Tumgik
#taxonomy wins! love wins!
a-dinosaur-a-day · 8 months
Note
I have a special interest in fish and birds. Sometimes people ask me what I like more
Than I remember they’re the same thing and I don’t have to pit two bad bitches against each other, love taxonomy
EYYYYYYYYY
100 notes · View notes
taxonomytournament · 19 days
Text
Taxonomy Tournament: Results of Round 2
Long post, many stats.
The three biggest landslides were Lepidoptera (butterflies) beating Diptera (flies & mosquitos) (84.12%, 81 to 429 votes), Polyplacophora beating Monoplacophora (85.51%, 366 to 62 votes), and Polycladida (marine flatworms) beating Eucestoda (tapeworms) (86.67%, 390 to 60 votes).
The three closest matches were Gastrotrich beating Rotifera (50.37%, 265 to 269 votes), Conidae (cone snails) beating Neomphalida (volcano snails) (50.3%, 252 to 255 votes), and Blenniiformes beating Pomacentridae (clownfish) (50.27%, 276 to 279 votes).
Once again the top three landslides were all invertibrates, though there were also some invertibrates in the closest matches.
Funny thing is that Polyplacophora beat Monoplacophora in a landslide, which in turn beat Aplacophora in a landslide. All else being equal tumblr loves higher numbers of placophora in their creatures.
The average winning percentage was 64.9%, a little lower than last round.
Parasites continued to decline, with Hirudinea (leeches) the only remaining primarily parasitic clade.
The biggest landslide among Mammals (and chordates in general) was Caniformes (wolves, foxes, bears, seals) beating Perissodactyla (horses, rhinos, tapirs) (82.12%, 473 to 103). Interestingly both clades just barely won Round 1, but the winner was much clearer now.
The closest match among Mammals was Sirenia (sea cows) beating Afroinsectivora (elephant shrews) (52.56%, 361 to 400). This was closer than when Sirenis beat Proboscidea, so I think we can conclude that Elephant Shrews would have beat actual Elephants.
The biggest landslide among Birds was Corvides (crows and jays) beating Falconiformes (77.07% 1119 333). The closest match was Gaviiformes (loons) beating Sphenisciformes (penguins) (50.53%, 480 to 470)
Among Non-Avian Reptiles, Serpentes (snakes) beating Iguania (iguanas & chameleons) was not only the closest match, but was the most voted-in match of the whole round! (50.64%, 1088 to 1116)
The biggest landslide among Bony Fish was Tetraodontiformes (pufferfish, boxfish...) beating Acanthuriformes (Blue Tang...) (81.8%, 472 to 105)
The biggest landslide among Cartilaginous Fish was Myliobatiformes (stingrays) beating Rhinopristiformes (shovelnose rays). The closest was Squaliformes (dogfish) beating Squatiniformes (angelfish)
The biggest landslide among Annelids was Eunicida (eg. Bobbit worm) beating Amphinomida (eg. bearded fireworm) (72.62%). The closest match among Annelids was Bonelliida beating Earthworms (50.83%)
The biggest landslide among Gastropods was Stylommatophora (garden snails) beating Otinoidea (smeagol) (81.94%)
The closest match among other Molluscs was Nautilida (nautilis) beating Sepiida (cuttlefish) (50.72%)
The closest match among Insects was Mantodea (mantises) beating Phasmatodea (stickbugs) (56.42%)
The biggest landslide among other Arthropods was Xiphosura (horseshoe crabs) beating Diplopoda (millipedes) (75.11%). The closest match was Isopoda beating Decapoda (53.63%)
Round 3 starts tomorrow!
27 notes · View notes
Note
heyo! plant taxonomy nerd here and may i say, love your work. i am desperatly hoping Magnoliphyta win this round cause Im banking on a Sapindaceae win. i have a alightly unfounded love for sapindaceae. anyways, have a lovely day!
Thank you!
*looks up sapindaceae real quick* oooh yeah, maples and lychees, hard to argue with that!
49 notes · View notes
amber-tortoiseshell · 8 months
Text
Pylogenetic wild cat tournament
Domestic cat lineage
Genus: Felis
Depth: 12 (11 wins away from championship)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Honestly I tried to read about the relationship of the Felis species, but all the hybridization makes the situation very hard to understand.
[Felis catus:] Domesticated mostly from a lineage of Felis lybica lybica from Mesopotamia. (A revised taxonomy of Felidae' (2017))
The domestic cat is arbitrarily considered either as a subspecies of F. silvestris (Felis silvestris catus) or as a distinct species (Felis catus). (European wildcat and domestic cat: Do they really differ? (2017))
European wildcats, Felis silvestris, can hybridize with domestic cats, Felis catus, which was domesticated from the African wildcat, Felis lybica, to produce fertile offspring. [...] Indeed, domestic cats are genetically closer to Felis lybica, a species that has evolved in a different ecological and evolutionary context than Felis silvestris. (A common statement on anthropogenic hybridization of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris) (2023))
I kinda give it up. Have some pictures at least:
Chinese mountain cat
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I love the blue eyes, it's a very interesting and unique trait of the species.
African wildcat
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Elegant creature!
60 notes · View notes
inevitably-johnlocked · 5 months
Note
Hi, I love love love cuddling, hand holding and kissing before being in a relationship, got any more, please 🙏
Hi Lovely!!
Ah, I don't have a lot of new fics to add, but I need a list for this weekend, so here you are!! Not EXACTLY what you're looking for but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway :)
HUGS, CUDDLES AND KISSES Pt 7
See also:
Tooth Rotting Fluff
Hugs & Cuddles and Tooth-Rotting Fluff (Pt. 2)
Hugs & Cuddles Pt. 2 / .../
... / Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 3 /...
Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 4
Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 5
Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 6
Hand Holding (for Comfort)
First Kiss
The Last Room At The End of The Hall by Corporate_cards (G, 219 w.,  1 Ch. || Fluff) – All things can wait, for finally things work, in the last room at the end of the hall. Part 1 of Random Things I've Written In Class -- Johnlock
Bond, Sherlock Bond! by macgyvershe (T, 631 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Kissing, Couch Cuddles, Sexy Talk with No Explicit Sex, Bond Night, Established Relationship) – John is doing a Bond-a-thon. Sherlock is ready for a night of movies and munchies. Washed down with Devil Mountain coffee. Eventually everything comes together in the best of ways.
Octopus by glass_rose_paperweight (G, 705 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Fluff, Bed Sharing, Limpet Sherlock) – A week after Sherlock and John finally get together, and John is finding sharing a bed with Sherlock Holmes to be ... difficult, sometimes. If not downright suffocating.
A Comprehensive Taxonomy of Tobacco-Ash by Silvergirl (E, 11,475 w., 2 Ch. || No TRF AU || Cranky Sherlock, Alternating POV’s, Self-Esteem Issues, Jealous John, Pining John, Confessions, First Kiss, Frottage, Bed Sharing, Sensuality, Cuddling, Touching) – A handsome academic approaches Sherlock about publishing his magnum opus on tobacco-ash in a prestigious scientific journal. Sherlock is quite flattered and flustered, and John’s nose is out of joint.In this little AU there is no Fall and no Mary. Instead, there is humor and smut. Truly a disproportionate amount of smut.
You Might Just as Well Be Blind by ArwaMachine (E, 56,625 w., 12 Ch. || Fake Relationship, For a Case, Bed Sharing, Platonic Cuddling, Jealous Sherlock, Oblivious John, BAMF Hudders, Fluff and Angst, Frottage, Anal Sex, Happy Ending, Case Fic, Flirting, Pining John, POV John, Toplock, Possessive Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Infidelity) – When a serial killer starts targeting couples, Sherlock and John must do what they have to do in order to get to the bottom of things. Unfortunately, John already has a girlfriend. Surely pretending to be in a relationship with Sherlock won't pose any problems with his relationship, will it?
Bakers with Benefits by Raina_at (E, 88,130 w., 14 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || Strangers to Lovers, Switchlock, Friends with Benefits, Mentions of Alcoholism / Past Drug Use, Banter, Flirting, Fluff, Light Angst, Semi-Public Sex, Past Sherlock/Victor, Mutual Pining, POV Sherlock, Obsessive Sherlock, John’s Bum) – Sherlock Holmes has a successful YouTube baking channel, but what he really wants is his own bakery. When an old friend sends him a call for the very first Great British Bake Off, he seizes the opportunity to finally win a sponsor for his bakery. Here's the plan: Win Bake Off, get the bakery, don't fall in love with the handsome Army doctor at the neighbouring station. Easy.
