hexcrawl in a very compact package for like $5. it doesn't do anything particularly new, but the value-for-money is absurd and it's a really good template for how to do a sandbox if you're used to 5e adventures

Ask me anything!

if anything here is unclear or intrigues you, send me asks! i love helping people get into OSR games. i'll link frequently asked questions here if i get any.

#osr #nsr #ttrpg #d&d #iron halberd #knave #worlds without number #dungeon crawl classics #mausritter #l2j archive

[ladamedusoif]

My Kiss, Only For You

The Thief x Museum Guide F!Reader - One Shot

Pairing: The Thief x Museum Guide F!Reader

Word Count: 1.6k

Rating: Explicit (18+; MDNI)

Content/warnings: oral (f receiving); theft (I mean, obviously); smut; did I mention theft; strong language

Summary: You've noticed a regular attendee on the guided tours you offer as part of your job at the museum - and one day, he decides to ask you for more information on a favourite exhibit.

Notes: I keep on getting sent to horny jail by @lunapascal and @julesonrecord. (P would be very disappointed in you two insisting on incarcerating me all the time.)

This time, for reasons I'm still not entirely sure about, I was sentenced to 'double jail' and have two punishment pieces to write to get myself free. This first one, chosen by @julesonrecord, involves The Thief (from the wine ads) and the prompt "stealing a kiss".

Please enjoy my first foray into writing smut about a (very sexy) man from an ad campaign.

I wrote this at like, 1am and am still worried there are sections I thought I wrote but that were actually happening in a dream. Bear that in mind as you read.

Dividers by @cafekitsune

“And we finish with the jewel - if you’ll permit me a little pun - of the collection, the remarkable Katarzyna’s Kiss ruby.”

The afternoon’s tour group is mostly teenagers on a school trip, and they couldn’t be less interested in the bright red gemstone illuminated in the case behind you if they tried. One of them lazily lifts their phone to snap a photo, apparently of the display. It’s only when you see them pouting for a selfie that you realise they’ve had a BeReal notification.

You keep going with the standard tour script, putting your heart into it as always. You notice a familiar face at the back of the group, listening attentively: a handsome, dark-eyed man you guess must be in his mid to late forties, who is a regular attendee of your tours in the museum. He seems to be particularly interested in the gemstones and jewellery collections, always turning up for those tours with a notebook and a random, specialist text on the subject. 

“The story behind this gemstone and its unusual name is that a seventeenth-century Polish princess supposedly fell in love with the apprentice to the court jeweller. Now, as you can imagine, in those days an apprentice jeweller would never be considered an appropriate match for a princess, and their love was doomed from the start.”

The handsome man smiles at you, eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. You offer a little smile in return, noticing how the museum lighting catches the attractive patches of grey in his sparse beard.

“The poor young apprentice had never kissed his princess, and not because he didn’t want to - they were afraid they would be caught in the carefully-monitored world of the court.” Your expression turns sad as you move to the next part. 

“One day, the young jeweller heard that his beloved was to be married - the next day, in fact. He was distraught. But when the princess woke on her wedding day, equally heartbroken, she found this ruby - so the story goes - in a gorgeous, handmade silver box, engraved with the words ‘My kiss, only for you’”.

One of the teenagers at the front yawns dramatically, setting the others off into fits of giggles. You sigh. “And that brings our tour to an end, I guess. Gift shop that way, toilets over there, if you want to find out more about the collections you can purchase a guidebook…”

Your voice trails as the group rapidly disperses. Only your handsome regular is left. You hadn’t noticed before how nicely dressed he is - not showy, not in the least, but his clothes have that unmistakable air of quality and expense. Today he’s wearing a dark green, beautifully cut casual jacket with a Nehru collar, combined with dark jeans and a pristine white grandfather shirt. 

“Thank you for a wonderful tour, as usual.” His voice is warm and low, a pleasing sound in the near-empty gallery. 

“Thank you,” you return the compliment. “You’re one of our regulars, aren’t you?”

He pushes his glasses up his nose and nods. You notice he’s holding a small green notebook in one hand, and a pen in the other. “I must admit, though, that I prefer to go on your tours. You are a natural - truly, a joy to listen to. So knowledgeable!” He turns and looks at you out of the corner of his eye. “And, if you’ll forgive me for being forward, even lovelier to look at than Katarzyna’s Kiss.”

You raise your eyebrows. The closest thing to flirting you’d experienced in your time as a guide was when elderly men would corner you near the military history displays and wax lyrical at you about nineteenth-century battleships.

The man has moved closer, now, to you and to the display case. He appraises the ruby at close range. “I’d like to talk to you a little more about this beautiful thing - I’m fascinated by the story.” He turns and looks at you over the top of his glasses. “Would dinner tonight be a good time to talk about this kiss?”

To your surprise, he’d booked a table at the fanciest restaurant in the city. Dinner had been a delight, swapping stories of rare jewels and favourite galleries and museums around the world. 

He had changed since this afternoon, and arrived dressed in an exquisite green and black check suit with a black shirt and tie. He was attractive, there was no way around it - but you preferred to keep your guard up a little longer.

You were about to order a cab when you realised you didn’t have your phone.

“Shit. I must have left it in the office.” 

“It’s not too far away, is it?” He is the picture of concern. “I’ll gladly accompany you back to the museum.”

So he does, offering you his arm at one point like a man in an old movie. You huff a laugh at the gesture until you realise he’s serious. 

“Oh, god. I’m sorry.”

He keeps his arm out, offered to you, and smiles at you with an eyebrow raised. “Chivalry isn’t quite dead yet, ma chérie.”

Maybe it’s the sneaking into the museum after hours, with its connotations of illicit shenanigans, maybe it’s the whiskey you had after dinner, or maybe it’s just the way his suit sits so perfectly over his broad frame, as if it’s begging to be touched and clung to. 

Whatever it is, you’ve barely entered your small office when you’re pushing him against the wall and kissing him like your life depends on it. He groans into your mouth and it goes straight to your pussy. 

He guides you back onto the desk and sits you on the edge, lowering you down carefully as he stands above you. He trails a long, thick finger across the neckline of your dress, slipping his fingertip under the fabric to trace the outline of your breasts.

You whine in pleasure and frustration as he kisses your body. 

“Tell me more about Katarzyna’s Kiss, beautiful. Do you believe the story?”

He keeps kissing as you talk, through the fabric of your dress down to your thighs, where he hitches up the skirt and encourages you to open your legs a little wider. You moan as you feel his fingers tracing up the inside of your thighs.

“I want to kiss you, mi amor, but I will only do so if you say the word.”

You nod frantically, all thoughts of the bright red ruby forgotten. 

He brings his torso down to meet yours, placing a soft, wet kiss to your lips. You hear the zipper of his pants come down and you know that he has taken his cock in his hand. With the other, he reaches past the top of your head, stretching his hand out along the desk and resting his fingers on the marass of papers and, you judge by the clicks going on behind you, your computer keyboard.

“Aren’t you going to kiss me again?” Your voice is heavy, confused. He’s kept one hand behind you, still resting on the keyboard, as he intersperses caressing and kissing your breasts with giving his cock a quick stroke.

“I am, chérie, be patient. The kiss I plan to steal now is more valuable than any ruby - tastes better, too.”

He drops to his knees and pulls your legs apart, dragging your panties down over your soft thighs and knees. He begins by literally kissing your cunt, placing soft, delicate kisses to the wet folds before his broad tongue strokes its way from your opening all the way to your clit. It elicits a muffled scream from you.

“You can’t be there already, beautiful thing.” You aren’t, but the way he’s ‘kissing’ your pussy, then driving his fingers inside you, is getting you very close.

When he begins to suck your clit you feel the pressure building, and soon your slick is coating his perfect nose, his mouth, his face - and his beard. It glistens in the soft light of your desk lamp. 

“Fuck me,” you murmur quietly. 

“Not tonight, dear one,” he says as he returns to standing, zipping back up his pants. “Stay put, I’ll get something to clean you up. Where are the bathrooms?”

You point him towards them, unable to stand up just yet. He’s made you feel completely boneless, fucked out with just his mouth and fingers on your own desk. It had been a while since anyone made you come at all, let alone like that.

You realise you don’t even know his name.

And soon, you realise he’s been gone a rather long time.

The museum’s back corridors are unsettling at night. You wander up and down, calling quietly into the darkness to see if you can find him.

The wail of the siren is deafening as you race back to your office, frantically trying to log back in to check where the alarm has been triggered. You try to contact the night security team, but there’s no response. The screen eventually lights up and you see it: the Kiss ruby. That’s what they’re after.

Security arrives in the exhibition gallery a few minutes after you, leaving it to you to reveal the carefully opened case and the empty plastic clasp that once held the ruby on display.

Where was he? Did he get stuck in part of the building and panic when the alarm went off?

You reach into your pocket to find your phone before you remember you don’t even have his number. 

You find a crisp, folded piece of paper in your dress pocket. It had definitely not been there earlier.

You sneak off behind another display to open the note, before police arrived to question you. The handwriting is fanciful, rendered in pen and ink:

I have helped myself to Katarzyna’s, I’m afraid, but remember that the kiss I gave you tonight - my kiss - is only for you.

Adieu, chérie!

Your Gentleman Thief

#pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal #the thief smut #the thief #the thief fanfic #the thief fanfiction #the thief x f!reader #the thief x you #the thief x reader #my kiss only for you fic

[kanerallels]

A little late but! Some Kanera for @monthly-challenge Februfluff day 16: caretaking

Ever since Malachor, Kanan had spent a lot of time up at odd hours. A combination of nightmares, lingering pain from his wounds, and painkillers had seen him up in the wee hours of the morning while he was recovering. Even now that things were getting back to normal, he still woke up at random hours.

Some nights he went back to sleep. Others he meditated, either in his room or out on the far edge of the base.

And other nights, like tonight, the restless energy was too much for him. So he got up, slipping out of his room quietly so as to not wake any of the others on board the Ghost.

Kanan’s goal was the kitchen, as it usually was. Sometimes he’d make caf or tea, other times he’d make himself something to eat. Ezra had joined him a few times lately, so as he made his way down the hallway, he listened carefully.

He didn’t hear anything immediately. But as he entered the lounge, he sensed a familiar presence, and it wasn’t Ezra.

“Hera?” he asked, keeping his voice low as he frowned.

“Kanan?” Surprise colored her voice, and he heard her set down what sounded like a datapad. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Kanan said, crossing the room to stand in front of the table she was sitting at. Letting his fingertips brush the tabletop, grounding himself, he said, “Is it the same for you, or have you just not gone to sleep yet?”

Her hesitation answered the question for him, and Kanan held back a wince. Hera had always had a habit of working long hours, from the first day he’d met her. It had only grown worse since they’d joined the Rebellion. And these days it had reached a fever pitch. “When was the last time you got a full night’s sleep?” he asked.

“When was the last time you did?” Hera countered, and Kanan couldn’t hold back a grin.

“That’s different,” he said. “I’m at least trying. You’ve been up since crazy early this morning— you need rest, Hera. We need you operating at your best.”

He heard her sigh— a sigh that he recognized well. It was the stubborn one, that meant she had no intentions of listening to him. “What we need is more people in this Rebellion. Until then, I’m what we’ve got. The longer I let these things slide, the worse it’ll get.”

She’s definitely not gonna listen to me. Plan B, then. “Okay,” Kanan said with a sigh. “I’m going to make something to drink. You want something?”

“Yes, please,” Hera murmured, her voice distracting as she tapped at her datapad. Already back to work. Kanan grimaced as he headed into the kitchen. This wasn’t going to be easy.

It took him a few minutes to locate the kettle— someone had moved it from its usual place. Filling it with water, he set it on the stove and started sorting through the tea boxes in the cupboard.

Sabine had recently gone through the cupboards and relabelled everything. She’d used a Morse code inspired system of raised dots and dashes, so Kanan could still read the labels. It was still taking a little getting used to, but it certainly helped with baking. Or, in this case, locating tea.

It wasn’t long before he found the teabags he was looking for— Chandrilan tea, fairly well known for its soothing quality that helped with sleeplessness. Leaving them on the counter, he grabbed two mugs from the cupboard just as the kettle started to whistle. He was pretty certain that he’d gotten the right mugs— he and Hera had drunk caf together enough times that blind or not, Kanan would know the shape and feeling of her favorite one in his hand anywhere.

Setting them down, he carefully filled them with hot water from the kettle, and added the teabags. Leaving them to steep for a while, he went to the other side of the kitchen and started digging through the fridge. While it wasn’t absolutely necessary to his plan, Kanan was pretty sure it had been a while since Hera had eaten— thinking back, he didn’t remember her being there with them at dinner. Internally, he cursed. I’ve been way too distracted lately. That stops now.

He almost got out the ingredients for waffles— but if he did, there was no way Ezra wouldn’t be out here in less than five minutes. His apprentice had an uncanny ability to sense when Kanan was making waffles, and the last thing he needed was more people up right now. The current goal was to get Hera to sleep, not keep her awake longer.

So instead, he pulled out a container of leftover chicken pot pie and heated that up. Filling a bowl with it, he stopped to collect their two mugs and a fork, and headed back out to the lounge.

Hera was still absorbed in her datapad, and didn’t notice as Kanan set the bowl, then the mug in front of her. Kanan paused for a minute, then said, “Hera?”

“Hmm?” Her voice was distracted, and Kanan sighed.

“Sorry about this.” Reaching out, he plucked the datapad out of her hands.

“Wha— Kanan!”

Tucking the pad under his arm, Kanan reached out with the other hand and pushed the bowl in front of her. “Eat,” he said firmly. “And have some tea. I’ll give it back when you’ve finished.”

“Kanan—”

“Hera,” Kanan said, his voice a little more forceful. “Just do it.”

There was a brief pause, and Kanan could picture the struggle in Hera’s eyes. Finally, she let out a long sigh. “Fine. But I’m getting back to work after that.”

Kanan chose not to comment on that. Instead, he settled next to her with his own mug. Listening to the sound of the fork clinking against the bowl, he sipped his tea, letting the silence settle around them.

It was a little while before Hera spoke. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Kanan smiled into his mug. “Any time, Hera. Have you drunk your tea yet?”

Letting out a huff, Hera said, “You know, you’re awfully hover-y tonight, Master Jedi.”

“Making up for lost time, Captain Hera.”

“I’m glad.” Her response was softer, a little warmer, and Kanan felt her shift a little closer to him, shoulder bumping against his.

There was a brief silence, then Hera said, “So, what’s it gonna take for me to get that datapad back?”

Kanan laughed. “Tell you what. You drink your tea, and I'll let you have your datapad back.”

“Datapad first,” Hera said. “And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, dear. It’s not going to work.”

Handing her the pad, Kanan said innocently, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh-huh.”

As Hera leaned forward, picking up the mug of tea, Kanan slid nearer to her, closing the distance between them. She didn’t protest, nestling in the crook of his shoulder with a quiet sigh. Kanan wrapped her arm around her shoulders, and they settled into an easy silence.

The next little while passed by peacefully, with Hera working at her datapad and Kanan keeping her company. However, as time ticked by and Hera finished her tea, he could sense her getting more and more tired. The sound of her tapping at the datapad was less frequent, and he heard her stifle multiple yawns.

Gently, he brushed his fingertips up and down her arm, a repetitive, soothing stroke that was sure to lull her to sleep. It was one of his most surefire tactics, and it didn’t disappoint. Kanan felt her head bump against his shoulder before pulling upwards again. “I know what you’re doing,” she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleepiness.

Silently, Kanan reached out with the Force just in time to catch the datapad that slipped from Hera’s fingers. “I know,” he murmured as her head dropped against his shoulder. “You can yell at me tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.” Her words trailed off into an incomprehensible hum, and Kanan smiled. It was only seconds later that he felt her breathing even out into the slow rhythm of sleep.

“Sleep well, Captain Hera,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her temple before closing his own eyes. He had a feeling nightmares wouldn’t bother him here.

#star wars rebels #swr #kanan jarrus #hera syndulla #kanera #februfluff2024 #caretaking #day 16 #writing stories is a kind of magic too

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Year One (II)

Part Five of Three Years

Year Three | Masterlist |

Pairing: Nathan Bateman x Reader

Rating: Explicit - 18+ Only.

Length: 8.5K

Notes: ….Hi! It’s the final part!! And only a week late!!! Thank you for reading 💖

Warnings: Cursing; angst; enemies to enemies who fuck to lovers; tech-talk; angst (I know I said it before but really); Nathan being Nathan; vaginal sex; fingering; creampie; choking; oral sex (male and female receiving)

Summary: Keeping Bateman off your mind isn’t so difficult, once you get down to it. Sure, there’s a little a bit of a lull. At the start, hearing him on the odd conference call throws you off for a few moments. In the midst of taking notes, your mind will flash to the sound of him grunting low in your ear, the memory of the press of his body against yours, and the phantom weight of his hand heavy on your throat.

BlueBook’s campus is stunningly large and confusing. Sc(ai)le is a far smaller operation, and is likely to remain so, and you’d been certain when you signed the contract that this vast new environment would be well out of your realm of familiarity. But receiving a map for the BlueBook campus along with your other documentation for orientation made your stomach churn. The differences are staggering. BlueBook’s Silicon Valley office has four separate buildings. 3/4ths of the parking lot is designed for electric vehicles; regular vehicles have parking furthest from the main building. There are multiple cafeterias and cafés on the premises. There are designated nap rooms. 

Maybe it’s an archaic approach, but you go out of your way to print out the map that was sent to you ahead of your first day. When you pull up for work your first morning, you are insanely happy that you did. You stop in the lobby once you get your badge, eyeing the print-out as people simply stride past you like you aren’t even there. You’re almost alright with that. You don't really want to explain who you are to some random BlueBook employee as you ask for help. But this behavior also lays the company’s culture plain. If you were at Sc(ai)le, at least one person would stop and ask if you needed help. Here, moving into a junior leadership position, you’re completely invisible. 

--  

“Sooo, how are the new digs?” 

“...They’re fine,” You fib to Jenn, looking around at the office. It’s not a complete lie; they’re not bad. Your name is on the door; the size is about the same as your old office. But where your office at Sc(ai)le had been bright and open, this feels…Closed in. It doesn’t have the same fishtank quality, and where your old office had initially left you feeling exposed, this office makes you feel like you’re sitting in a file box on a shelf somewhere. There’s a window behind you, but it faces another building, and doesn’t let in nearly the same amount of light as your previous office.  

“Uh-oh.” 

“Uh-oh?” You frown, “What ‘uh-oh’?” 

“I know that tone. What’s wrong with it?” 

“Nothing’s wrong with it!” 

“You sure? I don’t wanna brag, but I know the guy in charge, and I can put in a good word.” 

“Oh, yeah,” You scoff a laugh, “Bring my problem to Bateman for me, that’s all I need.” 

Jenn goes quiet for a few seconds before she hedges, “I thought you guys were better now.” 

You raise your hand, scrubbing it across the back of your neck as you fight back a sigh. 

“We are,” You insist, “I just mean, you know…Even if Bateman did like me, this would so put me on his shit list. And I need to watch my step around here. It’s different now.” 

“Yeah,” Jenn agrees, “It is.” 

You can hear the creaking of her office chair, and practically picture her twisting back and forth in it. 

“Can we do dinner at the end of this week?” You ask, hoping that she won’t call you on the subject change. “I want all of the dirt, you know. Hear how it’s going with my fearless leadership.”

“Sure.” It’s a relief as her tone shifts, as you can practically hear her smile. “Friday? Saturday? Sunday?” 

“Friday, please. I’m guessing I’ll need all weekend to recover.” 

“You’re damn right,” She chuckles. “Friday it is.” 

“I’ll text you some options before I make any reservations.” 

“Sounds good.” 

“Alright. Have a good day, Jenn.”

“You, too, girlie.” 

You smile, lowering your phone and hanging up. You’re about to set it on the desk when your phone flashes with another call. You grimace at the sight of the contact, despite the way that your stomach flutters. You consider not answering it at all—and then swipe to answer it right before it can go to voicemail. 

“Took you long enough.” Nathan doesn’t give you a chance to say a thing before he’s filling your ear. “Who were you talking to?” 

“Excuse me?” 

“I got a busy signal twice.” 

“That’s none of your business.” 

“I wanna know.” 

“Well that’s too damn bad.” 

“I could take a guess.” 

“Feel free.” 

“...” 

“Well?” 

“I’ve decided I don’t care.” 

“Do you have a reason for calling me?” 

“Figured I’d check in, day one and all that.” 

“Nothing to report so far.” 

“Really.” 

“Nope. Had two whole meetings and got my email set up.” 

“Well look at you, you little overachiever. Usually people don’t get their email set up until their second day.” 

“You know me, I like to hit the ground running.” 

“Mhm. Listen, I’m gonna be in town this weekend—” 

“Okay—” 

“—So I’ll put something on your calendar.” 

“For what reason?” 

“To check-in.” 

“I think check-ins like this are just fine.” 

“I may as well see you while I’m in town.” 

“What for?” 

“It’s customary to take a new hire in leadership for dinner.” A pause. Then, “Why else would I want to see you?” 

You lean back in your seat, fighting the urge to squeeze your thighs together. The way he leads you into this question shouldn’t send tingles through your body. You’d forgone Bateman’s invitation to visit him before your stint at BlueBook had started, and haven’t been with him—or anyone—in a few weeks. Still, you’ve had longer dry spells. 

“I don’t know,” You pass off breezily. “You tell me.” 

“I don’t miss you,” He laughs. You think that he may mean for it to sound cruel, but you’ve come to know him a little too well, and he shockingly just manages to miss that mark. 

“Good,” You lean back in your seat a little more. “I don’t miss you, either.”

“Good.” 

“And I’m afraid I have plans this weekend, so unless you’re planning on adding some kind of bonus or overtime on this, I won’t be joining you.” 

A weighty pause, a truly stomach-churning beat before, “Fine.” 

He practically yawns it. 

“Great,” You pronounce crisply. “I have a meeting to get to, so—” 

“That’s funny, so do I—” 

“I’m gonna hop off—”

“—Happy to give you some time back.” 

“Great.” 

“Sure.” 

You draw the phone back from your ear again, rolling your eyes as his contact flashes, then disappears. Happy to give you some time back—the audacity. As if he'd put an actual meeting on your calendar for that useless call. You lean a little further back in your chair, then flail and hurriedly straighten before it can fully tip backward. Yikes, that was close. You puff out a panicked breath as you settle, tossing your phone onto the desk. 

He doesn’t miss you. Good! That’s good. You don’t miss him either. You don’t want him to miss you. You don’t need him to miss you. 

You need…To charge your vibrator. You could get on the dating apps again. It’s been a while. The last time you bothered was before you joined Sc(ai)le. Maybe the dating landscape isn’t as bad as it used to be.

You wince, shifting in your seat. You already know that you’re kidding yourself. There’s no way the apps are a good option now. They were barely a good option then. You’ll just have to up your vibrator game. There’s one you’ve had your eye on for a while, anyway. Nothing better to get with your signing bonus.

--  

Keeping Bateman off your mind isn’t so difficult, once you get down to it. Sure, there’s a little a bit of a lull. At the start, hearing him on the odd conference call throws you off for a few moments. In the midst of taking notes, your mind will flash to the sound of him grunting low in your ear, the memory of the press of his body against yours, and the phantom weight of his hand heavy on your throat. The first few times, you swallow thickly and reach for your coffee, or water, washing down the thought. Slowly, though, you manage to put a wall up. The Bateman on the phone isn’t the same guy that had fucked you, or the same guy that you slapped. 

Okay, well, technically, he is. 

But this is Business Bateman. This guy is no longer at least one level removed from your day-to-day. You’d been fucked by Bastard Bateman—Banker Bateman, even. This Bateman isn’t teasing any of you over the phone during team meetings. There aren’t hefty pauses for effect, or to bait you into answering him first. He’s to-the-point. He doesn't wait for answers; he demands them. 

After a couple of months, you manage to convince yourself that you prefer it this way. You tell yourself that you don’t miss Nathan. You don’t miss his cock, his teasing, or smacking his smug fucking face. It really is better this way. Your life is almost back to normal. Your friendship with Jenn is on a positive trend. You manage to see her at least every other week, and your smiles at the mention of Nathan’s name gradually become less forced. 

The shift is critical. Despite your relative proximity, you feel far less tense on a day to day basis. Sure, there’s an itch that just isn’t being scratched for you right now—but you’re not bracing for whatever shit Bateman may pull next, or operating with a fear that Jenn may learn just how much time you actually spend with Nathan. It still weighs on you, though. There are moments when you feel the heavy truth of it on your tongue, and you consider telling her—but the conversation otherwise feels so bright, and so easy, and you can’t bring yourself to shatter the moment. 

You’re certain Nathan hasn’t told her, either—if he had, you’d know by now. Jenn doesn’t shield her feelings well from anyone, but especially not from you. You know that her crush is still affecting her in full-force, but as far as you know, she hasn’t acted on it. The conversations about Bateman becoming part of the board would’ve backed off by now if she had. If anything, those have increased. 

Worse, from what she’s been telling you, you think that he may be considering it. You’re in no place to influence business on either end anymore. You don’t want to buzz in Jenn’s ear, insist that she take more time to think about this. She’s been thinking about this move for three years now. You don’t want buzz in Nathan’s ear about it, either. Whatever you tell him to do, you’re certain he’ll do the exact opposite to spite you. The only thing worse than impacting Jenn’s company negatively from the inside is managing to negatively impact it after you’ve left. Sc(ai)le’s direction is none of your business anymore. You need to make peace with that. 

--  

“Knock knock.” 

You can’t help but look up, stunned. You haven’t heard his voice over anything but a phone for nearly six months. That’s sort of your fault—he did offer to take you to dinner. But you didn’t trust him then. You almost don’t trust his appearance now. Frankly, seeing him shouldn’t be such surprise. You work at his company, after all. But this little sneak-attack is something that you haven’t been treated to in a very long time. 

“Hi there,” He adds, and you realize that you’ve done nothing but stare at him. 

“Hi,” You manage. “You here for a talk or are you just stopping by?” 

“Just stopping by.” He pushes himself off of the door frame, and you turn back to your laptop as he takes lazy, drifting steps around your office. You watch him out of the corner of your eye, taking in the snug fit of his polo shirt, and the swell of his ass beneath his—sweatpants. The man wore sweatpants to his own office. You can’t help but shake your head a little as you come to that realization, turning fully back to your screen. 

“You here for the All Hands?” You ask. 

“Yup.” 

“Surprised you’re not zooming in as usual.”

“I happened to be in town, figured I may as well make an appearance.”

“In sweatpants?” The indignant shock slips out before you can stop it. He just snorts, amused. 

“I have a change of clothes in my office.” 

Of course he does. 

“So,” He rounds your desk, leaning against it and watching you work, “How do you like it?” 

“The work? It’s fine.” 

“Better or worse than Sc(ai)le?” 

“Not better or worse. Just different.” 

He watches you for a few moments longer. “But BlueBook is better, right?” 

You roll your eyes a little bit, biting back a smile. 

“If it helps you sleep at night, Nathan, yes. BlueBook is better.” 

“I knew it.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“I’m telling Jenn.” 

“She’ll never believe you.” 

“...Do you still have that policy?” 

You immediately know exactly what he’s asking about, but you let out a confused, questioning hum. 

“Not sure what you mean.” 

“Really.” 

“You’re going to have to refresh my memory.”

You hear the soft huff of Nathan’s laugh, and the slight hush of him pushing off of your desk. You’re certain that he’ll just leave, but Nathan rests one hand on your desk, and the other on the back of your chair as he leans over you. 

“Well I’ve been told,” You shiver as his breath brushes your neck, “That you don’t fuck your boss.” 

“Oh, that policy.” 

“Mm.” 

“That one is still in place.” 

“Really.” 

“Firmly.” 

“That’s too bad,” Nathan sighs. 

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You’re fired.” 

“Sure.” You don’t even flinch. You know that he’s not serious. At least…You’re pretty sure. 

“Pack it up.” 

“Can I send this email first.” You glance back toward him, and feel a touch of relief when you find him smiling warmly at you. You shake your head a little, turning back to the screen as you fight off your own smile. 

“Thought you said I wasn’t irresistible,” You remind him. 

“You’re not.”

“And that you don’t miss me.” 

“...I don’t.” 

The pause makes your stomach flip. You swipe your tongue across your lips, considering. 

“In town for long?” You ask. 

“The next week.” 

“Alright.”

 “So?” 

“So…” You shrug, “Maybe I'll quit BlueBook for the weekend.” 

“Just the weekend?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Hm.” 

“You can’t expect me to…Quit for longer than that.” 

“You haven’t taken any vacation days, have you?” 

You scoff, turning toward him fully. 

“Excuse me, but I might have plans for that.” 

“Do you?”

“That’s none of your business.” 

“I’m making it my business.” 

“The weekend.”

“The week.” 

“The—I can’t do that.” 

“Sure you can.”

“It’s too short notice! I’d have to work out coverage.” 

“Then work it out.” Your stomach swoops as Bateman leans in a touch closer, his gaze sweeping from your eyes to linger on your lips. “Call in sick today after the All Hands and we’ll get a head start.” 

“You’re trying to get me in trouble.” 

“You’re making it harder than you need to.” 

“Your cock or your plan?” 

Nathan grins. 

“Would it shock you if I said both?” 

“Not one bit.” 

“Good.” He grips your jaw, giving it a squeeze before he lets go and straightens, turning away. “Block off your calendar. I’ll send you the address.” 

You lean back in your seat, unable to help watching him as he leaves. You wait for him to turn back, to shoot you a smile or a wink, to tell you that he’s kidding—but he doesn’t say or do a thing as he goes. You bite your lip, hesitantly turning toward your laptop again and opening your calendar. The next week doesn’t look…Too busy. There are a few status calls that you’re not necessarily needed on. The deliverables that you have could be shifted, and surely in the next week, you’ll have some time to yourself. You can bring your work laptop home with you. You wince. You’ve done a pretty good job of keeping your work out of your apartment. But hell, it’s been three and a half years. If you’re only starting to take your work home with you now, that’s pretty good. 

You have 20 PTO days. Are you seriously going to take five of them just to be at Bateman’s beck and call? 

--  

You don’t even make it to his place before it starts. 

You can’t focus through the All Hands; you’re distracted. You can’t get your head together. You sit there, going back and forth and back and forth on whether or not taking this time off is actually a good idea. You could always take the time and then go back to the office if you decide that this just isn’t working for you. But then, Nathan might talk you into staying with him for a few more days. 

How the hell did he talk you into this in the first place? 

You desperately try to swallow against your drying throat, glancing around. Everyone is engaged with what Bateman is saying up front, or splitting their attention between their laptops and phones, still answering emails and slack messages while Bateman fills them in on funding updates and the state of the company. You ought to be focusing, too, but you suddenly feel so—hot. It’s not sexy, either. It’s like your skin is prickling from the inside. You scrub your sweaty palms against the fabric of work jeans, shifting uncomfortably in your—in your seat—

You push yourself up, mumbling your apologies as you squeeze past the other people in the aisle. You don’t look back as you hurry toward the door at the back of the conference space, even as your ears catch on Nathan’s comments that the latest BlueBookTab is set to complete its final round of QA by the end of Q2. 

You wind your way through the halls, your stomach twisting with discomfort. You already put in for your time off, cited the fact that you were sick. Surely your hasty exit would’ve lent credence to that—but maybe you could still retract that PTO request. Or maybe you could—Hell, what can you do? 

You reach your office and draw in a relieved breath at the complete silence and calm. Water, you need water. You take up your water bottle, taking a greedy swig. You must’ve had too much coffee this morning, maybe that’s why you feel so—blegh, so weird. Or maybe it’s a sign. If you feel this uneasy, this unsure about spending time with Nathan, it must mean that your time likely wouldn’t be such a good idea, anyway. You can tell Nathan that. You can calmly, rationally tell Nathan that you’ve changed your mind. He won’t care—

“What’s going on?” 

You whirl around at the sound of his question. Nathan looks almost bored, and sounds mildly perplexed. 

“What are you,” You wave back toward the door, “What about the All Hands?” 

“It’s finished.” 

“...Oh.” 

“Yeah. You ran out, like, right before I wrapped things up. Did you pay any attention to the agenda?” 

“Not really, no.” 

“Why did I even hire you,” Nathan chuckles, kicking the door shut behind himself. 

“You tell me,” You bite out. Nathan rolls his eyes, further rankling the irritated nerves in your belly. 

“Relax, sweetheart. It was a joke.” 

“It wasn’t for me.” 

“You want me to tell you?” His brows raise as he walks closer. “You’re kidding me.” 

“And if I’m not?” 

“What’s wrong with you?” He presses. You push a short breath out through your nose, shaking your head as you search for the words.

“I’m just—” You clear your throat. “I’m having some second thoughts.” 

“About?” 

“This.” 

“BlueBook?” 

“This,” You clarify, waggling the finger between the two of you. 

“If you’re that worried about coverage, bring your laptop with you.” 