19 notes · View notes
princessniitza · 2 months
Text
[The English fic] Full House (5/5 - COMPLETE)
Fandom: The English
Pairing: Eli Whipp/Cornelia Locke
Rating: Teen
Word count: ~ 2.200 words (of ~ 11.000 words)
Tags / Warnings: Alternate Universe – Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Family, Parent-Child Relationship, Sibling Relationships, Gay Panic, Semi-Planned Pregnancy, Women Solidarity, An Epic Quest, Eli Whipp/Being Out There Living His Best Life, Cornelia Locke/Punching Assholes In The Face, POV Multiple, Fluff, Humor
Summary:
“You shouldn’t worry, you know,” Eli said once. “They’ll love you.”
And he was right.
OR: How Cornelia wins over everyone in the Whipp family in a week tops. Includes: a gay awakening, a stint at a police station, Cornelia’s strategic skills, astrology charts, and the first forays into a taxonomy of Eli’s smiles.
Link to the fic: 1. Layla | 2. Carol | 3. Ann | 4. Francis | 5. Kathleen
2 notes · View notes
phantomato · 2 years
Text
A Face With a View
As I return to writing my favorite of blank slate characters, I’m reflecting again on what makes them so special to me. Fandom has room for many perspectives, but I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that some large chunk of fans, probably the majority, think of themselves as in fandom in order to see more of the characters they loved in canon. Blank slates, by their nature, aren’t this—there’s nothing of them in canon to love; you have to bring your own context to become their fan. I have no pretense of confusion around why this isn’t more widely-attractive, but for me, blank slates always win in big fandoms.
It’s about baggage. When a fandom gets big, the main cast will have been explored hundreds or thousands of times over. When a fandom becomes a megafandom, the main character will have featured in as many fics as would constitute a big fandom, and the side characters are now numbering in the hundreds and thousands. One of the annual rarepair fests for Harry Potter sets its criteria for eligibility at a maximum of 1k works, completed and in English. That’s… enormous. By 1,000 works, a ship will have its own subtropes, its own schools of characterization both within itself and relative to the wider fandom, it very well could be defined as its own fandom! There are so many unstated expectations packaged within that.
I struggle with baggage. My inclination is to move in a different direction than what I’ve seen before, and with characters who have been written enough for their fanon characterizations to merit a taxonomy, this has been a mixed experience. Sometimes a reader expresses pleasant surprise to see a different take, and sometimes writing this finds you a community of fellow fans who’ve also wanted to see the character in this other light. Sometimes the surprise is expressed less pleasantly than all that, though. And there’s nothing to be done—the nature of fandom is that we’re all free to write whatever we like, and we’re all free to want to read whatever we want, and the best we can hope for is to make responsible choices about how to best avoid upsetting ourselves, or to vent privately to friends when something doesn’t go smoothly. 
I get all this, but as a matter of sheer probability, swimming upstream by writing contrary to expectations for a big, central character will net poor behavior in a comments section. I don’t like it. I don’t tend to enjoy that experience, any of the times that I’ve had it, and it has retroactively made me feel less happy with stories I was initially excited to write. Main characters are not worth that baggage, to me; they don’t remotely compare to the freedom from expectation that I can get by taking a character that exists in name only and building them up into something that is entirely my own, without concern for what fanon categories govern the space.
Blank slates end up being a bit like solving a mystery, in their writing. What little canon information we have—a name, a family relation, an age range, an affiliation, an appearance, an occupation, and so on—are clues that hint towards how they fit into the wider world. And I do think it helps to love the world, or some aspect of it, in writing a blank slate: having put thought towards how a person of their station would exist in this universe gives one a starting point, and individual variations from that can be added to help form a full personality where none existed before. Blank slates are perfect for those of us who love delving through fanwikis, revisiting the original canon, or doing research, because they reward that work. Whereas with a main character, there are likely dozens or hundreds of meta essays dissecting what that person has done in canon, their motivations and major turning points and every nitpicky detail of their background, writing for a blank slate often means getting to do this for oneself. And when it does all click together, when you figure out who this person would be in your vision of the world, it’s satisfying like nothing else. You made this character. 
I made this character. I made them, and I love them, and I am a fan of them.
That’s why my favorite ships in this megafandom that has its hold on me are always the ones with a blank slate or two, and why I keep pushing myself to consider new ones, to find AO3 tags that have only a handful of fics or that don’t exist yet, to scour prompt lists in fests and chat with friends about the most absurd things our minds can conjure. How can I make this work? What type of person would be an interesting match to this other character, and where might I find them? What happens if I explore the canon events through an outsider perspective—who are those outsiders, where were they and what were they doing? This is all the more true for me when the fanon around a group or era or particular blank slate is more firmly set, as my contrarian tendencies never really deserted me, but the difference is that there’s also no one so personally invested in those blank slates that I’m going to face the downsides of saying, all right, but what if it was the opposite of all that.
I feel kinship with the fix-it fan, the people who look at a canon and think “I could feel fannishly about this because it’s got great, gaping flaws,” the people who relish in the unanswered questions of a fictional world. For me, in addition to all of those, it’s characters. I like my main canon because it’s got a huge cast and so few of them have more than a handful of details, the faintest suggestion of depth, and I want to cover up those blank spots with my own imaginings. I like crafting a person to fit in a space in the same way that people try to reason through how power scaling works, or who try to rewrite a plot that’s full of holes, or—
Yes, this thing that I’m spending my time on is missing from the original media. That’s the point! It’s missing, so I can make it.
Blank slates let me feel like I’m doing something really new and exciting. And when I run across someone else doing the same thing, working on their own loving paean to a blank slate, I feel so much appreciation for them as a fellow-traveler. Reading what other authors have written about blank slates is what makes me feel like even a big, old fandom is still vibrant with possibility, like there is still room for radical change and reinterpretation and for me to be surprised. I love seeing these fics pop up in fests and exchanges and tumblr posts and recs, because each time, it’s an opportunity: to care about a new character, to see this fandom from a different perspective. 
Fans can find that joy through any number of paths. I find it through blank slates. 
21 notes · View notes
Note
When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! Then send it to the last ten people in your notifications (anonymously). You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity. ♡
You probably should have asked my main blog which I will not link here but as a worldbuilder, things that make me happy are:
Other people making smart worldbuilding, like creating causative loops ("vampires don't use canalization to traverse the city because there are alligators in it which are blessed by special underground temples dedicated to them which are here because vampires did use canalization for travel before and now need to be stopped" post)
When love wins against gods' will.
When there are ways for people to change their shape, but it is difficult and they must travel a lot to find their true shape (otherkin and trans people rise up!)
Evolution and lore regarding taxonomy of sentient species. If not taxonomy then just different stories of creation of said species.
When in a setting, racism, sexism, and other such pests exist only for time and actually smart people to eradicate them to dust.
As extra: Interracial couples and their kids; Disabled people being helped but not in a way of "erasing the disability" but giving them a way to overcome/turn it off for a time as long as the device or magic works; Dragons and other sentient huge beasts; Fluffy sentient species you would love to hug; Goblins; Kobolds; Elves; Dwarves; Werewolves; Unusual ways of magic, like coins with three sides, and not just Fireball by Mister Worldwide; Magic being an object of fascination even if it is weaved into the very fabric of reality.
6 notes · View notes
Text
Fun fact i am constantly thinking about various fics and thinking "okay but how can my brain remix this in fun ways"
And it leads to some truly interesting ideas such as:
Megatron fucking off into the stars, gaining new pronouns, and rethinking his stance on organics as they interact woth more and more alien species as time goes on.
A TFA "Decepticons win" scenario where a 'Con is branded a traitor for bullshit reasons, decides to find as many autobots as possible, and unite them.
A mercenary who's entire job is to hunt mecha down and bring them back to loved ones
Whirl coming to Earth and Bulkhead immediately adopting him because he knows how the other wreckers treated him
Sooooo many judgey long comms with Megatron
Bullshit science such as various genotypes and you've seen how i go nuts over the possible taxonomy and implications of sparklings in fanon
The idea of what would happen if Megatron had had a consistent mentor/peer (don't make me pull the word senpai out of my ass in a platonic sense because the internet has absolutely twisted the meaning of that word)
And far far far far far more
4 notes · View notes
thehallstara · 1 year
Note
1 8 14 18!!
1: How many words have you written this year? in published stuff i am?? sitting around 100k words it looks like?? i rounded to the nearest thousand for all the twines so take my number with a grain of salt but yeah!!! also have about maybe 15k spread across wips and this also doesn't count any ficlets i did this year or any of the zines for the blb zine jam or any games i've put out this year so suffice it to say i have just. written a lot this year lmao.
8: Pairing you wrote the most for this year? per works it's brockbertie which like. so true!!! if i had to guess by words it's probably haruta/bright though lmao
14: What’s your shortest work of the year? at 845 words, it’s a taxonomy of the Chicago Firefighters and the Baltimore Crabs circa s9, or: how to fall in love and win while you're at it (maybe), which is a short little treat i did for the firefighters fic exchange!!!
18: The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? was tempted to say bright bc she’s been killing me the past 4 months or so lmao but honestly??? i think it might be JT i only seem to be able to write her from other peoples perspectives lmao
2 notes · View notes
addgg-taylor · 9 days
Text
Today In Card Design [2]: Your Bias
Bias (or player taxonomy/typography/psychography, as some may call it) is extremely important in card design. You may want a specific type of card, but Timmy might want a different kind. Knowing where you stand is important in closing gaps in card design, and if you ever need help, talk to a friend!
- X Factor (Inspired by Mark Rosewater's Timmy)¹: X Factor players favor cool, interesting designs, as well as other cards that make a massive impact (almost regardless of how viable they actually are). Whether it's a lot of text or a huge threat, the more "flashy", the better. These players favor aggro decks and big finishers, though they might also play cheaper cards that have interesting effects on the board. Examples of Timmy cards include Magic's Chromanticore and Yu-Gi-Oh's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
- Combo (Inspired by Mark Rosewater's Johnny)¹: Every TCG generally requires some form of synergy for a deck to work well, especially the likes of Yu-Gi-Oh. Combo players take this to the next level, taking advantage of powerful synergies and lines of play to achieve a devastating endgame. They usually win off the back of multiple cards together, not any one. These players favor combo decks like Magic's Mississippi River archetype, though they might favor tribal strategies as well. Magic's Aetherflux Reservoir and Yu-Gi-Oh's Cyber-Stein are some examples of combo cards; they function on their own, but they're best at the head of a dedicated deck.
- Metagame (Inspired by Mark Rosewater's Spike)¹: Metagamers almost always play to win. While winning is the goal of nearly every game, these players take that goal to higher levels by playing the best decks and cards a game has to offer. They favor clean designs and pure value, though what they play is more easily swayed than most other biases. It's a bit harder to pin down what exact strategies a metagamer plays, but common examples include burn and midrange. Examples of metagamer cards include Magic's Faithless Looting and Yu-Gi-Oh's Monster Reborn.
¹https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03
- Storytelling (Inspired loosely by Mark Rosewater's Vorthos)²: Any card game can succeed if it's enjoyable, but a story can make or break a card game's success. However, no matter how much storytelling you do for your game, what really matters is the story told by the cards. Those with a storytelling bias embrace this aspect of game design, enjoying a card's "flavor". The flavor of the card is the story it tells, not just based around name and art (and of course, flavor text/lore blurbs), but also through mechanics. These players usually don't gravitate towards certain strategies, though the World Chalice and Elemental HERO archetypes of Yu-Gi-Oh may attract a storyteller. Magic's Faithful Salvaging and "Tenth District" cards, as well as quite a few of Yu-Gi-Oh's entire archetypes, are storytelling cards.
- Designer (Inspired loosely by Mark Rosewater's Mel)²: You don't have to be a game designer or developer to have a designer bias. However, those with designer bias appreciate the design and development aspect of cards. They love when all of a card's aspects mesh together just right. They love when cards embody the aspects of a game's attributes or archetypes. And they especially love when the aspects of templating and mechanics are explored in distinct ways. This bias is generally never linked to an archetype, though Magic's flicker and Yu-Gi-Oh's D.D. archetypes are very mechanically interesting. Magic's Sauron, the Dark Lord and Yu-Gi-Oh's Obliterate!!! can be argued as examples of designer bias cards, but specifics can be very hard to pin down here.
²https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/vorthos-and-mel-2015-08-31
- Speculator (Inspired by Kohdok's Jimothy)³: Not all players are in it for the game. In fact, some members of the community may not play a game much, if at all; they're somewhat comparable to day traders and crypto-bros, buying cards while they're cheap and selling high. While most players spend a majority of their time playing the game or deckbuilding, speculator bias is what keeps the secondary market stocked: those with this kind of bias spend most of their time cracking packs and selling cards. Whenever a potential power or utility card comes up, they generate a lot of hype around them. Without speculator bias, card games would have a much harder time staying afloat; those with this bias buy the most product, making a majority of your profits, so even though they don't play much, keep them in mind when designing! Examples of speculator cards come and go fast, but as of the time of writing, Magic's Bristly Bill is an example.
³https://youtu.be/hl5B2tionqs?si=Tj-OR4dJkDYBG_4m
- Collector: Alternate printings. Special editions. Limited print runs. These have become a reality of the TCG industry, love it or hate it (I know where I fall). TCG's are also known as CCG's (Collectable Card Games) for a reason; some players want to collect the cards. While speculator bias focuses on the short term, collector bias focuses on the long term, buying into limited products in hopes that they gain value in the future (or occasionally just to say they own them). Some even play with their collection, seeking foils, alt-arts, and other special card treatments to bling out their decks. Where does this fall in the design spectrum? These players have a special demand; keep card quantities limited. It's important to make cards available, but some hyper-specific cards are worth the special treatment of exclusivity through high rarity. Magic's Mythic Rares and Yu-Gi-Oh's Secret Rares are examples of collector designs, but hold the phone. Both games have made the mistake of printing major utility cards at super high rarity, like Magic's Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Modern Horizons 2 Evoke Elemental Cycle and Yu-Gi-Oh's Bonfire. These are cards practically any deck running their attributes will benefit from playing; more situational cards should be put at these high ratings, like Magic's Borborygmos Enraged.
Note that there does tend to be some overlap between these biases, and you may fall into/drift between biases. For example, I have both a heavy designer and storytelling bias, but I also favor X Factor and Combo as a player (both equally).
1 note · View note
skellebonez · 1 year
Note
[barges into the inbox with spider headcanons]
I apologize in advance for this wall of text. I send enormous asks so that I can get all of my thoughts written.
Preface. Your blog theme makes me think that you adore the spider gang, Syntax especially. (He's on your banner, so it felt like a duh.) I've been lurking over here in your list of followers for a while now, and I have finally developed something you might like: A cluster of Syntax headcanons that directly influenced how I write him.
Let the headcanons... begin!
(Partial credit goes to that-one-enby-onyx for helping to workshop these ideas.)
Syntax is a NERD. Alchemical genius, tech whiz, excellent inventor, and he studied taxonomy religiously in his earlier years.
He also authored a tabletop rpg inspired by Battlestar Galactica. Asking him if he wants to play said TTRPG is an excellent way to get him out of his lab and his shell for a while. He smiles more during sessions, which he often hosts.
Some more general headcanons are that his love languages are gifts and acts of service, but he does appreciate being hugged and cuddled, especially when he's stressed.
His favorite gifts to receive are rare metals useful in making electronics.
His nerdiness and stubborn, egotistical nature has caused him to grow on Spider Queen. She'd rather die than admit it bluntly. She loves how he puffs up when she taunts and teases him.
He is secretly very insecure about his work, but is never open about that insecurity.
He's a recluse; usually hides in his lab for days on end, only coming out for sustenance.
His sleep schedule is permanently broken which means he doesn't sleep, he naps sporadically. He normally takes one two to four hour nap every day before he tries to sleep at an awkward hour. If he misses his daily nap, he'll eventually either pass out or get too tired to stand and just sleep in a weird place.
Here's a universal headcanon for the spiders: They can use those claws to spin things out of spider silk. Syntax had to engineer it, though, because y'know, the metal claws.
One last sleep headcanon for him is that he has a habit of cocooning himself in either spider silk or a nest of blankets, depending on where he decides to sleep.
And that's all for now, but it's not an exhaustive profile on how I write this character. I'll hopefully be back in the next few days with more to ramble about.