“Then what’s the point in leaving the office? Look,” You groan, “I’m sure you can find someone else to fuck.” 

“Sure I can. I have.” 

It’s like a slap in the face. You stare at him for a moment, stunned. 

“I—Then—” You splutter, “Why—? Are you with someone?” 

“Not with,” He plops into a chair. “Just…You know.” 

“No, I don’t know, Nathan. That’s why I’m asking.” 

“The hell does it matter to you, huh? Why are you so hung up on this?” 

“I’m not, I’m just—” 

“—You clearly are—” 

“I just want—Fuck, I don’t know, if you’re like, dating someone, I don’t wanna insert myself in whatever the hell mess that would be.” 

“I told you, I’m not with anyone,” He repeats boredly. “Satisfied?” 

You consider for a moment. Are you? You’re not sure you are. You were having reservations before he mentioned that he had found someone else to screw around with. 

“...No,” You finally determine, shaking your head. “I’m not.” 

“Fuck,” Nathan groans, tipping his head back before he pushes himself up out of the chair. “Alright, forget it. I don’t know when the hell you got so fucking boring.” 

“Excuse me?”

“What, is your listening comprehension going, too?”

“Fuck you!” 

“You had your chance, sweetheart.” 

“You wanna say that to my fucking face, Bateman?” 

Seeing him stop just a few steps from the door and whirl around to you makes your hair stand on end. 

“Which part did you miss, huh?” He spits as he grows closer, “Where’d I fucking lose you?” 

“You haven’t had me since day one, you self-centered, self-righteous asshole—” You suck in a breath as he roughly grips your jaw, shutting you up. Your heart pounds in your chest as Nathan presses close, backing you up against the harsh edge of your desk. You raise your hands, grasping Nathan’s wrist so roughly that your nails bite into his skin. His lips twitch with a contentious smile as his hips shift against yours. 

“I haven’t had you since day one where, honey? Here?” He asks in a low, cruel murmur. He nudges you back to sit on the desk before he tips his head, eyes searching yours. “This is my company, sweetheart. My name’s on the fucking door. I’ve had you the entire goddamn time.” 

His mouth covers yours before you can gripe or argue. You groan at the contact, only allowing yourself to savor it for a few moments before you bite down harshly on his plump lower lip. Nathan’s hand slips from your jaw, smoothing down to squeeze around the sides of your neck. You whimper, reaching out to grasp and twist the fabric of his collar, hauling him closer. Bateman draws back with a slick sound, peering at you as he squeezes just a little harder. Your lips remain parted, heaving in tight breaths as stars begin to crowd your eyes. You hear a sharp whine, and it’s a moment before you realize that the sound came from you. Nathan tuts and shushes you softly as he loosens his grasp. 

“There’s no lock on that door,” He murmurs, “You want everyone to come in? See you spreading your legs for me like this?” 

You hurriedly shake your head, and his smile widens. 

“Then I guess we better occupy that mouth of yours.” 

-- 

It’s a risk that you never would’ve taken in Sc(ai)le’s offices. Those hadn’t been even remotely private—if anyone had walked past when you and Bateman were there before, they would’ve seen you. Now, unless someone knocks on your door and comes in, no one will know. 

Still, your position doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. If any one walked in now, they’d see Nathan’s bare ass, and your hands grasping his hips as he thrusts into your mouth. 

Your hold on him is fairly futile. With his hand on the crown of your head, you have little range of motion. You’re hardly moving, just holding your mouth open as he thrusts roughly between your lips. Your eyes water as you peer up at him, as you watch his tongue swipe across his lips, his gaze dark as he watches you. He shoves his hips forward harder still, and you struggle to recoil as you gag, as he keeps your head locked in position. He finally lets up, and you sway backward, coughing roughly as you swipe to clear away the spit that’s leaked along the sides of your lips. You watch Nathan chuckle, grasping his slickened shaft. Your thighs twitch, sending a tingling through your wet, neglected cunt. Before he can ask—before he can demand it, or say a word, you kneel up again, taking the head of his cock between your lips. He huffs out a soft laugh, hips twitching before his hand smoothed over your cheek, thumb sweeping across your cheekbone.

“Yeah,” He coos, “I missed you, too, sweetheart.” 

You groan, sinking your nails into the meat of his thigh as you swipe your tongue along the veined underside. 

-- 

“You hungry?” 

You don’t answer right away, and maybe that’s why he presses, “Hey.” You feel him sweep his hand along your naked lower back. It makes you sag even deeper into the mattress. “You alright?”

You draw in a deep breath, leaving your eyes closed as you consider. You are aching, and sated. You feel fucked-out, and cozy, and…

“Yeah,” You finally mumble, though it’s a herculean effort. Your tongue feels heavy, and your lips feel oddly…Gluey. “I could eat.” 

You feel the bed dip, and hear the sound of his feet padding across his bedroom floor. It’s chased by the rumble of a drawer opening, and you wince as it’s then slammed shut. You roll onto your belly from your side, turning your head from the thud as another drawer is opened. You feel the bed dip again a moment later. 

“Here,” He urges, dropping some clothes within reach. “Should’ve stopped by yours to get some clothes.” 

“...Mmm.”

You hear him chuckle, and feel his hand on your cheek. 

“Open your eyes for me.” 

You finally do, blinking up at him where he’s leaning against the headboard. It shouldn’t be such a warm sight, considering the struggle in your office, but a tired smile unwittingly pulls at your lips. 

“Do we have water?” You mumble. 

“No. I’m a billionaire without access to water.” 

“Shut up,” You groan, pushing yourself back onto your back and squinting up at the harsh lighting. “What time is it, anyway?” 

“Almost nine.” 

“...In the..?” 

“Evening.” 

“Mm.” 

“Here.” 

You look up as you hear the crisp crack of a water bottle being opened. You push yourself back just a little, settling your head on his thigh and taking hold of the proffered bottle and cap. 

“Don’t spill it,” He mutters. 

“I won’t.” Probably. Maybe you will, just to spite him. God knows how many bedrooms he has, you can probably find somewhere else to sleep. You draw in a greedy gulp, then another. It’s so cool; you didn’t realize how thirsty you were. 

“Slow down,” Nathan counsels boredly as he takes his phone up from the bedside table. “You start choking on it, I’m just gonna laugh.” 

“You usually laugh when I choke,” You mumble, lowering the water. He huffs softly, nodding. 

“That’s true. What do you wanna eat?” 

“I don’t know. What do you have here?” 

“I’m gonna order something.” 

“Oh.” You think for a moment before you tip your head back to look at him. “What are you hungry for?” 

“Think we both know what I’m hungry for.” 

“That’s not hot, it just sounds cannibalistic.” 

“Don’t get too close to my phone, Clarice.” 

“Fuck, your Hopkins needs work.” 

“So?” 

“Grilled cheese,” You finally decide, closing your eyes again. “With bacon and tomato.” 

“‘Kay.” 

“And a chocolate milkshake.” 

“Alright.” 

“And fries.” 

“Thought the fries were implied.” 

“Just confirming.” 

“Cheese fries or regular fries?” 

“Mmm…Regular.” 

“Drink your water.” 

You raise your hand obediently, taking another few sips. You hear Nathan set his phone down on the bedside table after a few moments. 

“You wanna get cleaned up?” He asks, smoothing his fingers down your throat. 

“Not yet.” 

“Alright.” 

You feel Nathan’s hand rest over your throat for a moment before he lets his touch drift lower. 

“Should see if I have a turtleneck in here,” He comments. 

“Why?” 

“You’re bruising.” 

You open your eyes, surprised as you wave toward your throat. He nods, smoothing his knuckles gently along the sides of your neck. You bite your lip, considering. 

“Was I too rough?” He asks. 

You shake your head. 

“You sure?” 

You nod. 

“I need to hear it,” He insists. You huff softly, capping the water and setting aside. You push yourself up on slightly shaky arms before pressing yourself into Nathan’s side. It seems like his arm curls around your waist on instinct as you nuzzle against his neck. 

“You weren’t too rough,” You murmur. “Okay? If I’d wanted you to stop, I would’ve told you to.” 

You feel Nathan nod slightly, his hand splaying on your waist. You close your eyes, resting against him. 

“Maybe we should establish a safeword, though,” You offer after a moment. 

“Sure. Jenn.” 

“What?” 

“The safeword.” 

You reel away, socking Nathan in the shoulder as he grins smugly at you. It’s a stupid decision—your head spins from moving too fast. You rest that same hand on Nathan’s shoulder to steady yourself as you grumble, “That is not even remotely funny.” 

“C’mere,” Nathan urges. “You’re gonna make yourself sick, moving like that.” 

“Your fault,” You mumble, though you cuddle up against him again. 

“Uh-huh.” Nathan turns his head, nuzzling against your hair. 

“...Crypto,” You finally say. 

“You want your safeword to be crypto?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I hate it and it’s something I’ll remember.” 

Nathan snorts a laugh before you feel him nod. 

“Crypto it is.” He smooths his hand up your back, rubbing in small circles. You let your eyes slip shut again, allowing yourself to relax as the pressure in your head drops away. It’s strange. Even when you and Nathan fucked around before, it wasn’t quite like this. Sure, you had moments when he’d keep close, or when you didn’t get up right away, but you never made an effort to cuddle up, and he never made it a point to keep you this close. He used to relish in your discomfort, not try to lessen it. 

It’s almost frightening how long it took for you to shut him out during your time at BlueBook, and how quickly you let him back in. It took one evening for him to unravel you, beyond the bounds of your prior…What could you call it? Association? Relationship? 

“Drink your water,” He urges again. You shift a little reluctantly, leaning away from him to take hold of the bottle before leaning against him again. You yawn widely as you unscrew the cap, taking another few sips. You hold it up questioningly, and Nathan takes it, drawing in his own gulp before pressing it back into your hands. 

--  

He hovers. 

Maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise, considering how depleted you were before you got out of bed, but you never expected Nathan to be the type to…Hover. You can feel him watching you as you settle on a seat at his kitchen island, resting your chin on your hand and fighting back a yawn. You can hear him unpacking the food, popping the containers lids before pushing a few over toward you. 

“Here,” He urges. “Sit up.” 

“Ugh,” You groan, pushing yourself and opening your eyes. “Is there a straw for the milkshake?” 

Nathan pokea through the bag for a moment before he throws one toward you. You flinch, fumbling to catch it before ripping off the wrapping and jabbing it into the lid. 

“Thanks.” 

“Mm.” 

You pull in a taste, shoulders wiggling with joy as the sweetness sweeps across your tongue. You reach out, opening the container and picking up a couple of fries. You glance over as Nathan leans against the counter across from you. 

“What’d you get?” You ask, nodding toward him. 

“Veggie burger.” 

You hum, popping the fries between your lips. You have to fight the urge to cram a few more in before you’ve even finished chewing. You didn’t even realize how hungry you were. 

“Still having second thoughts?” Bateman asks. You frown, and he clarifies: “About this week.” 

You press your lips into a thin line as you consider. You pop the lid off the milkshake, dipping one of the fries inside and swirling it around. 

“Not in the same way,” You admit. 

“What’s still tripping you up?” 

“...I never told Jenn.” 

You can feel Nathan’s gaze as you reach for half of your grilled cheese. 

“Never told Jenn what?” He asks. 

“Anything, about, you know. This.” 

“You need to?” 

“No! No, not need, no,” You shake your head, “But…I’m a shit friend, you know. She likes you.” 

It’s not fair to tip her hand like this, without her knowledge, but there’s no way that Bateman doesn’t know this by now, right? Still, it’s a moment before he lets out a grunt. 

“What?” You sigh. 

“Nothing.” 

“It’s clearly something.” 

“She didn’t tell you.”

“Didn’t tell me what?” 

“Remember when I said that I found someone else to fuck?” 

It’s like he’s dumped a bucket of water over your head. You freeze mid-chew, gobsmacked, your heart dropping into your stomach as Bateman reaches out, snagging a few of your fries as if he didn’t just turn your world upside. 

“...Uh…” You shake your head, “I didn’t—I had no—When?” 

“I don’t know, last year?” 

Last year. You shake your head a little, trying to knock a response loose. 

“Wu—uh…When?” 

“After your party.” 

“The party where you asked me to come stay with you for a week?”

“Yeah. But you didn’t, so.” 

“So you fucked Jenn because I didn’t fuck you.” 

“I fucked Jen when you didn’t fuck me. You weren’t the implicit cause. That make you feel better?” 

“A little, yeah, I guess. But that doesn’t uh—weird feeling. This is a weird feeling.” 

“I’m a little surprised she didn’t tell you.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, me, too.” 

You reach for the milkshake, slugging back a gulp and wincing as brain freeze sets in. 

“You gonna get all weird about it?” Nathan asks. 

“I’m not—No. No, I’m not making this weird. I’m not gonna let this get weird. We’re gonna fuck.” 

“If you’re sure.” 

“All week, I mean we are gonna do it. A lot,” You insist, pointing at him. Nathan’s lips twitch in amusement. 

“Alright,” He concedes, holding his hands up, “Jeez. Long as you leave it attached.” 

“...Did you ever mention this to her?” You ask, waving between the two of you again. 

“No.” 

“Okay.” 

“Are you going to?” 

“If I do, I’ll give you a heads up.” 

“Whatever.” 

“Was it just the one time?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Okay.”

That shouldn’t make you feel superior or good, but…Well, it kinda does. You and Jenn haven’t had a tug of war over Nathan, per se, not personally. It sounds like what they had was a one night stand than a real relationship. 

Still, it’s her business, and her…Business. 

“Cut it out.” 

“What?” You blink, frowning. 

“I can see the smoke coming out of your ears.” 

“Oh—Shut up,” You gripe, throwing a fry at him. He smiles, picking it up from where it lands limply on the counter. 

“So?” He asks, “Are you staying?” 

-- 

The two of you don’t spend the entire time in bed. It’s just not physically possible, and the two of you do need breaks every now and again. Neither of you can draw yourself entirely away from work, either. You manage to contain it. You don’t let it creep into the rest of the house. You make a little space for yourself in his office, curling up in the corner of the couch and hunching over your screen and keyboard. Your time off is approved, but you still answer a few emails a day, and dial into a few status calls, just to keep up to date with what’s going on with your team. Nathan spends a fair bit of time working, too. You’re fascinated by the wall practically papered in post-its, even more fascinated still as you actually watch him work. 

For all of Bateman’s pointed teasing and distraction while you worked with one another at Sc(ai)le, he has laser-focus when he’s working on BlueBook. You don’t take the same pains to annoy him as he had with you. You’re too interested in the way that he iterates, how he conducts himself when speaking to other staff members, how he occasionally mutters to himself as he makes notes. While you’re working, it’s like you’re hardly there. He’ll catch your eye every now and again, but for the most part, he leaves you to your own devices. A time or two, when you’re dialing into the same meeting, Nathan dials in and brings his phone over to the couch so that the two of you can listen in together. 

You shift closer to him when he does, sitting side by side. Whenever Nathan unmutes, you’re careful to keep completely silent. You don’t want anyone to get even a hint that you’re there. It’s not against any company policy, but my god, it would set the team’s tongues wagging. 

After one such call, Nathan hangs up, pitching the phone into the other end of the couch and grunting, “Fuckin’ idiots.” 

You can’t help but smile. 

“You do know that I’m still here, right?” You ask. 

“You think I forgot?” Nathan turns to look at you, brows raising, “You gonna tell ‘em?” 

“What?”

“You gonna tell ‘em that I think they’re fuckin’ idiots?” He shifts toward you. You shrug, turning back to your laptop and reopening the email that you’d been drafting before the call. 

“Probably not.” 

“Oh, probably not.” 

“Freedom of speech.” 

“Freedom of speech protects you from the government, sweetheart. Not from me.” 

“I don’t need anyone to protect me from you.” 

“No?” 

“Nn-nn.” 

“You sure about that?” 

Before you can answer, Nathan snaps your laptop shut and tosses it to the floor. 

“Are you crazy?” You screech as Nathan climbs over you, steering you back onto the couch. You give his chest a shove, but it hardly moves him as he crowds against you. His hands skim up your sides, and you can’t help but grin and squirm against him as his lips cover yours. 

You think that time must be mellowing him. You’ve been with Nathan for three days straight, and you can’t help but notice a few…Differences. It goes well beyond the hovering. 

He hasn’t kissed you so much since that first night. Nathan seems to almost delight in your kisses now. He takes his time slotting himself between your legs, spreading your thighs wide as his tongue spears past your smiling lips. He doesn’t hurry things along as he used to—though in fairness, these days, you have far more time than you used to. You’re not cuddling up in some dark corner, wary of being seen, or caught. You’re not hurrying out of bed, covering up as quickly as possible and shooing him out to scrub the sweat from your skin. 

He doesn’t turn you, shove you into the wall, into the mattress, into the backseat of his car. Now, face to face, he tugs your panties aside and eases his sweatpants down just far enough to draw out his hardened cock, and ease it into your slick, aching pussy. The two of you groan against one another’s lips as he sheathes himself fully inside you. You raise your hands, cupping his cheeks and swirling your tongue along his as he plants his knees against the cushions to gain purchase. 

Nathan reaches down and hikes your shirt up as your hips press together. You shiver as he ducks his head, his beard brushing harshly over your pebbling nipple before he takes it into his mouth. 

“Fuck, Nate,” You moan, fingers hooking in the fabric of his shirt. He hums, teasing the nipple lightly with his teeth before he draws back. His kisses trail up your neck, brushing over your throat. 

“Your bruises are starting to fade,” He murmurs. 

“Oh?” 

“Mm.” 

“Are you gonna fix that?” 

Nathan leans up, grinning. 

“Maybe later, baby.” 

You reach up, shoving at his chest and urging, “Up, get up.”

Nathan shifts back, sitting on the end of the couch and pushing off his sweatpants. You draw your top off and kick away your panties before you clamber onto his lap. You steady a hand on his shoulder, reaching down and grasping his length before easing down onto it. You whine softly as you settle into his lap, as he slides his hands up your back and draws you close. You lean into him, resting your forehead against his as you begin to roll your hips. 

“Come on,” Nathan urges, “You can do better than that.” 

You laugh a little, resting your hands on the back of the couch. 

“I’m doing exactly what I want.” 

“I want more.”

“Well that’s too damn ba—ad! Fuck!” You whimper as he grasps your hips, steadying you and snapping his hips up harshly. Your mouth falls open as he takes control of the pace, fucking up into you almost punishingly. 

“Nathan, goddamnit,” You breathe as his fingers press more hardly into your hips. 

“You close?” He murmurs. 

“N-no.” 

“Too bad.” 

“What do you—mean, oh, you piece of shit,” You whine as Nathan tips his head back, his hips jolting harshly as he spills into you. You reach down to play with your clit, but Nathan shoves your hand away and pushes your hips up. You frown, confused as Nathan slips down, then grin as he shoves the coffee table back. He sends it scattering as he slides down and lowers himself to sit on the floor, resting his head on the cushion and dragging your hips down to his lips. Your fingers flex in the fabric of the cushion as you peer down at Nathan. His tongue swipes across your cunt before he gives your lips a sucking kiss. Your hips quiver as he swipes his tongue against your tingling clit. You grind greedily against his questing tongue and lips, chasing your pleasure. 

“Almost,” You warn. Nathan hums against you, hurriedly lapping his tongue against your clit and grasping your hips to draw you even closer. A stunned moan leaves you as he sucks your clit, lashing his tongue against it until you’re shaking, hips rabbiting against him. Nathan moans, tipping his head to and fro and nuzzling your tender flesh as you ride out your orgasm. You push yourself off of him, flopping back onto the couch. It takes Nathan a moment to push himself up, and you groan as he drops himself on top of you. 

“Noooo,” You groan, “Get off’a me.” 

“Why.” 

“I’m all hot and sticky.” 

“I know.” 

“So are you.” 

“I know,” Nathan grins, nuzzling up against you and pressing closer. You whine, kicking your feet irritatedly.

“You’re awful,” You mumble, looping your arms around his shoulders regardless. He grunts, peppering your neck with tender kisses. 

“I know that, too.” 

-- 

“I’m going to have to tell her.” 

“Have to?” 

You meet Nathan’s eye in the mirror as you dab foundation over the newly blooming bruises on your neck. 

“Have to,” You nod. 

Nathan leans in the doorway of the bathroom, watching you closely. He seems to be considering it before he nods a little. 

“Alright.” 

“Are you okay with—” 

“Yes.” 

“Okay.” 

“What are you going to tell her?” 

“That…That we fuck.” 

“Okay.” 

“What else would I tell her?” 

“No, that’s accurate. I was just curious.” 

“We can talk about the verbiage—”

“We fuck,” He agrees. “It’s fine.” 

“Okay,” You nod, directing your gaze back toward the mirror and pumping some more foundation onto your beauty blender. 

“That what you’re going in?” 

You glance down toward your outfit—your jeans, and one of Nathan’s t-shirts. 

“Yeah,” You shrug. “We’re just grabbing bagels, nothing fancy.” 

“Are you gonna be long?” 

“Jeez,” You laugh. “No, dad.” 

“Hey,” He pushes off of the door frame, sauntering closer. “We’ve only got a couple more days here. I’m heading back soon.” 

“I know.” 

“So?” 

“So I told you, I won’t be long.” 

“Good.” 

“You’re such a big baby,” You mumble as Nathan cuddles up against your back. You smile as his hands smooth over your hips and belly. 

“You’re a goody two-shoes that can’t lie to people.” 

“Yeah, god forbid I have a conscience. I’m really not coming up with the short end of the stick here.” 

“You aren't coming up with the short end of anything,” Nathan murmurs, rolling his hips against you. You snort, swatting back at him. 

“Cut it out, you perv. I’m gonna be late.” 

-- 

“...Are you going to say anything?”

You don’t think she will for a few long moments. Jenn’s expression is frighteningly unreadable. She roughly swallows the large bite of bagel that she'd taken before she clears her throat, setting the bagel back down. 

“Let me get this straight,” She leans back in her seat. “You have spent the last…What, three and a half years telling me, swearing up and down that you hate him—” 

“I think ‘swearing’ is a little strong—” 

“—And now you’re telling me that you’ve been fucking him? For a year?”

“...Ish,” You nod, “It’s, um…Maybe closer to a year and a half. Although—That’s elapsed, if we went by the amount of time we actually spent, it’s probably closer to…Six months?” 

“Oh, if it’s elapsed.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well that makes it sooo much better.” 

“Yeah, I thought it—...You’re being sarcastic.” 

“God, you’re so smart.” 

“Look, Jenn, I know this seems kinda bad on the face of it—” 

“It doesn’t seem bad. It is bad.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Well, that makes me feel much better.” 

“I didn’t mean to—” 

“You knew that I liked him!” 

“...Yeah,” You lower your gaze to your untouched food. “I did. What I did was shitty, I’m not pretending it’s not. I should’ve told you after the first time it happened, and it shouldn’t have happened again. Frankly, it…It probably shouldn’t have happened at all.” 

Jenn pushes a sigh through her nose as she raises her hands, scrubbing them over her face. 

“Do you like him?” She asks after a few moments. 

“What’s that got to do with anything?” 

She shoots you a disbelieving look as she lowers her hands, and you hold your own up in concession. 

“I think, it’s just…” You consider for a few moments. “When it started, it was…Angry. I was angry, I was mad at him, and the sex kinda worked some of that out. I’m not mad at him like that anymore. I’m not even angry about that entire situation anymore, I’m…I guess I like him,” You finally concede. “Not like-like—Christ, I sound like a teenager, I just mean, um…” You shake your head. “We’ve reached…An amicable place.” 

“And that place is his bed?” 

You bite back a laugh as you nod a little bit, “Sometimes.” You watch Jenn for a few moments, taking in the furrow of her brow and the thin press of her lips. “How pissed are you?” 

“...I’m not gonna pretend I’m happy about it.” 

“I’m not asking you to.” 

“You should’ve told me.” 

“I know. I honestly didn’t think it would keep happening, but it did.” 

“Even now?” 

“...Yeah.” 

“Wow.” 

“Sorry.” 

Jenn huffed a stunned laugh, shaking her head. 

“I need to process this.” 

“I totally get that. Take your time.” 

“Gee, thanks for your permission.” 

“That’s not what I meant.” 

“...Are you wearing his shirt?”

-- 

“You wanna talk about it?” 

“Not really.” 

“Talk about it anyway.” 

You roll your eyes, looking down at Nathan. His chin is resting on your belly, smoothing his hands along your thighs. You sigh softly, shifting slightly under him.

“It could’ve been worse,” You concede. “She didn’t, like…Flip, but she wasn’t happy about it. Obviously.” 

“Didn’t think she would be.” 

“No, me neither.” 

“Well thanks, Mr. Smarty Pants.” You sigh, smoothing your hand over his head and honing in on the feeling of the his buzzed hair against your palm. “I’m gonna have to give her space for a while.” 

“She ask you to?” 

“No, but when Jenn is mad like this, she needs…Time. She comes back to me, not the other way around. I can’t push.”  

“What if she doesn’t come back?” 

Maybe he means it as a harmless hypothetical, but the prospect makes you feel queasy. It’s a thought that you’ve been grappling with all afternoon, that had caused tears to prickle in your eyes as you’d driven back to Bateman’s place. You shake your head wordlessly, swallowing thickly and directing your gaze toward the ceiling. 

“Okay,” He concedes. You smooth your hand down to his nape, letting your eyes close as you draw in a deep breath. It’s strange to find comfort in the way Nathan covers your body with his and nuzzles into your neck. He shouldn’t be so sweet with you, not after everything that the two of you have been done. But he cuddles close nonetheless, taking your hands in his and settling into silence. 

--  

“You gonna miss me?” 

He is teasing now. You glance up from your laptop as you sit on Nathan’s bed, watching him sort through his dresser drawers and draw out a few items to pack for his trip home. 

“...Yeah,” You admit after a few moments. “I think I am, a little bit.” 

He casts a surprise glance over his shoulder. 

“You can always come up and see me.” 

“After the week off I just took? No, I don’t think I always can.” 

“Figure of speech.” 

“Inaccurate.” 

“You gonna cry when I take off? Throw yourself onto the tarmac in front of the jet?” 

“Oh, yeah. I’m gonna actually stay here, waste away in this bed without you.” 

Nathan turns toward you again, tossing a shirt in the direction of the duffel bag before he climbs onto the bed beside you. 

“Close it,” He urges. 

“Almost done here.” 

“Close it now.” 

“If you shut it on my fingers and throw it again, I’m gonna punch you in the nards.” 

Nathan snorts, sliding down against the headboard and resting his head on your shoulder. You can’t help but smile at the warmth and weight of him beside you, and the way he repositions his head to get more comfortable. You finally finish your email before you make a big show of closing the laptop and setting it aside. 

“Can I help you?” 

Nathan turns his head, nudging his nose against your neck. 

“You could stay here,” He offers. 

“I like my place. Besides, I don’t have any of my shit here. I’ve been wearing your clothes, like, all week.” 

“I know. Looks good.” 

You smile, shaking your head. 

“I don’t wanna stick around when you’re not here, Nathan.” 

“And if I am around?” 

“...Might be nice,” You shrug, looking down at your discarded laptop. “But you’re not around much.” 

“That could change.” 

Your stomach flips at the assertion, and as Nathan looks up at you, you force a neutral expression. 

“If it’s in the best interest of the company, then sure, I guess,” You excuse. You finally chance a glance toward Nathan, and find him watching you closely. 

“...I’d like it,” You admit softly. Nathan nods, murmuring, “Alright.” 

You nod, looking down at your lap. You'd said three little words, but they feel so dangerous. Your nerves turn to the fluttering of butterflies as he presses a tender kiss to your jaw. 

“You’re just adorable,” Nathan murmurs, and you grin at the mocking sincerity in his tone. 

“Yeah, well. You’re short.”

Tag list: @missredherring; @fantasticcopeaglepasta ;  @massivecolorspygiant ; @blueeyesatnight; @amneris21 ; @ew-erin ; @youngkenobilove ; @carbonated-beverage ; @lorecraft ; @moonlightburned ; @milf-trinity ; @nolanell ; @millllenniawrites ; @chattychelsea ; @dihra-vesa ; @videogamesandpoorlifechoices​ ; @missswriter ; @thembosapphicclown ; @brandyllyn ; @wildmoonflower ; @buckybarneshairpullingkink ; @mad-girl-without-a-box ; @winchestershiresauce ; @aellynera ; @writefightandflightclub ; @thedukeofcaladan ; @beepboopyoda ; @foxilayde ; @revolution-starter ; @rachelwritesstuff ; @queen-of-elves

#Nathan Bateman x Reader #Nathan Bateman x You #Nathan Bateman/Reader #Nathan Bateman/You #Nathan Bateman fic #Nathan Bateman imagine #Three Years

[cheezbites]

Bf!Ghost x Cat!Mom!Reader

✎: this is for my cat moms out there

♡Summary: Bf!Ghost meets and adapts to your furry friends.

Bf!Ghost watched as you lined all your cats up for a roll call. They peered at the towering, bulky man standing before them as their eyes instantaneously dilated like black marbles. Your cats who were more on the more defensive side slightly shied away from him - downturning their ears and keeping their heads low.

“So, here’s Coco,” you began, gesturing at the small, dark brown kitten who was comfortably tucked away into a kitten loaf. “Here’s Bambi - you can easily remember her ‘cuz Bambi’s a very fluffy fatty,” in which she was - a round, white, furry ragdoll. She kept her gaze intently fixed onto Simon, like if she were to look away he’d suddenly disappear. “This is Rocky, and that’s Benjamin—“

“Benjamin?” he asked, his expression suddenly growing in amusement.

“It’s a long story, okay?” you groaned, playfully nudging him for mocking your precious baby’s name. “It’s complicated. But, she is in fact a girl and it’s Benny for short.”

Nodding along to your words whenever you spoke, he felt obscurely intrigued by the cats displayed in front of him. He never thought he’d be willingly standing in the same room as a cat - let alone multiple cats being the massive dog person he is. The dogs he were familiar with ranged from big and tough ones or soft and cuddly ones, like Golden Retrievers and many others.

“And then… there’s Milo.” You finished, pointing at blank air, “he’s always hiding when guests are over. I’d be surprised if you even get to see what he looks like in person,” you giggled, amused with the thought of Simon never getting to meet who you sent him pictures and videos of the most; either if it was Milo doing silly things in the silliest of places or random videos of him. He had dark, indistinguishable fur, so he can easily hide and observe others from a distance and go unnoticed like a cute shadow.

Bf!Ghost didn’t really plan on interacting with your cats despite how adorable they were. They didn’t really want to interact with him, either. It’s a win-win. It was like they were fearful to go up to him, but in all honestly, he doesn’t bite. Everyone else but Bambi understood this, she never shies away from being a friendly, clingy extrovert; she’d rub her whiskers against his ankles and purr into him as if she was making her mark on him, indirectly claiming him as her second owner. The moment you weren’t in the room, they all seemingly scattered away like a harsh wind was being blown on sand.

He couldn’t help but be astonished with the thought of how much time you must commit into all the feeding, petting, cleaning or changing their ‘doo-doo boxes’, (as you simply put it). Even their toys, food packets and cave beds are organised - and they’re well behaved. They rarely fight or quarrel with each other or cats that they’re unfamiliar with. He even remembers seeing Rocky playing outside with some random cat. He shared his tuna snack with them, as well as kindly befriending them. You had incredible motherly skills when it came to that massive, ever-growing kitten family.

Bf!Ghost has a sleek black sketchbook where he draws hyper-realistic wild animals in his free time. They’re all very high in detail and quality, he only uses a mechanical pencil or a scarce amount of materials when he draws. Drawing was an effective and productive distraction from all else. The contents inside where more on the edgier side; menacing skulls, roaring bears, large lions - things along those lines. Being the artist he was, he noticed how still your cats could be despite their energetic outbursts. They were always calm and still in the cutest of poses like the kitty loaf or when they poke their bellies out when stretching. He couldn’t help but draw Coco who was sleeping on your living room carpet, freely extending her limbs out with her eyes closed as she endearingly purred to herself. Her snout was in a cutely shaped w, like she was warmly smiling. She was basically an adorable muse that was longing to be drawn, and so he got to work, darting his gaze between his sketchbook and Coco’s restated state, methodically stroking lines with his pencil his sketchbook’s high-quality paper. He tried his best to capture her cuteness, like a photographer who just copy and pasted the kitten onto paper - and all with a pencil and a spare amount of time. He was now a professional printer who drew your kittens quite often. But, they all looked so out of place amongst the sketchbook’s general theme. For one page you could get an ominous wolf or a dark, sinister raven, the next page you get a wholesome sketch of Bambi snuggling Benny, adorably falling asleep in each other’s warmth with hearts around it. Everyone else in the cat family had been drawn… except for Milo. He hasn’t even seen him up close, the closest thing Simon’s gotten to him is the sound of his anxious footsteps scurrying away from areas he picked up on Simon’s lingering scent.