OH MY GOSH, I LOVE THIS.
Yeah, I do love the spiders a lot fkjgklfjdsl. I haven't posted a lot of stuff with them lately, but I am working on a lot of stuff with them slowly. And I love getting long asks like this! I love all of these headcanons, but the ones that caught my eye were:
The idea that he made a TTRPG is AMAZING, actually! He feels like the kind of person to come up with something complex in scope but overall not excessively complicated to play. Not easy, but not so hard it makes no sense to most people.
And we share the exactly same sleep headcanons, heck yeah! Same with the love language headcanons, the idea that someone will notice he hasn't had something to drink in a while and just bring him something and win him over that way delight me.
0 notes
superlinguo · 3 years
Text
Linguistics Jobs: Interview with a CEO of a SaaS company
Today’s interview is with Alyona Medelyan, CEO of a Thematic, a company that provides customer feedback analysis as software as a service (SaaS). The SaaS model means that they create software that people use regularly and subscribe to using, rather than just buying once-off (like getting a netflix subscription rather than buying a DVD of a single movie). Alyona’s story is a great example of how it’s possible to craft your own opportunities, rather than building projects for other people’s companies. You can get in touch with Alyona via LinkedIn, or Twitter, and you can check out the Thematic website.
An exciting development in today’s interview is that after 5 years... I’ve added another question to the standard question set! This new question asks about the transition from university to work, and I hope that it can help to demystify a period that can often be stressful. Thanks to Alyona for being the first interviewee to answer this new question.
Tumblr media
What did you study at university?
I did my undergraduate and Masters degree in Germany. My Major was German Linguistics, with two Minors were Computational Linguistics and Computer Science.
I ended up doing a PhD specializing in Natural Language Processing.
What is your job?
As a Co-Founder and the CEO of Thematic. I’m in charge of a young company. My job is to grow the company as fast as possible in a sustainable way (meaning building a solution people want and not running out of money). I do operations, company culture, focusing the most on Sales & Marketing. This means lots of meetings, strategic planning, looking at data, and also simply getting things done. I love my job, even though it has many ups and downs. If we win, it’s the team’s win. If we fail, it’s my failure as the CEO. And yet, building something from nothing and learning how to motivate a team to succeed has been transformative for me as a person.
How does your linguistics training help you in your job?
Our solution is a customer feedback analysis platform. We analyze feedback that people leave through reviews, surveys and contact center, e.g. chat or support tickets. The core technology and our IP is about analyzing text. So, it’s built on the core principles of linguistics. Having linguistic training gave us a critical advantage over many competing solutions. Where others treat words like numbers, our technology treats them semantically. We use the notion of concepts when analyzing data. Because we use this approach, we can also automatically create taxonomies of concepts and themes from text. Interestingly, another key feature of our product, sentiment analysis sits at the intersection of linguistics and computer science. It’s both through my training at university, but also internship at Google, where I gained useful skills to now apply in my job.
What was the transition from university to work like for you?
Straight out of university, I joined a startup as a Software Researcher. Our team implemented new ways of analyzing documents and search queries. After building a few sales demos, I was invited to present them at trade shows. Luckily, I already did this during my internship while studying Linguistics, so it wasn’t new. I quickly got promoted to lead the R&D department and was invited to participate in sales and strategy meetings. This all happened within a year or so, so I had to quickly adapt to new things. Ultimately, I decided to become a consultant. I founded Thematic after keep getting requests to analyze customer feedback.
Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?
For me, internships were a key factor to my success. I ended up doing 3 different internships. One at a 15 people company, another at a research institute, and a final one at Google. You get exposed to many different ways of building a career and get to learn what’s the best fit. You also meet many different people and make connections that will be valuable in your career going forward. In all cases, my internships were paid, but it wasn’t much. This was a while ago, but for reference, in one case, I got paid 700 Euros for a month, more than half of which was my rent. What’s more important was the amount of time experienced folks at the company spent supervising and training me.
Any other thoughts or comments?
One skill that I learned during my studies that benefited me was writing. You end up writing your research papers, your thesis, I even wrote a blog about my research. This has been useful when starting my own company and writing content pieces to educate others about what we do and why it matters.
Related interviews:
Interview with a Communications Specialist
Interview with two Communications Professionals
Interview with an Editor and Copywriter
Recent interview:
Interview with a Communications and Engagement Assistant
Interview with a Technical Writer
Interview with a Stay-at-home Mom and Twitch Streamer
Interview with a Peer Review Program Manager
Interview with an Associate at the Children’s Center for Communication, Beverly School for the Deaf
Check out the full Linguist Jobs Interview List and the Linguist Jobs tag for even more interviews  
64 notes · View notes
robots-and-writing · 3 years
Text
You're Holy To Me Chapter 3 (MTMTE Tarn)
Tarn hadn't broken his morning routine once. Wake up. Shower. Brush teeth. Check the cameras. Get breakfast. See how much paperwork he had to deal with for the day and prepare for any missions. But his favourite part of the morning was a recent addition to his schedule. At eleven-thirty sharp he'd bring breakfast to _. While it's true that they were wary of him, they had no choice but to eat the food he gave him and Tarn relished in it.
Despite their best efforts, every aspect of their life was controlled by Tarn and Tarn alone. _'s walls were high, but the sheer social isolation eventually started to chip away at them. He would make sure to talk to them whenever he was with them. It would take a while, but Tarn could always work a reply out of them. It's not like they could refuse him, and he could tell they were already starting to crack. He had to be careful not to push it too much at first. Patience would be key to winning their affections after all. But sometimes it was hard to resist the urge to just tilt up his mask and... well that was beside the point.
Walking into their room, _ was already awake. They had taken to sitting at their desk, drawing using the supplies Tarn had gotten them. They were conflicted about using the things Tarn had given them. On one hand they were doing exactly what he wanted by giving in and making use of his gifts. On the other hand, it's not like there was any other option but to comply. Tarn's reputation preceded him and knowing what he was capable of doing if he so pleased sent a chill down their spine.
Even with his reputation and capabilities however, he had yet to so much as lift a finger at any insubordination from _. If _ didn't eat breakfast, nothing happened. If _ stayed in bed all day, the only difference in Tarn's usual routine would be that he'd simply pull a chair next to the bed and sit as he recounted the glories of the Decepticon cause.
Despite Tarn's seemingly infinite tolerance of their unwillingness to cooperate, _ made sure to never push it too far. This had only happened once. They hadn't gotten out of bed, hadn't eaten, so Tarn was sitting next to them droning on and on for hours about Decepticon history and how great the Decepticon cause was.
"As you can see in this section of Towards Peace Megatron says 'Even if you believe in the taxonomy, ask yourself this: Who decides on that order? And then: Why should there be an order?' What do you think about that, _?" _ didn't particularly care about megatron or what he had to say about an old taxonomy and they were tired enough to voice their opinion.
"I think I don't care. If anything I'm pissed at him because his number one enforcer is-"
In an instant his voice went from normal to threatening, sending a stab of pain through their heart. His hand held their arm and the collar of their shirt in a vice grip as he forcefully pulled them towards him, leaning in so his mask was pressed against their ear.
"_. Do not ever bring Megatron into this. Am. I. clear?"
"Tarn- I can't br-" _ managed to choke out before he interrupted them.
"All you have to do is apologize, alright?" It was suffocating and nauseating at the same time. _ couldn't see, couldn't breathe, and their arm was certainly bruised but they nodded fervently, anything to make it go away. Just as quickly as it had happened, Tarn gently set them down and the pain went away.
"Good. I'm so glad you understand. Are you alright?" The way he moved on like nothing had ever happened made a pit of dread pool in their stomach.
"... Yes."
Tarn could see the fear in their eyes, and did feel bad for them. It's true he may have gone too far with punishing them for their insolence, but as much as he loved them it was a necessary evil. Someday they will understand, he told himself. It's for their own good. In the meantime, he'd have to make sure to take them outside as a treat.
Looking back on that incident made _ shiver. It was a stark reminder of how unpredictable Tarn could be, even on his best days. When he was happy, he'd be easy to placate. Sometimes he'd even take them to the library, though even then their every move was monitored closely and they were blindfolded on the way to and from there to make sure they couldn't escape.
His worst days would more varied. Usually a bad day happened after an arduous mission or a long day with lots of paperwork. On those days would either talk for hours and hours about Megatron and his glory, or be absolutely silent, simply choosing to sit beside them.