Bf!Ghost got your cats to gradually open up to him, it was a more of a tedious process for Milo, though. He couldn’t help but want to pet them. They slightly flinched the first times he’d touch them, but they still mutually endured in the feeling of his hands enveloped around and gently stroked them. His clothes would be stained in their fur after, but he doesn’t really mind it as he’s too busy living in the moment. The way they closed their eyes, purred and melted into his touch and softly vibrated was all too worth it. You love taking in the sight of him being so adoring with them, despite him being very keen on dogs rather than cats.

He befriended everyone else, but he was still left defeated - he needed the last family member to come say hello to him. He’d crouch down next to the cupboard, where Milo was hiding under, and softly coo to him like he could actually understand a word he was saying,

“‘ts alright, buddy, ‘m not gonna hurt ya,” he teased one of the rat toys in his hand under the cupboard’s gap, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of his paw reaching out to try claw at it but the only thing he got in response was Milo’s nervous footsteps further rummaging into the darkness for protection.

Bf!Ghost went out of his way to buy tuna treats, mostly for trying to teach them tricks as a satirical experiment. But he’d fail about each and every time, sigh in defeat before giving them the tuna snack, just for being ineffably cute and greedily meowing at the mere scent of it. Their eyes always curiously dilated and heads would slightly crooked to the side, being confused at the British man crouching down besides them, repeating “Siitttt, c’mon. Sit,” whilst wagging the treat in the air as an offer for their compliance. He gave up with the in vain tricks and tried fetch. He tossed one of their toys across the room, whenever one of them got it they’d zealously claw at it with their sharp teeth. He expectedly waved the snack around, expecting them to return with the toy in their mouth.

Long story short, it never works.

That was until you were watching. He promised you that Rocky knew how to play fetch, knowing that he would only sink his paws into the toy that’s been thrown instead of returning it.

Rocky ran towards the tossed toy, briefly clawed at it, then somehow returned with it in his mouth, nearly dropping it on the way.

“I never knew Rocky was such a good boy!” you exclaimed, astonishment heavy in your tone. You knelt down besides him and contently pet his multi-coloured beige and brown fur for his supernatural achievement.

Simon was honestly shocked. After all his attempts, all it took was for you to be there so it to actually work. He casually played this off like he taught them how to play fetch with a smug expression.

“Yeah, they learnt from the best.” He teased, gesturing to himself like he’s made the decade’s biggest discovery.

Bf!Ghost would gently ruff your kitties fur and subconsciously say, “Who’s a good kitten? Who’s the cutest kitten?” as he did. Even though his petting style was akin to how you’d pet a dog, he was still super soft and gentle in doing so. He just can’t help but express his dog person personality, even with cats.

Bf!Ghost is used a human bed by these cats. They playfully squabble over who gets to sleep on Simon or who’s turn it was, jumping on his lap for attention or meowing in front of him, demanding pets and praises.

The most precious moment he’s had so far is when both Benny and Coco fell asleep on him at the same time without disputing; they were both too still, warm and tired.

Bf!Ghost was having a movie night with you. In the corner of his eye, he saw a tiny, dark critter moving around. He just dismissed it, assuming it was just Bambi who would just meow for him to pet her again. That was until he noticed that he hasn’t seen this curious creature before.

Lo and behold… Milo. Here he was, living and breathing, standing right in front him. He turned to you, checking if you were witnessing this as well, but you were already half asleep and on the verge of dozing off right on your couch. Milo leapt and curled onto his lap, warmly purring. He shot you another unsure look, knowing damn well that when you woke up and if he were to tell you about this, you wouldn’t believe him for a second. But, Simon gladly gave into him, feeling a sense of achievement whilst petting Milo’s short, slick and dark fur. His in vain attempts of getting him to come meet him finally deterred. He fondly smiled to himself and the timid kitten curled up before him.

Bf!Ghost has finally met your whole kitten family, sharing wholesome, funny and rather confusing moments together. The thought of petting so many cats in such a short period of time never crossed his mind - let alone befriending and growing bonds with them. It’s like he became a part of you guys. You, the organised and caring mother. Your cats, great snuggle buddies for when you’re having sleeping troubles and also your adorable children you’d do anything to protect and care for and Simon, the newest addition and ‘farther figure’ of this family.

A/N: I had so much fun writing this, I’ll drop a König version later for sure😭!!

Headcanons of Dating Ghost

Masterlist

#fluff #ghost cod #simon ghost riley #ghost #cats #kittens #fic #fluff fic #fanfic #ghost fluff #simon x reader #x reader #x f!reader #x you #x yn #cute #wholesome #kitten #cute cats #cat fiction #idk what tags to use #call of duty #cod #call of duty modern warfare #cod modern warfare #cod x reader #yn #simon ghost #headcanons #headcanon

[slasheru]

Slasher U Update Roadmap: End of 2023!

Holy crap, it's been a hell of year, hasn't it?! Slasher U Act 1 came out at the end of April 2023 and there's been SO MUCH that's changed!

Things that were added in post-launch Slasher U Act 1 updates:

Sawyer's entire romance arc, storyline, and hookup/makeout games

Outfits

Bartending

The ability to talk to Dark Tate post-coitally

Butterflies and crows (fighting crows used to crash your game)

The entire good UI

Characters including Cliff, Stitcherella, Jennykind, Paisleigh, Tanya, and I'm pretty sure Kennedy was a very early addition, too

And that's not counting the tweaks, fixes, and content! In the interest of continuing to Ship of Theseus this game into the best dating sim ever (no biggie, right?), I have the following updates planned before the end of 2023 for Act 1!

Accessibility settings: A way to opt out of minigames with a random roll based on your personality stats (different stat per minigame as appropriate!)

Refining the places you can get personality points in Act 1

Customization: Cane accessories! These will run on a different band than outfits so you can mix and match them/equip them alongside outfits!

Finance: I made everything in the game on the pricey/"realistic" side and the money you get from gigs relatively low because A) college and B) i kind of thought it would both be funny/reflective of shitty college jobs AND a nice incentive to grind some minigames but. I think the economy needs a bit of a fix, right? ;) (in the meantime, try typing InfiniteMoneyVent with the caps correct in the Cheat Codes menu when you're in-game! Your wallet will be a little fuller!)

There are 27 major bugs left in the list for me to tackle as of now, most of them are routine but there are 3 or 4 harder ones to tackle (naming save files is being a beeeetch specifically because afaik Wolf wipes any additional system string variables even if you specify a larger variable count list? My engine just is like "naw actually I'm not saving that"?)

Prior Planned Quality of Life Stuff: Either a way to name your save files OR a way to make your character name appear under your save file (this used to happen but there was a bug where all names would default to your last used character name)

WHITE WHALE HOLY GRAIL I'm still trying to fix the text box bug! This actually isn't borked in the vanilla version of the WRPG engine but I can't fucking figure out how to fix it with the way I've set up the UI (I think? I THINK?!). This is realistically the last bug to get fixed due to my own ineptitude, so I'm hoping to A) make autosaves automatically turned on and B) making Data 1's save slot unusable so it's reserved for autosaves!

There's ALSO a couple content updates for Act 1 still (nothing major, except for, uh, ONE MAJOR THING, haha):

The Truth or Dare minigame/scenario is now going to be included in the Act 1 game, but take place after the Act 2 bumper (post-murder-attempt)

This is already in there but the preamble for Dark Tate's continuing storyline, and Laila's Act 2, activates after the murder attempt

I'll be adding Hex, Juno, and Sawyer's Act 2 lead-ins, plus regular Tate's lead-in, as I work on Act 2

Resolving the storylines (or, if you're being a Chaotic Evil type of player, ruining everyone's life) with story choices/quests for non-dateables: Act 2 will include more Sawyer/Horsemike story, and personal quests for Melyssa, Professor Plutonium, and partially Veronika/Archibald (theirs will continue into Act 3)

Maybe I'll let you fight crows again. MAYBE.

I'm ALSO working on Act 2, which has a lot of new features (notably permanent cosmetic upgrades like a piercing system and tattoos) as well as new content (obvi lmao), but I really want to find a way to offer early access passes to folks who didn't make it to the Crowdfundr (maybe via Patreon)?

Here are some Act 2 features that I'm excited to include/are already being worked on (you'll recognize a lot of these from fanvotes!)

Piercing/Tattoo Parlor

Headless Horsemike one-off hookup minigame

Tate's movie date (yes it's scripted and implemented, it'll be in the next Act 2 update lol. I KNOW I KNOW :D )

Being able to run the speakeasy/sex dungeon as a little moneymaking game in and of itself (well. More for the speakeasy. The sex dungeon is mostly for sex. You're welcome, Sawyer Enjoyers)

Being able to gift outfits to dateables

I'm personally super hype for Tate's storyline (which also involves some other students?? ooo????) and how that's going to mechanically shake out, PLUS, tattoos. Oh my god. TATTOOS GUYS. Plus, the piercing system works like IRL-style - you have to get pierced, then buy jewelry for your piercing if you want to replace your starter/healer gear! I'm a big fan of body mods IRL and having a more realistic piercing/tattoo system was important to me!

Can't wait for next year AND to bring y'all more Slasher U!!!!!!!!! Making video games is literally my favorite thing to do in the whole wide world and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life :')))) (one day I'll be able to do this FULL-full time instead of on top of reviewing medical documents and drawing IP comics for Big Corpo)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BEST FUCKIN' 6 MONTHS OF GAME DEV I COULD EVER FUCKING ASK FOR!!!!!!!!!! You guys rule :')))))))))))

xoxooxoxoxoxox, Professor Plutonium

#slasher u #roadmap #indie games #indie dev #this is a general roadmap but knowing me you should PROB expect more random content to drop at any given time haha #<33333 #dating sims #queer dating sims

[sleepypsyducks]

I'm working on a fic right now and slightly exploring Larry and Geeta's work relationship / friendship and honestly am having fun. So...headcanon time!

I just...I really like the idea that they have known each other for a long time and that Geeta is fully aware of Larry is capable of. She struggles, and has struggled for years, to understand how he just...changed to being normal. She has seen him at his best and finest hour and watched as he just...accepted normalcy and wears it like he has for his whole life. She watched how he traded fine trainer clothes of the highest quality for a few mid-quality suits and silk dress shirts. However, despite all of that, their dynamics never changed. People may think he's being serious about how she is as a boss and she thought so at first once his behavior changed but then she realized his humor is just...incredibly dry and flat. (She thinks she misses the sarcasm at first until it's directed at her in the blandest of tones. Then she finds she still hates it.) But she likes it because it compliments hers. She knows people are unsettled by her, that they have their views of her management skills and her person. Her blank gaze scares them, her attitude and behavior alienate her from people, and her smile is often misread. Yet she can pop into Larry's office with a grin on her face and stare at him as he tells her whatever is bothering him on his Spreadsheet of the Day.

Larry is one of the few people that Geeta can really just be herself around. She can let her stare become distant while she talks to him, can sit up a little straighter and become rigid as she discusses League business. She can let her words become a little sing song-y, let her body sway like it's floating when she tells him about her day. She can let Glimmora float around his office and Larry won't mind when she tries to bite his hair or burrow into his walls. She'll threaten to dock his pay for working overtime past acceptable overtime because she wants him to go home and not being a workaholic. (She knows that a lot of his money goes into Medali, goes to random trainers to pay for snacks and supplies, goes to Poppy's fundraisers and pays for Rika's obscene amount of magazine subscriptions. She knows that he has a frankly large amount of losses to bets against Hassel and that the money he gives Hassel goes to the Academy to help low income students. She knows that a large chunk of his money is also sent to another region of which she cannot figure out. She also knows that his money is spent on Pokémon clothes that she has never seen his team wear and also on gems and jewels that she knows for a fact sit in a jewelry box she got him when he accepted being the Medali gym leader. She knows that he's a man who cares not for anything but a good meal, so money doesn't actually mean much to him.)

She can put her socked feet on his lap while he glares at his computer, complaining that as his work wife she feels neglected. He'll dryly respond that there are divorce papers in his desk but please wait until Thursday to fill them out he has deadlines he needs to finish. He'll sigh when she hands him another file on an up and coming gym challenger yet they will spend the next several hours battling just so that Larry can take out his frustrations of having to stop his work to battle. She'll smile when she catches the way Larry smiles ever so slightly when he sees the diamond on Staraptor's head and the balloons on Flamigo's. She'll watch as he sits with Flamigo after their match and discuss what they need to do better next time while Glimmora floats over to say hello to her best friend. He'll not comment on how Flamingo was extremely close to successfully beating her team while she calls for repairs on the room.

Geeta may not understand why Larry chose to accept normalcy as his way of life, why he stopped battling with the passion he once had as a younger man, but she has slowly come to accept it, even if it's hard for her to do so. She doesn't understand how her rival, the one who brought out the best in her battles and of her, could just turn away from all of that to a life of letters and numbers. However, she is forever grateful that despite that he didn't end their friendship and alienate himself.

Larry struggles to understand Geeta's management style and why she has turned away from her worldly goals to focus just on Paldea. While he himself understands his dislike towards her at times, a fact she is well aware of and it brings her joy to know he can express his dislike, he doesn't fully understand why other leaders do as well given that she is very upfront with her expectations and goals. He doesn't understand why she insists on him using flying type for his Elite Four team when that was just the silly dream of a child. However, he is grateful that there is someone who understands him, who has sought to continue to understand him.

So yes, they don't always see eye to eye, they snark and get on each other's nerves, but they are the only two people who really understand the other.

However, Larry would really like it if Geeta would just let him work overtime. It's not harming anyone and it's less work for her to do.

#LOOK I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THEM ;o; #I just think they have a deep and complex relationship and it's fun to write #yes theres a sprinkling of my larrykabu agenda as well as another thing but shhhhh #i should be writing the fic but here we are #larry pokemon #gym leader larry #geeta pokemon #chairwoman geeta #they are just :| and :) #and i think thats neat #headcanons

[masonscig]

Man. I won't say I'm disappointed with this book, but I think the series is a whole lot better when the focus is on things being done TO the mc vs random people suffering because x wants their blood

Like, book one was about Murphy going after the mc. Simple clear threat that fits the tone of the books. Sure some other people died but I don't think it hindered anything

i liked book 2 because it was just a genuine supernatural problem. The carnival guys who's name I can't remember rn were just having a simple conflict of interest with wayhaven. I'm not mad at the trappers coming in at the end but I think a simple low stakes ending where they sign the treaty or don't would have been just as fitting

But book 3 was absolutely not ready to actually handle the dark topics it wanted to devle into. The scope of the plot was way to wide and it still managed to feel slow. If it were up to me I would have just had the trappers going after addie with no connection to mc. It would be lower stakes than like. A dozen or whatever kidnappings and wouldn't have made the actual romance (you know the focus of the books?) Feel so out of place tone wise.

Sorry for rambling into your ask box lol I just have many thoughts about book 3 (like the fact that on steam it sits alphabetically between book 1 and 2 so my steam games list goes 1 3 2. That's going to bug me forever)

HI <3 before i respond, don't apologize for leaving a long ask in my inbox! i absolutely love getting asks and especially ones that open up discussions! <3 thank you for this !! answering below the cut

you're so right about the differences between books. it's so much better when it's contained – the story for this was just too big for her to get her hands around. and that's awesome that she was ambitious! the story quality just suffered a lot bc of it. dude i LOVE that it was just One Guy Versus Unit Bravo for a while, because it was just so much more focused and allowed for more romance to bloom – and a huge reason i liked falk so much is that, like you said, it was a conflict of interest. he's not evil – just from another world with another cultural standard for "judgment". in book 3, it's literally a human (or supernatural in this case) rights violation. these are children – being kidnapped and attempted to be sold. this isn't a story that should have any lighthearted plot beats in the slightest – unless they were organic, and none of them felt that way

it's funny (not funny haha, funny weird) you say that about addie, because i was having an in depth discussion with friends about how much better the plot would flow if less people had been kidnapped. even just the idea that there are supernatural youth existing in wayhaven and that it is in fact, not safe for anyone! human or supernatural!

this book is just lacking the emotional impact plot-wise that it should, in my opinion, because she tried to cram so much into one book. that doesn't mean any of the plot points are bad, per se, they just needed to be workshopped, edited down, saved for later books, cut out completely – whatever makes the series flow better! and that's not to say any of these ideas are bad ideas – it's just unrealistic to write literally every possible idea for twc! there's going to be a point where there's too much to call back to and it's going to affect the story if those things aren't mentioned again yk?

also STOP ITS OUT OF ORDER ON STEAM??? LMAOOOO the cherry on top to a shit sundae huh.