But now as it reached 5 months of confinement _ had started on a plan, and all they could do was hope it would work.
30 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
nuts about you
It’s simple. Thirty days. All of November. No nutting allowed. Can Peter survive? A friends/roommates to lovers tale of stupid bets, sabotage, and most important of all, nuts. 
thotumn. day 11. free prompt day finale.
Thank you @spideysmjs​ for organizing this magical month for us!! Because I am TOO impatient, I’m posting this a day early (also to keep my tradition of not posting things at the right time). Enjoy this purely goofy adventure. 
--
Of all of the stupid ideas Peter and Ned have thought of in their ten-plus years of friendship, this one’s up there. 
Easily in the top three. 
No, it’s more than stupid. It’s ridiculous. It’s pointless. No one in their right mind actually thinks this is a good idea or that there’s any reason to do it. It’s an internet joke that’s too old, a meme that has no right being funny anymore. It’s run its course, and the guise of it raising awareness for anything other than the masturbation habits of penis-havers is complete and utter bullshit.
Again. It’s stupid.
Still, Peter Parker is not one to turn down a challenge, no matter how stupid. He’s nothing if not competitive. What can he say? If he won’t do it, who will?
This is what he considers as Ned lays it on the table for him.
All of November. Thirty days. 
Peter doesn’t know how the conversation even started or how they ended up betting against each other in the world’s most moronic challenge. All he knows is that Ned is more than convinced that Peter is weak and won’t last. In fact, he’s so convinced that he’s willing to bet money on it. His reasoning ends up being that Peter isn’t strong enough.
And Peter? Well, he’s convinced that he will make it, that he can survive an entire month without giving in to his desires to bust a nut, to beat his meat, etc. etc. And he, too, is willing to bet money—a stupid amount, maybe more than a hundred—on his own success and his friend’s failure. He doesn’t want to appear too cocky, but he’s more than a hundred percent sure he’s got this in the bag. Yeah, it’s thirty days of cutting out one of Peter’s favorite pastimes—if not the favorite—but there’s no doubt in his mind that he’s more than capable of practicing a little restraint. 
Still, confident as he is, there’s still that part of him that can’t help but dread the coming month the more and more he thinks about it. 
“So, definitely thirty days?” Peter asks, eyes narrowing in thought. He tries to appear casual, as if the idea of no release for that amount of time isn’t a big deal. It’s more for clarification. “November has thirty days?”
Ned scoffs. “Yeah. Thirty days.”
“Any strikes? Any free coupons?”
“Nope.” Ned shakes his head with a soul-crushing finality. “Why? You don’t think you can make it?” 
It’s Peter’s turn to scoff, face scrunching dramatically as he recoils. “What? No. I’m worried about you, man. What are you gonna do about Betty?” 
Ned fixes him with a deadpan stare, clearly not buying whatever bullshit Peter’s trying to peddle. “A bet is a bet. She will respect that.”
“How can I trust you, though?” Peter asks, eyes narrowing in slight accusation. “You’re always at her place. I mean, how’ll I know you’re not lying?”
Ned glares. “How can I trust you?”
Peter sputters, desperately thinking of ways to throw a reverse Uno at this situation. “Wha—I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m—I’m single, man.”
Ned blinks. Once. Twice. “Do we need to talk about Felicia?”
“That was—”
“Cindy?”
“Dude—”
“Johnny? Jessica? Gwen—”
“I get it. I get it—”
“Carlie? Oh—Debbie? Caleb! Then there was Angela—”
Peter’s expression contorts into one of confusion. “Angela?” He tilts his head, squinting, searching for any kind of memory. 
“Cute red head. You met her in line at Aldi.”
“Ahhh…” A knowing, borderline too-telling smile of recognition pulls at Peter’s lips. “Angela...” he sighs, almost dreamily. Okay, so maybe Ned has a point. But just because Peter enjoys the company of other people so much that he’s got his own version of Mambo No. 5, doesn’t mean he’s incapable of living without the warm touch of another human being or his hand. 
Peter freezes, glancing at his friend. “Okay. Well. What do you want me to do about that? It’s not like I’m gonna call any of them up or anything. I have some sense of self-control.”
Again, Ned blinks. 
“And besides, Felicia was freshman year… she’s our friend now. I don’t hook-up with her anymore.”
Another blink. “Dude.”
“Fine.” Peter huffs, whipping his phone out, eyes nearly rolling out of their sockets and onto the floor as he starts swiping through his contacts. “But I’m not deleting any of ‘em, okay?” 
“Peter…” 
“I’ll change their names! How ‘bout that?” 
A beat passes of silent, overtly-judgmental staring on Ned’s part. He huffs after another second, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Fine.” Then, his frown shifts into a nonchalant smirk. “Whatever makes it easier for you to lose and me to win.” 
“Please,” Peter scoffs. “I’m not the one with a girlfriend. You’re going down.” He tilts his head, narrowing his eyes, lips pursed in mock-contemplation as he points a finger. “Or I guess… Betty’s the one going down.”
Ned nearly chokes on his water holding back a snort. “Come on, man.”
Peter shrugs. 
“Okay, well, are you gonna change the contact name for your right hand, too?”
It’s Peter’s turn to spit out a laugh. 
But before he can even come up with another totally awesome comeback, he hears the jingling of keys, the clanking of locks as their roommate comes home after a long day of classes. All he sees is a flash of her curly hair before he’s tearing his gaze away from the front door, suddenly finding the pads of his thumbs to be pretty damn interesting. 
“Hey, MJ,” Ned greets casually, as if they weren’t just sorting out a bet where neither of them are allowed to orgasm for an entire month. 
“‘Sup.” Michelle flashes them a brief, closed-mouth grin as she makes for the refrigerator, swiping up some baby carrots and the brita filter. 
Really, the conversation from earlier should be done there. Nothing else needs to be said. Especially not in front of their roommate. 
But Peter can’t help himself. 
“Let’s shake on it,” he says, putting his hand out, knowing that the more he keeps talking, the more danger he’s in of saying too much. 
Ned takes it readily, eyes narrowed in determination. “Let’s.”
The corner of Peter’s lip twitches upward, but he holds it back. “No… Peanuts.”
“No walnuts.”
They have that understanding, speaking in the code that the two of them have just made up on the spot, something that Peter can’t help but feel pretty damn proud of. 
MJ glances between the two, carrot half-way to her mouth, frozen in place, brows pinched in suspicion. 
“Peter and I are giving up all nuts for the next month,” Ned says proudly, answering the question that she most certainly did not ask. 
“Cool.”
Ned throws a not-as-subtle-as-he-thinks-it-is wink across the table, giving a just as subtle thumbs up from behind one of his stray history books. 
Peter nods. 
“Why?” Michelle asks, her question—one that shouldn’t have been as much of a surprise at is was—causing them both to exchange wary glances. 
There’s a silence that follows, one that might clearly show that these two guys have no idea what kind of hole they’ve dug themselves into. Ned watches Peter expectantly. Peter glares back. 
“Is it like a health thing?” MJ offers, popping another carrot into her mouth.
Peter nods a little too quickly. “Yeah. Health stuff.” His stomach flips when her gaze meets his, her eyes squinting as she chews thoughtfully. 
“May thinks Peter might have a nut allergy,” Ned hastily spits out. When both sets of eyes land on him, he laughs. “So his allergist suggested going a month without ‘em. To see if that makes it better.”
And honestly, Peter thinks that’s a pretty damn good save. 
The best part is that MJ seems to buy it. She nods. “So why are you doing it, Ned?”
“Solidarity,” Ned offers quickly. 
Nice save. 
“Ah,” MJ purses her lips, though she still doesn’t seem to care all that much. “Well, good luck. I guess. I know how much you guys… love… nuts? I guess?”
Peter nods solemnly. 
When she turns back to grab a cup from the cabinet, he throws Ned a quick single nod.
Well played.
--
“So, Peter’s doing no nut November.”
Felicia nearly chokes, snorting as she struggles to keep her vanilla latte in her mouth. “What?” She asks after a dangerous second. They were supposed to be having a nice study sesh, reading about Bloom’s taxonomy, not talking about Peter’s nut habits. 
“He and Ned made a stupid bet to see who could last the whole month,” MJ answers, taking a quiet sip of her London Fog. “Apparently they bet a lot of money on it.”