#asks #twc book 3 #twc book 3 spoilers #twc spoilers #long post #let me know if i need to tag any triggers or if there's more spoilers tags that would be helpful! #i have another general ask about what i didn't like about book 3 and i'm definitely working on that – it'll just take a while #i have quite a few points to make – but tbh i need to replay to make sure i articulate it right #also... just so you know @ anyone reading this who would care: #i'm planning on doing a lot of rewrites but it'll be slow! my friends and i have been brainstorming improvements #anyway ty to the anon for the ask! <3

[yeah-yeah-beebiss-1]

early impressions from the first 2 hours or so of pokemon scarlet: an ambitious, would-be phenomenal game held back by being released way too early

graphics are dogshit as expected, still looks like a late PS2 game

performance is rough - a lot of random frame drops and choppy animations, pop-in is somehow worse than PLA; there were several early cutscenes in the school classroom where all your schoolmates were moving at like 6fps that were extremely distracting

-koraidon’s jumping physics are super fucked up; in general the game has strong Bethesda energy with weird clipping and frame drops and general jank (for example, the only buildings you can enter are stores, and by “enter” i mean “the camera zooms in on the door until the whole screen is taken up by the door texture which is then used as a background for the shop UI”)

speedrunners are going to have a blast breaking this game wide open, which is to say the general quality control is very poor

pokemon variety is enormous, i nearly had a full PC box by the 2 hour mark just grabbing one of everything i saw

i can already tell that difficulty/level balancing is going to be a concern - exp share is always on and there are a lot of opportunities for experience, the only way you’ll be able to get through the game without being grotesquely overleveled for two of the three story paths is to box your whole team after completing one and starting over with low-level critters

overworld/catching mechanics don’t feel as polished as PLA’s; overworld catching is gone, there’s no reticule for aiming pokeballs to ambush wild pokemon, camera controls aren’t as flexible

you can set destination markers on the map, but they only show up on the minimap - playing this after finishing xenoblade 3 (which lets you see the markers in the world and even toggle guide paths) just makes me feel like it’s going to be a substantial learning curve for people not used to/fond of open-world games

terastallizing doesn’t feel like as much of a game breaker as dynamax or mega evolution

the gym leader implementation of terastallizing is boring as hell - rather than changing their ace to something that’ll counter whatever you brought to counter the gym type, they use it to change a pokemon that isn’t their gym type to match their gym type (the bug-type gym leader, for example, has a teddiursa that she terastallizes into bug type)

the soundtrack varies from respectable to absolutely amazing from what i’ve heard so far, the wild pokemon battle theme is dynamic based on area and the team star and tera raid battle themes go way harder than they have any right to - it’ll be interesting to see exactly how much influence toby fox had over the soundtrack, because some of these tracks definitely have his vibes all over them

in all fairness, i’m playing a leaked dump of a retail cartridge so there’s the possibility of a day-one patch fixing some of these issues, but the lack of polish runs so deep that i don’t think a single patch could address it

overall, i’m still having a decent time with the game because the pokemon formula is inherently pretty watertight and the exploration is pretty fun, but the game just feels blatantly unfinished so i couldn’t in good conscience recommend people drop $60 on it

i have a feeling there’s going to be more than a few instances of people getting buyer’s remorse and unloading their copies for cheap by early december, so i’d strongly recommend just waiting for that to happen so you can get it secondhand for $40-45

#pokemon spoilers #not really but i figure someone's gonna get mad if i don't tag it as such

[hausofneptune]

[the astrology of pedro pascal] - soft mars aspects (major) | mars trine uranus

hey y’all! in this series we’ll be covering major soft/positive aspects (conjunctions, sextiles, and trines) to pedro’s mars. he doesn’t have any major hard aspects outside of the square to his venus, but the minor positive aspects to his mars (quintiles/biquintiles and septiles) will be covered in an upcoming series, as well as the rest of the major and minor aspects to the rest of his planets and asteroids in his chart! i also want to note that when it comes to these aspects, they have to be examined through the lens of the entire chart, as they’re influenced by a myriad of factors within it.

disclaimers | masterlist | ask

mars trine uranus (within 8.1°)

in this aspect, the planetary bodies are harmonious and their energies are naturally and positively expressed. mars represents our motivation, libido, and assertiveness, and how we navigate our aggression and anger. it rules war, violence, and accidents, as well as things that are deemed traditionally masculine. as venus’ counterpart, it’s indicative of our sense of masculinity, as well as the type of man/masc-presenting person we’re attracted to, or the darker/yang-like qualities we exhibit ourselves and are drawn to in others. uranus signifies sudden and unexpected events. it’s the co-ruler of aquarius in modern astrology, and represents innovation, eccentricity, rebellion, and unpredictability. it’s also a generational planet, and it stays in the same sign for 7 years, meaning everyone born in that time frame will share the same placement. 

this grants the native with an energetic, and at times sporadic, level of determination and drive. they can be extremely innovative in their creative output, as well as the ways in which they navigate conflict. they tend to be nonconformists, and are extremely confident in their unconventional views and self-expression. they may be drawn towards tech, or more non-traditional fields where they can express their creativity. they may reject the idea of living a conventional life and settling down with a family and working a 9 to 5, and would much rather live life on their own terms and jump from one thing to the next. 

with uranus’ influence, the native may want to be amongst a group of like-minded individuals. although, their martian side can influence them in the opposite direction, and they may take a hyper-independent or self-important approach to their endeavors. they may prefer acting on their “gut feelings” over being pragmatic and objective, and act immediately when they feel inspired. experiencing “highs and lows” may be a consistent theme in their lives, they may go from being inspired, juggling multiple things at once, and potentially overworking themselves, to feeling unmotivated or “stuck,” and resistant to new ideas. 

this “high and low” conundrum may also translate to other facets of their lives, as this can manifest as random emotional outbursts. although, these natives tend to entertain conflict only if they’re certain that they’re in the right. this may show up most in youth as temper tantrums; in adulthood, their perspective is more influenced by their high ideals and less by a sense of egotism. growing up, they may have enjoyed hobbies that contrasted with those of their peers, and grew passionate about them despite potential feelings of rejection or isolation. these feelings can follow them into adulthood and manifest as emotional avoidance or insensitivity to others. 

in relationships, they may require more of a “cerebral connection” with their partner (similar to the moon sextile uranus and moon sextile BML aspects pedro also has). they may find themselves attracted to people who challenge them on their ideals or inspire them to think outside the box. they may require constant stimulation in order to not become “bored,” and therefore could struggle to settle or commit to long-term relationships. 

this can also be indicative of feeling comfortable in one’s sexual identity, these natives may enjoy exploring the taboo and experimenting in their intimate lives. they may be the types who can detach emotionally from their intimate partners, which may bring ease to any FWB situations they participate in. their “high and low” nature can also translate into this area of their lives, as they may have bouts of feeling hyper-sexual or insatiable, and then become celibate for weeks or months at a time, and potentially direct that energy towards other areas of their lives like their careers. 

ultimately, this aspect can influence the native to have great confidence in their creative endeavors, as they’re naturally inclined to be pioneers and push the bounds of what’s deemed “normal” and acceptable. they’re typically very open, understanding people, but may need to put effort towards not being too overly dogmatic about their ideals and beliefs. they embrace the possibility of the unknown, leading them towards expansion that others may limit themselves from out of fear. 

as always, if anyone has any of the placements or aspects mentioned in this post i’d love to hear how it personally manifests in your own life and how it impacts your personality, or if anyone has anything to add in general feel free to reach out and let me know!

#mars trine uranus #mars uranus aspects #pedro pascal #pedro pascal astrology #uranus astrology #pedro all mars aspects #pedroMSMSA #pedro pascal fandom #the last of us hbo #mars astrology #the mandalorian #joel miller #oberyn martell #pedro pascal birth chart #din djarin #astrology #astrology notes #astrology observations #birth chart #astro notes #birth chart reading #natal chart reading #birth chart observations #natal chart observations #astrology aspects #pedro pascal natal chart

[hypocriticaltypwriter]

💛Questions for Your Ocs💛

💖your favorite color?

🕺your favorite outfit?

😼favorite sibling/parent?/j

🍕dodgeball or volleyball?

👏favorite food?

💃do you like to dance? and if so, favorite dance move?

🪷trees or bushes?

☕️do you like surprises?

🎃favorite holiday?

hope I’m not bothering you!! I just really wanna know what Tam and Karai’s favorite things are💖💖 hope you’re doing well too, eat food and drink water!! 💖💖💛💛

-Lord Freg Almighty💛👍

LORD FREG HAS APPEARED TO MY ASK BOX AND ILL SHALL DO WHAT IS ORDERED

Tysm for the ask and I think it helped me explore the characters more myself! ^^

Love it when Freg pops up in my feed >:]

💜Karai💜

💖your favorite color?

Pastel lavender or plain purple- duh!

🕺your favorite outfit?

Just the casual!

Simple lavender tank top with black shorts, she also wears purple and hot pink (yikes) striped thigh-high socks underneath with fuzzy brown boots! (And an iconic light purple mask with a big bow with a tool belt around her waist)

😼favorite sibling/parent?/j

She loves all her siblings equally- but she does hold a soft spot for the twins- they bug her the most but she'd miss it if it stopped!

Parents the same, but she does have a sort of bumby relationship with Papatello atm

🍕dodgeball or volleyball?

None- too similar to the horror stories her dad tells of... Beach balls.

👏favorite food?

Anything mildly spicy or cold soba!

💃do you like to dance? and if so, favorite dance move?

Have you met her dad? She LOVES to dance!! not sure she has a certain/favorite dancemove and just gets jiggy with it, but I suppose she doesn't mind the cupid shuffle! It's the only dance she can really do that her siblings follow along with!

🪷trees or bushes?

Trees! She's always wanted to see a full live tree and not a rotting/krang covered one!

☕️do you like surprises?

With 5 siblings... Depends on the surprise LOL

🎃favorite holiday?

She loves fourth of July- they don't really get super celebratory for the holiday, but she likes blowing stuff up with her uncle Leo!

💚Tam💚

💖your favorite color?

Gotta be lime green!

🕺your favorite outfit?

One of the only she has half the time, a darkish orange baggy top with sweat pants and a purple bandana holding back her hair with hoop earrings!

😼favorite sibling/parent?/j

Oh Tam is a grade A mama's girl- and she loves Raph, Leo, and Mikey all the same!

...It's April.

🍕dodgeball or volleyball?

Volleyball! She used to play almost wickedly good when she was younger.

👏favorite food?

Extremely spicy nachos or grilled cheese!

💃do you like to dance? and if so, favorite dance move?

Like Karai, it all depends! Sometimes she just let's loose and does random dancing... She DOES however know how to do the Wobble fabulously ✨️

🪷trees or bushes?

Gotta say bushes! But only cause she wishes to go pick berries and such with the little ones one day!

☕️do you like surprises?

Same answer as Karai +a low key mad scientist Husband-

🎃favorite holiday?

Christmas! The only time the she feels she can rightfully spoil the hell out of her kids and be with the family for some good quality bonding time ^^

-

Ahh sorry it's a bit long but I just love the ask! Again, thank you for it and I'm glad I was able to share some of my wisdom on these gremlins of mine 🙏

XOXO💜!! :D

#Rottmnt #Rottmnt oc #rottmnt fanfiction #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt x oc #Ask #Rottmnt fancomic #rottmnt headcanons

[beoneofus]

𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜?

fandom: the lost boys

poly! lost boys x gender neutral! reader ( and oc's/friends )

length: semi long

warnings: swearing, time travel, non-sense, the boys being introduced to phones, covid mention, attempted comedy, perhaps triggering jokes so caution ahead, just absolute chaos. bill and ted vibes.

a/n: came up with the idea of the boys having/being in a groupchat. I figured they'd have to be somewhere in the future, which is why it'll take place in mid-late 2021. i might write more parts to this, it depends. I hope you guys enjoy it anyway. :) / ps. sorry for any errors made, not proof read. /

( unedited, 5.27.22 )

part two

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when the four vampire bikers of santa carla first woke up from their twelve hours of sleep, they did not expect to see the pitch blackness of the night sky above them... nor dingy, low watt quality, orange glowing lightbulbs that were loosely screwed into wall lights.. and were the frames shaped like cubes? what the fuck? the fact that red, bricked walls surrounded them and the quiet chirps of crickets sounded off, didn't help either. by the smell of the rotted food, and low whiff of sewage water around the outside space, they instantly could tell it was an alleyway they were in.

obviously, they wanted to know how the fuck they got into an alleyway, and where it was located at. the place smelled nothing like santa carla, and definitely didn't sound much like the boardwalk they were so used to being on. that leaves rhe question, where are we?, to ring in the fours' mind.

“ who the actual hell would be stupid enough to dump us somewhere, man? ” paul started, as he, along with his three coven brothers, slowly got up from the place on the murky ground, they had laid upon. looking around, turning his head to and fro, the blonde's lips parted in confusion. “ — where even is somewhere? I've never seen this alleyway near the 'walk. ”

“ the real question is, who was dumb enough to come into the cave in the first place...? ” marko mumbled his own thoughts, while looking around just as confused; brows furrowed together in slight frustration, seeing as he can't pinpoint where they are.

“ .. or why they would just drop us off in a random alleyway? ” dwayne threw out, his thumb and index loosely gripping at his chin as he tried to come up with any theories as to why they were in this predicament. “ anyone that's come after us before, usually would take the chance to attack us when we're off guard.. this whole situation makes no sense. ”

david, who pulled a single cigarette from his pack that seemed to be running low, pinched his own brows together in question. “ we would've woken up if anyone trespassed, ” closing the flap on the rectangular box, he pocketed it before placing the filtered end of the cancer stick, to his lips. “ which leaves me to think no one brought us here in the first place. ”

all three of the other males whirled their heads around to look at him. when he looked back at them, after lighting his smoke, paul voiced his thoughts. “ what the hell does that even mean? ” he questioned, even more confused than previously. “ y'don't think we just magically ended up here, do you? ” marko asked right after, a rather blank look on his visage. “ how else would we end up in an alleyway, other than someone putting us in this damn place? ”

“ well, we're real.. ” the blondes looked over at dwayne as he spoke, a distant look to his chocolate hues as he stared at the ground. “ who's to say other supernatural beings aren't? or that.. something else, isn't? ” when he lifted his head, he met the eyes of paul, who looked dumbfounded. “ think about it - we would have waken up. after what happened with those disgusting frogs, we've been on higher alert. chloroform can't effect us, so there's no way we could've been forced to sleep. and if it were hunters, they would've wasted no time in killing us. ” the usual quiet male, snapped his fingers while a thoughtful look of curiosity sprouted. “ that's why I'm wondering, what if this was a supernatural doing? ”

david, marko and paul all exchanged looks with each other. while dwayne did have a point, what exactly could've caused such a thing to happen? and they still don't know where they are.

“ I've never heard you speak so much, let alone so... ” paul drew his eyebrows together in a thinking manner, as he looked off elsewhere. “ excitedly? is that the word I'm looking for? ” he juggled between looking at both marko and david, but didn't even wait for a reply, before switching his gaze back onto the brunette. “ whatever, man. I just know you're making a lot of sense, and that's scary. ”

marko nodded his head. “ paul's right. but, we should really find out whe— ”

bzz, bzz!

all of the males froze. david, who usually took charge of everything, shared a look with the three others. all of their eyes were widened in alarm. they never got scared, nor really panicked, but due to the situation, they had a reason to be a bit jumpy. since they've never heard such a sound before, either, it concerned them. “ what was that? ” paul whispered in a hushed tone, slight curiosity, but mainly fright, flashing through his orbs.

“ it better not be a bomb.. ” marko mumbled, a little too nervous to move, in case it actually is a bomb. he didn't want to get blown to smithereens. “ I'll kill the whole fucking town if there's a bomb by us- ”

“ will you shut. up. ” david butted in, gaze hard as he spoke through gritted teeth. clearly, none of them were used to being so paranoid. “ I highly doubt it's a bomb. It doesn't sound like one - besides, why would there be a bomb in an alley? ”

“ I don't know, david! ” marko whisper shouted, irritation clear in his tone; eyes holding impatience and fear. “ why are there a lot of things in a lot of things?! why are we in an alley?! ” he was doing small, barely noticeable yet harsh, hand movements. “ a lot of shit doesn't make sense right now! ”

dwayne was growing annoyed, now. although he was incredibly confused himself, and a bit spooked just like they were, at least he wasn't acting like a dumbass. “ will you all calm down? ” he spoke lowly, but his deep tone was enough to grab marko and david's attention. “ I don't think it's a bomb.. they don't make buzzing noises - only clicks and tics. ” he sailed his tongue over his bottom lip in thought. “ 'sides, a bomb would destroy more than just us. unless someone wanted to blow up the whole neighborhood, possibly more, I don't think there's a bomb in this alleyway. ”

“ oh, it's definitely not a bomb! ” the two blondes, and brunette, all looked at each other when they heard paul's holler. they all then turned their gaze onto the spot where he was, only to see it empty.

immediately, marko turned around and looked towards the other end of the alley. david followed his gaze, along with dwayne, only to see him by a dark corner. his back was turned to them, but seemed to be holding something - a bag, a black satchel, seemed to be resting by his feet.