Felicia’s face scrunches in amused confusion. “Why?”
“Do they really need a reason to do dumb shit?” 
Considering that for a second, Felicia nods with a satisfied frown. “Fair.”
“I bet against Peter, though,” MJ continues. “After he left, I made Ned let me in on it. There’s no way Pete can last the whole month, right? Not even a week.”
“Oh, definitely not,” Felicia vehemently shook her head. “I honestly feel like he’d spontaneously combust after, like, a day.” Then, she lets out a quiet snort. “Combust a nut.”
Michelle wrinkles her nose. “Ew.”
“But for real. He’s not gonna make it.”
“That’s what I said. Ned seems to have some faith in him though—no idea why. I told him that Peter wouldn’t even last a week… and now I guess I’m involved.”
“This would be so easy to sabotage though.”
“Right?” 
“Seriously,” Felicia snorts. “All I’d have to do is hit him up one more time and he’s gone.” And then, in that next instant, her face lights up like a Christmas tree. “That’s it!” Before she says anything else, she’s pulling her phone out, quickly scrolling through, looking for God knows what. “Girl, I am gonna win that bet for you.” 
MJ leans forward, curious, yet still cautious. She’s not sure if Peter hooking up again with Felicia is the best idea, given that relations within the friend group would just make things a giant, tangled up mess of complicated awkwardness. “How?” Michelle dares to ask, craning her neck to see what the hell Felicia’s doing on her phone. 
Her friend is quiet for a moment, locked in concentration on her screen, bottom lip tucked between her teeth, brows knit together. Then, she cracks a satisfied, sly smile, turning her phone to show MJ just what she was looking for. 
Simply; a picture of Felicia’s relatively new tattoo which, in and of itself, doesn’t seem like it would get Peter’s peter going. It’s pretty. Floral. Nothing to lose one’s mind over. 
No, it’s more the placement. 
It’s a tasteful shot, the simple flowers lining the underside of her breasts, her hands acting as makeshift pasties, just barely covering her nipples. 
Still, though there’s no actual nudity, it’s enough to make MJ’s eyes bug out of her head for a moment before she’s realizing what she’s looking at. 
“Okay. So?” Michelle waits for an explanation. 
“I send him this,” Felicia says simply, pulling her phone back and (seemingly) drafting up the very message. “Ask if he wants a closer look at it.” 
Michelle considers it a moment, knowing that there’s a very strong chance that Peter could almost immediately fall into such an obvious trap. The corners of her lips twitch into a casual frown. She shrugs. “Honestly. Yeah. That might work.” 
“Might?” Felicia almost scoffs. 
“You’re a genius.”
A smirk tugs at Felicia’s mouth as she leans back in her chair, swiping up to send the message before putting the phone down on the table. “I know.”
They sit in silence, the two of them watching the screen with bated breath. They both gasp when the read receipt pops up, followed by a dead silence. MJ can only imagine how stressed that boy must be, opening his phone, thinking it’s an innocent text from Felicia, then BAM, he’s vibe-checked by her boobs instead. 
She holds back a snort, her stomach jumping into her throat seeing the dot-dot-dot pop up at the bottom of the screen. It’s almost as if she forgets to breathe, waiting to see what he’s going to say to such a blatant come on. 
It’s like he’s typing a damn novel with how long it’s taking him though, and Michelle’s not sure she can take it much longer. 
And then, her phone dings. 
Felicia’s lips pull into a frown reading the message. “‘Wow. Looks cool! No thanks, though.’ Aaaaand,” she spins her phone for MJ to read it. “Thumbs-up emoji. Smiley face with sunglasses.”
Even MJ’s surprised at that response. Maybe Peter is really taking this No Nut November thing seriously. Maybe he’s not as weak as she thought. But… it doesn’t make any sense. Nothing’s adding up. 
And with this confusion, there’s a sense of relief, knowing his response. Waiting wasn’t fun. 
“Huh.” Felicia sighs, biting her lip in thought as she starts typing out another message and sending it. 
“What did you say?” Michelle asks. 
“I told him I’d been thinking about getting my nipples pierced and wanted to know what he thought.” 
At that, Michelle snorts. “You’re an evil woman.” 
Felicia shrugs innocently. “I think he’d really like ‘em.”
Truly, it’s a genius move. It’s something that Peter has to address; Felicia’s nipples. The idea of them being pierced. It’s too much for his brain to handle. 
And again, just like before, they get into a staring contest with the conversation, watching as the read receipt pops up again, immediately followed by the ever-cruel ellipses as Peter no doubt struggles with a response that’s not too-eager. 
But then, he completely throws them for another loop. 
“‘I support you, friend!’ with…” Her eyes narrow. “A smiley face.” 
“Wow,” Michelle says, genuinely surprised. 
And Felicia seems just as shocked, if not a little offended that one of her oldest tricks in the book seem to have no effect whatsoever. “Did he just… friendzone me?” She asks, absolutely appalled.
“You were already friends before?” Michelle laughs. 
“But in this context?” She huffs, shaking her head. A beat passes where all she does is stare at her phone. “That’s weird,” she says slowly, lips quirking into a confused frown. “Huh.” 
“There, there,” Michelle deadpans, patting her friend stiffly on the hand. 
Felicia laughs. “It’s fine…” She draws out. “A hit to the ego is good for me every once in a while.”
“Oh my God,” MJ rolls her eyes. “You’re still hot. Don’t worry.” 
With a sad, a little over-dramatic nod, Felicia’s frown deepens as she pretends to wipe at her eyes. “Yeah. I am.” 
“I can’t believe that didn’t work,” MJ muses. Really, she can’t. Peter’s perhaps the easiest person she knows—and there’s nothing wrong with that at all; it’s just a fact of life. The sky is blue. Grass is green. Peter is a thot.
“I guess he’s really following through with this whole no nut thing…” Felicia’s brow furrows as she recoils. “How much money did he bet anyway?”
“A hundred.” 
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah.” 
“How much did you put in?” 
“...A hundred.”
“MJ!”
“Listen!” Michelle reasons, holding her hands up in defense. “This is gonna be the easiest two hundred dollars I’ve ever made.”
Felicia sits back, clearly impressed. “Does Peter know you’re in on it?”
“Nope,” MJ says, emphasizing the ‘p’ with an audible pop. 
“Well—” Felicia starts, shifting in her seat, crossing one leg over the other. “—I’m sure you’ll find some way to make that boy give in. Sorry I couldn’t help.”
Michelle lets out a light snort. “It’s okay. You tried.” 
“If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know.”
But honestly, MJ already has a vague idea of what her next step is. 
And it brings her to his bedroom, to his desk, messing with his laptop while he’s out for his Sunday patrol. His password is entirely too easy to guess—really, you’d think a guy as smart as Peter would have something a little more complicated than “webshooter69.” 
If there’s anything she knows about Peter—maybe a little too much about her friend—is that while he mostly enjoys the company of a flesh and blood human being, he’s not above the occasional perusing of adult websites. 
The guy likes porn. 
The plan is to make his chrome homepage one of his regular sites. Confront him with the images that really get him going. 
She browses through his history, hoping that he hadn’t thought to delete everything or go incognito. And… luckily for her, that particular idea seemed to have slipped his mind entirely. Literally not even a week out and she’s found a slightly-more-than-nefarious-looking website. 
Easy enough. 
And it’s exactly what she’s looking for. Nudity galore. There doesn’t seem to be a corner of the site that doesn’t have a boob or a butt. It is truly Peter’s domain.
For a moment, she wonders if she should make the homepage specifically something he searches for… his favorite genre perhaps. 
She shakes the thought away immediately. It’s too invasive. Besides, the front page should be more than enough—there’s literally a video that frustratingly autoplays every time she goes back to that one page. And why would she need to know what Peter likes? There’s no reason for that. At all. 
Making sure to close out of everything before logging out, she slams the laptop shut, sprinting out of his room as if he was just about to get home. Her heart races as she slams her own bedroom door behind her, catching her breath proving to be more difficult than usual. 
And now, she waits. 
It turns out, she doesn’t have to wait very long. 
That evening, in fact, after Peter’s come back for dinner. 
He takes his time microwaving his leftovers from the day before, whistling to himself as he bounces around the kitchen. The whole time it feels like MJ’s just holding her breath, anticipating his early demise the instant he opens up chrome on his laptop. And honestly, this does feel like a low blow, like she’s just snatching up that low-hanging fruit—God, MJ, phrasing—but then she’s reminded that this, again, is the easiest two hundred dollars she will ever earn. 