“ it's not a bomb, ” paul said once more, while slowly turning around. “ but, uh.. I have no clue what the hell these are. ” the stoner stated, lifting his head and looking up at his coven brothers, while out stretching his hands. two black rectangles were in accompanied in his palms, with what looked to be apple-like imprints on the back. “ there's two more in that bag, ” he tilted his head over his shoulder, referring to the dark satchel on the cement. “ but one is red, and one is white. ”

“ the hell... ” marko muttered, walking forward and approaching paul; hand outstretched. he curiously took one of the... things, and began examining it. turning it over, and looking at it, he let out a confused noise. “ what is this thing? ”

“ I have no clue, bud. ” paul leaned forward, looking over it as well. he could've just looked at the one in his own hand, but of course he didn't think of that. “ that— ” he stopped marko's moving hand, and pointed to a small rectangle on the narrow side of.. whatever the thing was. “ — 's that a button? ” brows furrowed, him and marko share a look; paul's pale blue irises holding confusion. “ it looks like one. ”

“ don't press anything, ” david said, while walking closer to get a look himself. as he peered over marko's shoulder, he studied the thing. “ you have no clue what this is or what it can do. ”

“ there's only one way to find out! ” paul grinned, completely ignoring the ‘ no! ’ from marko, and ‘ stop, idiot! ’ from david as he pressed his thumb down onto the button. they all braced themselves to explode, or for something crazy to happen, but... nothing did.

peeking an eye open, that marko unexpectedly closed, the curly haired male eyed the rectangular item warily. “ nothing happened..? ” david stared at it as well, confused, but quiet. “ wait, there's another button— ” paul pressed the button on the other side, and this time something did happen. the front, that seemed to be a screen, lit up, causing marko to yell and throw the device.

“ mark, you fuckin' dip! ” paul scowled, jumping to catch the device. thankfully for them, he had fast reflexes and managed to catch it with a single hand. “ can't just go throwin' shit, man. ”

“ I didn't know it was gonna' light up like that! ” marko hissed in return, narrowing his eyes in a nettled manner. “ can't blame me for jumpin' at something I didn expect to happen! ” marko was right on the matter. he didn't know what the device was, or what it did, so being frightened by an expected occurrence was an appropriate response. that's exactly why david shook his head, and broke it up between the two men.

“ knock it off, numbskulls. ” the bleach blonde sighed, only to reach forward and rip the object from paul's raised hand, which had lifted in exaggerated anger due to marko's harsh tone. “ we don't have time to yammer back and forth, we gotta' found out where we are, and what this is. ”

not going unnoticed by david, marko and paul shot a glare at each other. of course he said nothing, for it wouldn't do much but cause marko to complain about paul, and paul to point fingers and blame the other blonde over something absolutely stupid. he rather not hear it, so he let it be, all while clicking the item in his hand, back on.

“ slide to unlock.. ” david mumbled to himself, as he reads the glistening words on the screen. he had no clue how words could look like that on a screen, or whatever kind of thing this was, but he listened anyway; taking his index finger and swiping right. he was amazed when the white, button looking.. white thing on the glass, followed his movements, only for a new setting to appear right before his eyes.

“ what the hell? ” he voiced, tone rough with perplexity. the vampire had no clue what just happened, how it happened, nor if he actually witnessed that. maybe somehow, someway, he just hallucinated. “ wicked... ” paul awed from over the others' forearm, which he was leaning over. “ how'd you do that? ”

“ so, I'm not going crazy? ” although it was a rhetorical question, and david's sudden blank expression made that clear, paul mumbled out a ‘ no ’ that was absentmindedly said. he was far too fascinated to even comprehend that he just spoke. “ this is fucking odd.. ” david mumbled, while reading over the next words that were on the screen, now. “ type in a passcode? th'hell is this? I don't know what the passcode is. ”

“ why would there be a passcode? ” marko asked, brows raised curiously as he now, also looked at the lit screen. “ maybe this is like, some top secret stuff we're not supposed to have? ” paul questioned in return, only to share a look with the other blonde right after. It was like there were saying ‘ oh shit, we just discovered some rad, top secret fbi stuff ’, with their eyes.

“ will you two be quiet? ” dwayne was now behind david, peaking over his shoulder at the screen. he ignored the two knuckleheads as they protested, and instead, focused on thinking of what the code could possibly be. “ usually people make dates or important numbers as pass codes... like an address, or a burial plot. ”

“ what about the address to max' house? ” the three males looked at marko as if he was stupid upon throwing out that particular question, leaving him to roll his eyes. “ it was just a thought.. ”

paul scoffed. “ a stupid one, man. as if we know the address to max' house. ” the blonde looked back at the bright screen, now trying to think himself. “ uh.. what about that broad's birthday - the one max was into. michael's mom. ” he raised his eyes to look at the others. “ what was her name.. loni? ”

“ I think lacy. ” marko butted in.

“ it was lucy, you idiots. ” david exhaled through his nose, already fed up. “ even if it was her birthday, I don't know it, and neither do any of you. ”

dwayne hummed. “ maybe the address of the emerson house? ”

david paused for a moment, and thought it out. it could be... but he doesn't really recall what exactly the address was. they knew the house by memory and good travel documentation, but not by memory of the address itself. “ I don't remember the fucking numbers.. ” he grumbled, ready to just chuck the fucking thing.

“ well shit.. ” paul huffed, now stumped. what else could it be?

after a moment of silence, marko lifted his fallen head and snapped his fingers. “ what about the year? that has to count for something. ”

david stared at him for a good minute, before shrugging. looking at the screen, he raised his index finger and began typing in the numbers. once 1-9-8-7 displayed on the screen, and the lock successfully broke, gaining them access to the device, the three vampires all grinned at their coven brother. “ nice work, marko. ”

“ yeah, bud - nice one. ” paul congratulated, smiling widely.

“ you did alright. ” dwayne chuckled, lifting a hand to pat the curly haired male's shoulder.

shrugging, smug look now imprinted onto his face, marko smirked to himself. “ hey, no big deal - I'm not called smart for nothing. ”

the other's, including paul, could beg to differ, but they decided on saying nothing. marko wasn't stupid, but he wasn't exactly a genius like he claimed to be either. so they didn't deflate his ego, and instead, focused back onto the device at hand.

bzz bzz!

david nearly dropped the object when the buzz rang through, casting something to flash across the top of the screen. thank god he didn't, and instead settled on glaring at the screen out of annoyance.

he decided to reach forward and click on the box up top. this caused the screen to go white for a minute, before the setting switched once again, to a new background that made the four males confused.

“ what the fuck is happening? ” paul asked, as his light orbs read over the words that popped up in bubble-like boxes, in whatever it was that they were suddenly in. “ I wanna know that too.. ” marko pitched, voice quiet and full of loss. he didn't know what to make of this.

“ I think whoever is putting.. these words.. into the screen.. is communicating with these other people that are doing that, too. ” dwayne spoke, reading over the chat himself. “ that's what I'm chalking this up to, based on what's being said.. ”

david raised a brow at this. a lot of the shit being said made no sense, and seemed to be some kind of inside communication that none of them knew about. he also wondered if this was someone else's talking device, that they just so happened to discover, which is why they were in the big, red screen room.

without speaking out loud, he began to press his fingers on the letters that popped up, after he clicked the bar at the bottom that said chat. david didn't know what he was doing, or if he was doing it right, but he had an instinct to just go with it.

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bzz bzz!

...

bzz bzz!

...

bzz bzz! bzz bzz!

“ oh for fuck sake! ” a tuff of tousled bed head sprouted out from a black and dark blue duvet, leaving the owner of the knotted mess to huff in annoyance due to the fact that their (long/semi-long)/medium) vision was blocked out by their own hair. jutting their head back, just enough for some of their hair to move out of eye view, the person in question grabbed for their phone on their bedside table and snatched it up.

after unplugging the charging cord, they clicked their phone on and unlocked it, typing in (your pet's birthday/favorite music artist's birth year) as your passcode. squinting at the screen, their annoyance filled hues read over the groupchat messages that seemed to be flying in faster than stray plastic walmart bags. you could only make out two messages before the chat, in your notifications, cuts off.

with an eye roll, you go onto messenger, the fucking culprit, and enter the chat to read what exactly was going on. it better be good.

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THE CUNT SCOUTS

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(jessie wallace) daphne blake: I don't believe whoever this is lmfao there's no way you just found a phone laying in a bag, in an alleyway, and are now typing on it - sent at 8:23 pm

(bryce jetts) queer thor: not to mention, how'd this mysterious phone have access to our groupchat? - sent at 8:24 pm

(ricky brooks) weed cadet: shit seems kinda sus - sent at 8:25 pm

(jessie wallace) daphne blake: and they said they didn't know how to use a phone. AND called it a " thing ". this sounds like an old pervert that's being a nosey prick - sent at 8:25 pm

unknown: this is a phone? shit looks nothing like a phone you've got to be fuckin with me - sent at 8:27 pm

(bryce jetts) gay thor: LMAO didn't deny being an old pervert, I smell some truth behind that - sent at 8:28 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: what the fuck is going on & why was I woke up? - sent at 8:29 pm

(ricky brooks) weed cadet: some old dicktip somehow got into the groupchat n is now claiming not to know what a phone is - sent at 8:30 pm

(y/l l/n) royal cunt the third: sounds like your pedo ass dad lmfaoo - sent at 8:30 pm

unknown: I'm not old - sent at 8:31 pm

unknown: and did you just call me a dicktip? - sent at 8:33 pm

(jessie wallace) daphne blake: ricky if this is your ugly ass dad I'm literally booting you from the group - sent at 8:34 pm

(ricky brooks) weed cadet: my sperm donor is literally in fucking jail, you know this - sent at 8:35 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: mmm phones can be snuck into prison these days tho - sent at 8:35 pm

(bryce jetts) gay thor: exactly. so how do we know this isn't your dad? - sent at 8:36 pm

unknown: you all sound like fucking kids - sent at 8:37 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: and you sound like an ancient dick sucker from 1823, what about it? - sent at 8:38 pm

(jessie wallace) daphne blake: LMFAO omg - sent at 8:39 pm

(ricky brooks) weed cadet: lmaoo damn bro - sent at 8:39 pm

unknown: so you're a kid then - sent at 8:40 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: no but yes. I'm mentally 6 and physically 19 - sent at 8:41 pm

(bryce jetts) gay thor: felt. physically 20 and mentally 8 with a degree in immaturity. - sent at 8:43 pm

(ricky brooks) weed cadet: physically 18 and mentally gone - sent at 8:44 pm

(jesse wallace) daphne blake: physically 20 and mentally ginger - sent at 8:45 pm

unknown: how in the fuck are we in the same age range - sent at 8:47 pm

unknown: and you're right about being mentally younger you all sound stupid as hell - sent at 8:49 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: okay anon from reddit dot com that probably drinks 4locos, whatever you say - sent at 8:50 pm

(bryce jetts) gay thor: LMAO y/n you didn't have to bury him, jesus - sent at 8:51 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: jesus? don't know her x - sent at 8:52 pm

(ricky brooks) weed cadet: so.. bad news, think I got covid - sent at 8:54 pm

(jessie wallace) daphne blake: bitch what - sent at 8:55 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: damn.. this is why I stay inside and away from disgusting flesh bags - sent at 8:56 pm

unknown: the hell is covid? - sent at 8:58 pm

(y/n l/n) royal cunt the third: and this where I go back to sleep. night - sent at 9:00 pm

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #paul the lost boys #marko the lost boys #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys #tlb 1987 #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys x reader #reader insert #gender nuetral reader #chat fic imagine #oc insert

[raimispiderman]

Once upon a time, 9 seconds of low quality soundless footage of the deleted scene between Eddie and Gwen was released!

If you’re curious about what it entails, the novelisation has a take on it (who knows if this was exactly what was planned for the movie, though:)

Quickly she headed for the front door, fully aware that her father and mother were going to be watching through the window the entire time. She approached Eddie, who had taken up station near her parked car. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I know you're having family time, but, what a beautiful day," he said with such chipperness that she thought maybe he'd had a psychotic break or something. How could he act as if nothing were wrong? "Could we talk? Gosh, you look swell. Going running?"

"No. Why are you here?"

"Could I come in for a minute?" He gestured toward the house.

Gwen had a feeling that if she let him in, he'd never leave short of her father forcing him out at gunpoint. "I've told you, Eddie. I don't want to see you."

"Maybe you could use a little break." He proffered the box. "I brought you some candy. You said you like the cherry centers."

"Stop trying to take over my life!"

Their next-door neighbor was busy putting his sprinkler out on his lawn, but he stopped to listen in. Great. That's all I need.

"I'm not trying to take over your life. You're important to me! Don't act as if we've never met. We stood on that porch" - he pointed, his finger trembling - "you let me kiss you there. You said you cared for me. That you loved me!"

What? "I never said I loved you!" she protested. Becoming increasingly angry, Gwen railed, "How could anybody love you after you tried to disgrace someone who is as noble and principled as Spider-Man by deceiving the public with that phony picture you made up?!"

Eddie couldn't have looked more grief-stricken if he'd been standing at his mother's funeral. "Don't you understand there's a reason for everything? I know you talk to Parker about me. Why can't you talk to me, get my side of the story? Things aren't always what they seem to be, y'know." He reached out, took hold of her arm. "I need a friend right now."

Gwen tried to pull free, but he wasn't releasing her. "Let go of me, Eddie!"

She was certain that she still was in control of the situation, but clearly her parents didn't share that opinion. She heard the hurried sound of running feet and turned to see her father and mother approaching. "Take your hand off her, boy!" Captain Stacy warned him.

"Let her go!" said Helen.

Brock instantly let Gwen loose. His entire body looked shaky, as if his joints were being held together by little more than rubber bands. "How are you, Captain Stacy?" he said with false joviality. He actually had the nerve to put out a hand for a handshake. "Edward Brock, sir. Daily Bugle."

George Stacy looked at the outstretched hand as if it belonged to a leper. Worse: he'd probably have been more inclined to shake a leper's hand. "I know who you are. I want you to leave here."

Eddie lifted up his camera, trying to keep it steady as he peered through the viewfinder. He was so wobbly that Gwen was starting to wonder if he was either drunk or hungover. And he kept up with the random and bizarre attempts at flattery: "For my album, sir. If I could get the family? You have a beautiful house. Is this plastic siding?"

Captain Stacy took a step forward. "Mr. Brock, get off this property or I will arrest you. Is that clear?"

That silenced Eddie. He stared hopelessly, helplessly at the Stacy family, and something in the pure despair of his look made even George Stacy take a measure of pity on him. "Go on, son," he said as gently as he could. "Go home."

Brock looked at Gwen like a man who had just been strapped into the electric chair and was gazing at the life he would never have. Then he forced a smile that was all the more unsettling for its inappropriateness. He turned away from her, walked sadly to the sidewalk, then bizarrely did a little hop/skip/heel-kick motion that looked like something out of a music video.

#gwen stacy #eddie brock #george stacy #spiderman 3

[foundinfantasy]

Not a Modder (Just like to think creatively)

THE SIMS 4 HORSE RANCH

These were ideas I had before the pack came out with just knowing we were getting horses, nectar making, and mini-goats and sheep and just thought of how much more they could've done.

Tabletop dancing -> broken arm, leg, drunken antics, ie consequences

Bulk -> sell to bars, shipping, packaging, (carton of eggs, wine, boxes of apples), (personally would like to see cat and dog food as a purchasable item, cans and bags and tupperware)

Scouts update - > fundraising, bake sales / cookie drive, and horse camp

Lasso -> toddler to elder, child+ competitions

billiards -> social activity for teen+, random outcome, betting, pool hall

motorcycles -> we have bikes, wouldn't this basically be the same animation without the moving feet.

Rodeos - > with zero pixel animal abuse - social event and competition (using mechanical bull riding) at a saloon lot type with saloon doors

glasswork, ironwork, stones -> gold or stones from river, mining, making horseshoes, glassblowing, bead-making

any indigenous gameplay?! Sage harvestable, burnable, craftable sage, weaving skill, dreamcatchers, totems, blankets, books/conversing with sim about culture - > beads, jewelry, knitting addons - > crafting table

horse plow -> attachable wheel barrow to mass harvest all

mischief and politics -> new protests, new policies, and the urban legend of cowtipping

petting zoo - > update to barn to free llama and cow, ability to lock bunnies in, employee a fox, [just adding snakes and lizards]

nectar making - > should've been in mws - winetasting, order bottle during meal, blends, nameable, snob interactions and/or moodlets about the notes, make box wine [low, get drunk quick quality],

stare down - > rude introduction

pianola - > upgradable to play on its own [even though not historically accurate] - > ability to play piano drunk

MY IDEAS AFTER THE PACK WAS RELEASED (and I've spent like two days in game, not bored just drawing out that single drop of gameplay) - this is mainly where the "not a modder" comes in as I have no idea how easy or difficult it would be to add these things.

First off, lock that dance behind a skill or something

A Wandering Cowboy Mod - a cowboy NPC shows up randomly at my doorstep, is he hurt, is he friendly, is he a burglar, is he here to start a quest???

^^^ same concept but Alien Crash landing

Horses that steers goats/cattle back.

Ability to lead horses

Horse betting / mini game (make my rich sims poor)

Obvi, wild horses

Ability to brush teeth and/or an actual horse bath

Horsegirl books, toys, interactions,

Holster gun match with chances of misfire, with either possibly dying, etc, (historic version of this too)

Gunslingers and Bounty Hunters

obvi, Unicorn things; could be cool if used to cure all sickness/alignments from other mods and/or resets their age and/or work like Father Winter.

Bank Heists

A fiddle or banjo.

Ability to craft all the furniture with woodworking table.

Falling off the horse -> consequences

Replace in-game harvestable grapes with debug grape vines

Dual riders, teach to ride for children, romantic kiss where one sim is on the horse and the other is standing below them, lift onto horse to kiss, thrown over the horse and taken, watching stars together while sitting on horses

Nothing to do with westerns but the rocking horse mod made me want a rocket ride coin machine mod

Add with more thoughts later.

#also where are the trailer townies

[josephthesnailshow]

Too Many Misadventures - The Last Misadventure.

Note: this creepypasta is a fanfic for my friend @bex-saysike, please enjoy :)

Ever since I watched that episode of Prototype Fredbear’s Ask Series, one of my series, I stopped thinking about it, as the creator of that episode committed suicide, so I forgot about it entirely. Well, the memories came back.

The bad part about this is that he made an episode for a different series, and one of my friends was a victim of it.

The series the man went after is ‘Too Many Misadventures,’ and it was made by a friend of mine named Saysike123. The series featured three characters, Bex, Stacy, and Silly, and I met Saysike123 on DeviantArt. Don't worry; I will get to the episode now. I'm going to just skip the other information, as I don't want to waste your time reading this post.

Now, for the episode, it was called "The Last Misadventure," another episode that I found on the dark web, and it's the same website where the episode of my series came from. Also, no, I didn't access the dark web; I asked a friend of mine to screenshot a random episode of some series on there, and this is what I got.

There are a lot of things to talk about.

The episode started with the cover for ‘Too Many Misadventures,’ except the letters in the logo were bright and sloppy, and the quality was low, which seemed weird as the series is new; it was more recent, so it shouldn't have this quality.

Judging by the fact that this episode was made by the same guy who made the episode of my series, I assumed there would be a live-action sequence of Bex, Stacy, and Silly going nuts. Surprisingly, I saw none of that.

For a second, there was a flash of Prototype Fredbear and Shadow Fredbear standing in a dark room with their unsettling faces—the same exact photo from the previous episode I watched. The disturbing part about this is that Saysike123 and I didn't even plan to connect our universes together yet, and we didn't know each other at this time.

The main part of the episode had static covering the screen, almost like you would see on a recorded VHS tape, but thanks to a tool I used, I could see everything easily.

Anyways, after this scene, there was a quick scene with Queen Creampuff, the major villain of the series, and Silly, one of the protagonists; they were just staring at each other for a long time due to boredom. I looked closely at Creampuff’s hand, and I noticed that there was a pistol. After a minute, she pulled the trigger, killing Silly while still retaining the quality of the intro.

The camera zoomed in on Silly’s body, like it was being recorded in real life. This wasn't very creepy, as the only creepy part about this is that they managed to accurately get saysike123’s art style right. Bex and Stacy heard the bullet, and they went to Silly’s body. They started sobbing, and Creampuff looked at the thing she caused, looking horrified and guilty.

During this scene, I found out one thing this episode and Prototype Fredbear’s Ask Series #0 had in common: these episodes have a video format, both are deleted and can't be seen again, and they both have one concept, relying on death. Unlike that episode, this one is fully animated, but not fully; everything can look like a still image, and it looks messily rushed.

I heard static in the episode, and it scared me badly. I didn't know what it showed afterwards until the screen pandered to what that was.

The image was of Bex’s decapitated head; it was inside a box, and her face was in complete fear. The fur on her body was messy, and her clothes were next to the box, completely torn and covered in dirt mixed with mud, exactly like Silly’s clothes. I won't even show the picture, as it’s a bit brutal, and there's no point in showing it as I explained it.

The image faded to black, and the next image was shown; it was Stacy, but she was run over by a vehicle, and her clothes were completely soaked in mud. I knew this was coming, as during the image fading to black, I heard a vehicle hitting something.

The episode ended, and the last image was shown; it was of my art style—not my current art style, but the one from 2020 or early 2021. The guy who made this clearly went back to memory lane and recreated my old art style.

The quality was low, and it was the same photo that flashed at the beginning of the episode, still with Prototype Fredbear and Shadow Fredbear staring at the camera.

Saysike123, if you’re reading this post of mine, this is just a thing I discovered, and I assumed that you would be interested in knowing about this episode.

Also, I looked closely at the photo that flashed but with the old art style, and it said:

“This episode might’ve not been for you, but I knew you would watch this because this is one of your friends, but I’ve been stalking you on social media since you had your old art style; I’ve been a fan of you and your work, but you never noticed me. That's why I made this episode to get your attention. Now that I've got your attention, here are my last words before I commit suicide."

“I hope you’re traumatized by my episodes; goodbye, and I hope you end up like me.”

The episode then shut off, and I'm back on my home screen on my phone as if nothing happened.

#creepypasta #lost episodes #too many misadventures #fanart for others #tmm #saysike123

[akfamilyhome]

The history of my video capture woes

(This post was originally released exclusively via Patreon on May 23, 2019, and is now here as a test for long-form text content! This post also contains links to old archived videos from my YouTube channel. Most of these videos were made when I was of a young age, and do not reflect the current quality of my videos or any of my views and opinions today.)

Everyone probably has that one system that shaped their childhood or teenage years. My childhood systems are the Wii and DS, but the 3DS is probably the most important and influential system I've ever had so far, both to my teenage years and for my YouTube hobby.

Since I got my very first 3DS on July 11th, 2011 (I THINK that was the date), I've been being to make videos with it on my then barebones YouTube channel.

I've captured game footage before this though, and it was...bad. Holding a camera up to a TV looks and sounds substantially worse than sticking it in front of a 3DS screen and speakers.

My first 3DS related video was released on July 14th, 2011 and was just the QR Code of my Mii and my friend code. My Mii has barely changed since then (and tbh probably isn't the most accurate representation of me but I've gotten too used to it).

Also I'm pretty sure my 3DS friend list is already full so you probably don't need to try entering it, sorry

[Continued after the break!]

My first video that actually used footage from a 3DS is a gameplay video of Super Mario Bros. back when the 3DS Ambassador Program dropped:

I just balanced a small digital camera we had on a pencil sharpener as a support. I think I still have that camera, but it's probably buried in a closet somewhere with a dead battery I can't find the right charger for. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

At that point, I don't think I've even heard of the concept of capture cards yet. In 2011 they were still in the prototyping phase, and a few well-known YouTubers at that time (cobanermani456 comes to my mind just now) simply stuck HD cameras in front of 3DS screens to capture footage.

So with my dingy little digital camera, I couldn't really do much with the setup. Of course, at that time I was just holding my 3DS in front of the camera resulting in some shaky screen images (often also angled so I could see the screen clearly and my reflection wouldn't show) This lasted ALL THE WAY until September 2012. Oof.

Around the end of 2011 I switched to a different camera which apparently made things worse because now my videos ended up in 240p. I have no idea what is up with that. That's also when Super Mario 3D Land came out which I played the hell out of and made some tips & tricks videos about (that was probably the niche of the early years of my channel if I had to describe that period.)

Check out this video for some sweet 240p-upscaled-to-480p goodness and the first semblance of game footage coupled with actual video editing.

Also at one point I tried capturing direct audio by using an aux cord but the headphone jack of the main computer I use for editing at the time was broken, so it didn't really end up well.

By August 2012 I figured out a way to stabilize my 3DS footage: stacking 3DS game boxes and putting my 3DS on top. Over the years I've used different other items to hold my 3DS up like smartphone boxes and stuff, but 3DS cases are pretty reliable. I think at that point I've also internalized how many 3DS game boxes to stack up in my mind like they're a unit of measurement. You can see this in action in one of my first videos on Pushmo:

By now you've probably noticed the wacky wave effect you get when you put an LCD in front of a low res camera. That'll stick around for a long time.

Anyway, this stuck around for a while as I pumped out some random NSMB2 videos and posted my first ever Let's Play of Super Mario 3D Land. In terms of video editing, 99% of the time I just uploaded the raw footage because the videos were fine without editing at the time.

I got a 3DS XL on around September 2012, but was still stacking it on top of game boxes and other stuff. It resulted in the screen placement never being consistent, but I was content with it at the time. Sometimes I also managed to capture both screens at once.

Then came everyone's favorite game, Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I keep saying the game's an integral part of some of my channel's very early growth, because I churned out quite a few GameXplain-like tip videos about it, such as how to get the Barrel sticker (you have to get it exclusively from Broozer enemies that show up in some airship enemy encounters). Arguably my biggest 'hit' at that point came when I beat Bowser without using Kersti:

This video is super grainy looking because I was recording my 3DS XL screen with my 3DS cameras. I have no idea if my regular camera was out of commission or something but it happened. A bunch of people liked it.

At this point I'm just super used to this method of recording 3DS footage now. It was certainly a lot easier to set up, record and post videos more regularly, but looking back, it didn't really make my channel stand out too much. There isn't really any incentive to watch a guy stick a small camera in front of a 3DS for video guides over a professional Let's Player using capture cards.

On March 28th 2013 I posted this video of some Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon footage in 1080p! I believe this footage was recorded with a smartphone that belonged to my parents at that time. The high quality was able to get rid of the wavy patterns on-screen but I never adopted it, either because it was too much a hassle to set up or I wouldn't always get access to it that easily.

I went back to my tried-and-true regular method and a bunch of people were asking me what I used to record footage. So I recorded this video with my 3DS:

Yeah I set my camera (a PowerShot S95) on an iPhone box and my 3DS XL on a dictionary. Those were the items that just happened to have the perfect height. Sometimes in life you gotta improvise.

In May 2013 I uploaded some stereoscopic 3D videos of 3DS games. This required...yes, putting the 3DS XL in front of a 3DS with the 3D effect on. (It wasn't the other way around because the 3DS screen was smaller and more suitable for recording purposes). It sorta worked, but y'know, low quality and everything. It was a neat idea though seeing as not a lot of stereoscopic 3D videos of 3DS games existed at that time.

I also tried direct audio recording again with another video!

I have no idea how I managed to get this to work, seeing as I record footage in my own room then edit the footage on the home computer in my living room outside, but I guess the method was to record the direct audio through a notebook computer situated next to me, then taking that audio and combining it through the camera footage on my home computer. It was probably too much work for me at that time.

Alright, it's fast-forward time, you've seen me do this recording setup for far too long now. 3 years to be exact.

In 2014, after watching Chuggaaconroy's Let's Play of Kid Icarus: Uprising, I picked up the game and it included a 3DS stand! I then tried to incorporate it into my recording setup so I would no longer have to memorize what specific combination of everyday household items I can use to prop my 3DS up. Here's the first video using it:

And then that's just what I basically used for the next 3 years as well. If it ain't broke (?), don't fix it.

Small interlude: We got a new camera during 2014, which is actually the one camera I still use today in core videos! [2022 editor's note: I've switched to a smartphone camera since.] In October, during a small event I did called Sakurai Month, I gave it a whirl in recording 3DS footage with a Kid Icarus: Uprising video.

And it looked REALLY good! The downside is I had to use a tripod to stand the camera up, which took away a lot of space for me to sit and see the screen properly, plus I wasn't able to record the bottom screen due to size constraints, and (I'm not 100% sure if this was done for the KIU video, but) the audio recording on that camera is a bit crappy, so I had to use my regular digital camera alongside it just so I can get the best audio. Even now in my core videos, the voices for the off-screen footage is recorded with my smartphone voice recorder.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

But other than that, I've just used the ol' trusty PowerShot S95 for the rest of my 3DS videos. Occasionally I do some editing to get both screens at a decent size such as for my Smash 3DS videos, but that's about it.

And yeah, I used this method all the way up to early 2017. By that time, I was finishing up my high school finals, and did some reorganization in the apartment. I've also started covering topics other than 3DS games, such as other Nintendo hardware like the Game Boy systems (and the Switch was on the horizon as well!) so I felt that the quality of those videos clashed a bit with videos where I stick a camera in front of a 3DS screen.

Still, I had a running LP series at the time (Rhythm Heaven Megamix), and I tried using the new camera I got to record some footage as well, but it just wasn't cutting it for me. I felt that using these high quality cameras to do more comprehensive videos like filming hardware shots and the like was a better idea than using it to just do what I did for the past 6 years.

And thus the idea of the core videos were born!

I also got a used Elgato Capture Card on October 2017, allowing me to grab footage from the Switch and even some older systems. But to think I was done covering the 3DS would be dead wrong, as there was still a lot of potential topics I wanted to cover for the 3DS, just in a more sophisticated manner instead of just pointing a camera at a screen.

This gave birth to ideas for videos such as 'How Super Mario 3D Land Saved The 3DS', but to make those videos a reality, I would either have to nab footage by other people from the Internet (which I generally try to avoid unless absolutely necessary), or use a homebrew-enabled New 3DS which had a method of recording gameplay footage to a PC application over Wi-Fi.

While that sounded reasonable, it wasn't the best solution, as the video was often very choppy and had a few visual artifacts depending on your connection speed. The best videos I could get out of it were around the 20-30fps range. You can see a sample of homebrew 3DS capturing in this tweet:

But still, it was better than off-screen footage in my opinion, so I did my footage recording with homebrew and went on my merry way...

Then I learned that Katsukity, the sole provider of 3DS capture cards at that time (since Loopy had stopped orders) had a price drop.

I took the hit and grabbed a 2DS from their store with a capture card pre-installed for 300 USD. Compared to using homebrew, using capture cards allowed for me to capture both a higher resolution and framerate, as well as allowing for capturing DS games (which isn't possible with homebrew). To sort of alleviate the cost, I sold the 2DS I had at the time to a real life friend who coincidentally didn't have a 3DS and wanted to get into its game library.

And since then, I think it's served me really well! Of course, as of this post there's really only like two core videos that are DS/3DS-focused, but there are still plenty of topics I want to talk about. The recent Photo Dojo video is also possibly the first ever non-Nintendo YouTube video about Photo Dojo in which footage was recorded with a capture card!

It has its downsides, such as the direct audio capturing being a little wonky unless you use an audio cable (which would be a bit of a hassle with my current setup), but I feel like it will still be serving me for quite a few years to come. [2022 editor's note: still going strong!]

Since then, Katsukity has gone bankrupt (sadly unsurprising given the REALLY niche market of their products), and there isn't really a new source of 3DS capture cards at this time. Hopefully the resale values for them won't skyrocket like crazy, but if you're dead set on getting one no matter the cost, aside from second-hand listings, Merki (the European distributor for 3DS capture cards) still have old 3DS XL capture cards in stock, but you'll have to ship your system to them, so the shipping costs might add up.

But for creators who are starting out, if you want to make content using the 3DS, you can either go the homebrew capture route (if your 3DS is of the "New" variety) or just use a smartphone camera, since most can do at least 1080p nowadays. I mean, I got by with using a crappy camera for 6 years. :]

But anyway, hope this gave you a fun little insight into my history of struggling with capturing handheld footage! I think it's a nice example of equipment quality not being the most important thing for creators, even with simple tools and software, you can still make content that's pretty dang good. Even now, my setup is still evolving, and your support means I will be able to improve it through things such as better tripods and microphones, as well as more things of interest to cover, so I must thank you all once again!

If you have any further questions about footage capturing, don't hesitate to ask me. :)

#akfamilyhome words #nintendo 3ds #3ds #3ds capture cards #3ds capture