And then she feels a little less bad about what she’s done. 
The second he’s finished with his food and disappears into his room, her eyes are on his door, and then it occurs to her that there’s not really a way that she can know he’s, well, “lost.” It’s all based on his own honor, if he’ll admit to succumbing to his most basic need. She likes to think that he would, though. Peter’s too much of a good, honest guy—hiding his secret identity aside—that he couldn’t lie to his friends about it. 
Ned comes home not two minutes later, deflating on the other side of the couch. 
“Rough day?” MJ asks, the teasing hint to her tone not going unnoticed. 
Ned rolls his eyes. “Told Betty I was doing this whole month thing.”
MJ winced. “Yikes.”
“Yeah,” Ned chuckles. 
“Well, if it helps, this whole thing is probably gonna end in—” she checks her phone. “—five or so minutes.”
Ned’s gaze darts right and left. “What… What do you mean?” 
Before she can answer, Peter yelps from the other side of his door. There’s a loud crash that sounds suspiciously like a laptop being yeeted across the room in a hasty, knee-jerk reaction. Before either she or Ned can move, Peter’s bursting through his door, eyes blown wide, his face drained of all color, and he’s frozen in place, one hand gripping the doorframe. 
And it takes everything in her not to grin. “Everything okay?”
Peter coughs, scratching the back of his neck, before his gaze lands on Ned in a challenging glare. “DUDE. Not cool.”
Poor Ned looks as confused as ever, his jaw dropping, brows pinching together as he glances between the two. “I—What—what are you talking about?”
Peter narrows his eyes even more. 
“Did I hear something break?” MJ asks carefully, as not to seem too suspicious. 
He startles at her voice, sputtering out a response that mostly sounds like the macaroni glue art of sentences. “Oh—uh—no. It—It was the—the laptop. There was—a thing. And—I just kinda—threw it.” He laughs nervously. “It’s fine though. Not—not broken. All good—” He throws some finger guns. “—in the hood.”
Her lips twist as she nods. 
Peter nods back, hands in his back pockets as he starts to retreat back into his room—though not before throwing another I’m watching you glare at Ned. 
As soon as the door clicks shut, Ned’s in full interrogation mode. 
“MJ, what did you do?”
She shrugs, toying with the loose thread of her hoodie. “Nothing much. Just… Set his default homepage to some porn. No biggie.”
Ned’s jaw drops, thoroughly scandalized, but there’s a hint of amusement behind his eyes. “Dude… That’s evil.”
Michelle gives another shrug. 
So, her second plan had failed. Even after surprise-porn, Peter’s still in the running. He’s still holding out. Almost a two days into November, and he is surviving, a surprise to everyone involved, and already, MJ’s running out of ideas. Well, good—plausible ideas. There are plenty of ways she’s sure she could compromise him. Take him to a strip-club maybe, but there’s not a doubt in her mind that he’d be able to pick up on what she was doing. There’s no way he’d fall for it. 
Hiring an escort was definitely out of the question. 
Theoretically, both of those could work. Were they good plans? No. Absolutely not. 
He’s already turned down a previous hook-up. He broke his laptop out of the sheer panic that seeing porn brought him. 
There doesn’t seem to be much more that she can do. 
It’s not until the next day, as she’s walking the clothing section of Target with Felicia that she’s struck with an idea. 
Felicia specifically striking her with said idea. 
They’re in the middle of the sleepwear section, MJ mindlessly rifling through the fuzzy sock bin, when she nearly collides with the underwear display. She’s distracted for a moment, wondering if it’s too soon since she’s bought new underwear to justify taking advantage of the sale, when Felicia nudges her with her elbow. 
“Peter’s really into pretty underwear,” she says as if they’re not in the middle of Target. As if there’s not a mom and two kids in the actual pajama section two displays over. 
Michelle recoils slightly, startled. “What?” 
“He’s like, really into it,” she says, taking a casual sip of her iced coffee, reaching over to pick up a particularly lacy number. “Just saying. Might be useful.”
For some reason, MJ feels a strange heat rise to her cheeks. “I’m not gonna put these on for him!”
Felicia smirks, holding a hand up in defense. “Who said anything about you wearing it? You can just… leave it lying around for him to find, or something.” She tilts her head to the side, both brows raising. “Jeez, MJ.”
“Oh…” Michelle says, though her face still burns. “Right.” 
It’s not a bad idea. In fact, it’s pretty good. If Peter’s as into fancy underwear as Felicia says he is, then maybe leaving them around like some kind of weird scavenger hunt is the best plan. She doesn’t buy much, picking a pair of relatively cheap lace and polyester. She could use her own underwear for this, but… that would be weird right?
(As if this isn’t weird enough already.)
And besides, the ones she’s buying are a little more extra in that department. They aren’t meant to be worn for long, not from comfort. 
They’re perfect. 
She feels like some kind of underwear fairy, planting them somewhere in the apartment, making sure they’re hidden, yet visible in a place that Peter frequents; it sticks up between the couch cushions, not subtle in the slightest. The second Peter’s butt hits that couch, he’ll see them. There’s no other way around it. 
It becomes another waiting game as she sits in the living chair, knees curled into her chest as she pretends to read quietly. It’s pretend because she can’t focus long enough on any single letter to let her brain absorb anything on the pages. Finally, the front door opens. Peter greets her with a cheery smile, making immediately for the kitchen. 
Good. Yes. He gets his after class snack. Important. 
Just as she’d planned. 
He emerges not two minutes later, bag of cheese crackers in hand as he launches himself over the back of the couch. “‘Sup?” he asks after shoving a mouthful of Cheez-its into his face. 
Michelle wrinkles her nose, her eyes unconsciously darting between the guy on the couch and the panties peeking out from the cushions. “Reading,” she offers, brandishing the very unread book.
Peter nods, tearing his gaze from hers after a beat and reaching for the remote. When he sits back, his hand brushes the cheap lace and he pauses, curious as he looks down to see what he touched. 
All of this while MJ desperately pretends not to notice. 
When he picks the pair up though, his brows pinch together, at first unsure as to what he’s actually looking at. “Uh…” 
At that, MJ looks up, seeing right as the realization sets in. 
Of course, she plays dumb—by staying silent. 
Peter quickly looks to her, eyes wide as if he’s seen a ghost. “It’s—it’s not—these aren’t—” His lips press together as he forces a breath through his nose. “I—Oh god—”
And then, for a split-second, she feels the slightest bit guilty. Is this actually a good plan or is she just tricking him into getting a boner over cheap department store undies? That, and is she technically lying to him by not claiming the offending undergarments? By making him freak out over nothing?
He seems to be having some sort of existential crisis, wondering if these really are from some recent hook-up and the psychological effect of not nutting in three days has caused him to forget. 
This was a terrible idea.
She has to put him out of his misery. 
“Oh, shit. Those—” Her laugh is breathy, short. “—Those are mine.” 
And instantly, Peter drops the thong, as if his hands had been burned. “Oh!” he coughs, his gaze straining as if he’s trying to keep his eyes on her face. “S—Sorry.” He swallows.
“Yeah.” Rising on legs that are shaky—from sitting so oddly in the chair for so long—she goes to snatch up the baby pink lace, clutching it behind her back before Peter can get another look. “Sorry. Must’ve forgot. Uh, when I did… Laundry.”
Peter nods, breathing out a chuckle. “Yeah. Yeah. S’fine.” He waves her off, scratching the back of his neck. 
But even after that, Peter still seems off. For some reason, he still doesn’t seem to be able to look at her for more than a split-second. He doesn’t say anything else, sitting in silence, his cheese crackers long forgotten on the coffee table. 
Michelle wonders if she should say something else. Break the tension. It’s awkward, obviously, because he feels weird about touching his friend’s underwear. Anyone would, really. He touched something that theoretically would be on her body; something that normally, he thinks is really sexy, or whatever. 
After another minute of some good old soul-crushing silence, Peter stands, excusing himself to his room without another word. 
Huh. Weird.
--
It’s the movie night that finally gives her that clarity she’s been looking for; that moment where everything clicks into place, and she can finally see how she’s going to win this. 
Ned’s out with Betty, leaving her and Peter alone not for the first time. 
She and Peter are sitting on the couch together, her head resting on his shoulder—because that’s what friends do, obviously—the two of them sharing a gray fuzzy blanket. This is a normal occurrence. They’re close enough in their friendship that some occasional cuddling isn’t too weird. Especially given how chilly it’s been lately. And, it’s comfy. Just some nice head-to-shoulder contact. 
But later in the movie, when MJ starts to get dangerously sleepy, feeling herself drooping further and further, unable to completely pull herself back to reality. Things are fuzzy, almost dreamlike, as she just pulls herself up from his shoulder, giving up entirely on watching the movie and just grumpily laying down right on his lap, his thigh her make-shift pillow.
This isn’t weird. 
It’s normal.
She’s sleepy.
And Peter’s a surprisingly comfy pillow.
Peter doesn’t even have time to ask what she’s doing before she’s just nestling further into his lap. She misses the pure dread and panic that flashes across his face when her head lines up with his head. There’s no safety here. Just a few wrong movements, and she’ll definitely know what’s up. She’ll be an unwitting tourist to Boner City, population: one. 
Peter has to do something. He can’t let this continue. Having his best friends head just straight up on his crotch is not helpful in the slightest. 
“MJ,” he gently nudges her, grimacing slightly when she just burrows further into him. 
He nudges her again, and she grumbles, finally opening her eyes and looking up at him. She puts a hand on his thigh to steady herself. 
Peter swallows. 
“What?” She asks, not opening her eyes.
“I uh—” Peter can’t seem to speak, trying desperately to come up with some excuse as to why he has to get the fuck out of there. “—I gotta pee.”
She cracks an eye open skeptically. “But I’m comfy,” she emphasizes her point by—once again—snuggling her face into his lap. 
Peter’s about to lose his damn mind. 
In MJ’s defense, this had started with the best intentions. She truly was just wanting to lay down and sleep on her friends lap—again, a perfectly normal thing—but now… even through the haze of sleep, she’s seeing how much this is effecting him. 
It hadn’t occurred to her until now, that she could be the one that makes him “crack.” They’re just friends. Sure, she thinks he’s attractive, and yeah, maybe she’s had the one or two or three sexy dreams about him before (even some soft, fluffy ones), but that doesn’t mean she thinks about him in that way. 
He's just Peter.
Sweet, adorable, kinda hot Peter.
Again, she doesn't think about him that way.
But she supposes it makes sense. Really, she should have known before putting her head on his crotch that he might get a little flustered from the proximity, that it might remind him of certain things. It's just the body's physiological reaction to a stimulus; the stimulus being her head. It's simple science.
So then, it would also only make sense for her to take advantage of that physiological response she's able to get out of him. Maybe not right at this second, given she's been a little blindsided by this whole thing. But maybe now she can rethink her gameplan. Now she has access to tools she didn't know she had access to before.
Her own sensuality.
She can certainly use that.
And it's not as if she'll do anything too out there. Just... make him feel the heat—the pressure—just a little bit. Make him sweat.
Felicia's of course delighted by this development, giving her full support in "seducing Parker into busting a nut."
(Her words, not MJ's.)
She'd also said something about how it's about time, but that'd been promptly ignored—mainly because MJ didn't know what the hell Felicia was talking about.
The problem is now, though, Michelle's not exactly sure where to start. After Peter had made a dead sprint to the bathroom the night before, he's been a little more, shall we say, cautious, around her. He bounces on his feet, trying desperately to appear casual, acting as if nothing was weird about their movie night.
She only has three days left in the week, so she has to think.
And fast.
--
Peter's not sure if MJ's up to something, but he can't help but feel as though she's acting... strange. First, the underwear thing, which made him feel all kinds of flustered and weird, and then her head being dangerously close to his dick. It's a lot. She can't possibly know about this No Nut thing, right? She wasn't there, and Ned wouldn't have told her... right?
Still, he tries to avoid her as much as he can, ready to fly away the second she's in the same room as him.
Truthfully, he's always had maybe the tiniest crush on his best friend. It's faded in and out over the years, especially in their college years. But it's always been there, even if just the ghost of one. And now, he's starting to see maybe how bad of an idea this was in the first place—No Nut November. His roommate is literally probably the prettiest person in the world and he's being constantly reminded of the one thing he definitely should not be thinking about under any circumstances if he wants to win. It's a disaster that should have never happened in the first place. This could have been prevented, he thinks.
He's not sure how he didn't think about that when he'd agreed to do this.
He just knows that he has to do something, though he's not sure what.
But any and all ideas of how to protect himself instantly leave his mind, crashing his brain, when he comes back to the apartment the next day to find it sweltering. He looks at the thermostat, thoroughly confused to find the heater set to eighty. He peels off his jacket, recoiling when the humid air sticks to his skin. It's hot. Too hot. Even for early November. It's not that cold outside.
He's about to call out for his roommates when MJ emerges from her room, and he feels like he has to pick his jaw up from the floor.
Her shorts are too short for it being fall. They show too much of her legs for his eyes to not be immediately drawn to them. Her white tank top is tight against her skin, hugging her form in a way that almost makes him jealous. And then, it's almost too much, too dangerous, when he can very clearly tell that she's apparently decided to forgo a bra for the evening.
"Oh, hey Pete!" She says, as if she's not looking like that.
"Hey—hey. Em..." He clears his throat.
Dear God. It's been less than a week. Hold it together.
"Is it..." Peter swallows. "Is it hot in here? The—the heat? Is it—is it on?"
MJ's eyes widen a fraction.
"Oh, yeah. It is," she replies casually. "Is that okay? I was just a little cold."
"So you turn it up to—" Peter stops, craning his neck to look at the thermostat on the wall. "—eighty-two?"
She glances left and right, as if there's nothing wrong with that temperature whatsoever. "Yeah," she says with a nonchalant shrug, her lips tugging into a frown. After a beat, she lets out a faint snort, apparently finding something particularly funny, before turning to the fridge. She opens the freezer, sighing as the cool air hits her face.
Peter doesn't realize he's staring as she reaches in, pulling out a box from the top shelf. When he sees what's in the box, he knows that his doom is near. It's bright, colorful. It's popsicles. He has to leave immediately if he knows what's good for him, if he has any sense of sanity left. She grabs a crinkling wrapper from inside the box, casually whipping it out. She holds one out to him.
"Want one?" She offers.
Peter can only shake his head, swallowing a near-silent, voice-cracking, "Nope."
And it's at this point, as she shuts the freezer door, as she starts peeling the wrapper off the way-too-phallic popsicle, that he knows he should run. It's not safe here.
But he's frozen in place, trying to burn his gaze into the intricacies of the granite countertops, tapping his fingers in an erratic rhythm.
He's an idiot, for sure, because he looks up at exactly the wrong time, right as she wraps her lips around the tip of the pop, her eyes meeting his for a fraction of a second.
How can it only be eighty-two in here? 
Thankfully, he gains some sense, tearing himself away from the counter and going over to actually turn down the thermostat. "Is it okay if I—" He coughs. "—Turn this back down?"
"Sure." MJ doesn't stop him. She wets her lips, hiding her satisfied smirk by taking the popsicle deeper into her mouth.
But again, he makes the fatal mistake of looking at her again, because now... well, now she's just messing with him. She has to be.
No one eats a popsicle like that.
When he thinks it can't get worse, she has the fucking audacity to hum as she pushes it further into her mouth. "This is so good," she says, half-way a moan.
Who actually says that about a fucking popsicle?
It's evil, truly it is, because it makes him imagine her swirling her tongue around it inside her mouth, and suddenly, the tightness in his pants gets even more uncomfortable.
He hurries to somewhere else in the kitchen, pouring himself a nice glass of water. It's still too hot in here. MJ sidesteps him easily, still inappropriately eating—sucking off—her popsicle. And he nearly chokes, because as his eyes meet hers again, she takes the damn thing out of her mouth—he thinks he's safe, but oh no—she slips her tongue out, licking a long stripe up the base, swirling it around the tip before taking it into her mouth again.
"What?" She asks—she fucking asks—when he can't look away.
And unsurprisingly, Peter can't speak. Can't even get a single syllable out.
"Is my tongue red?" She asks, sticking said tongue out that was just seconds before all over the popsicle.
"I'm gonna go hop in the shower," Peter spits out, dropping his water in the sink and making a mad dash to the bathroom, not waiting for a response.
A shower is what he needs right now.
A nice, cold shower.
He needs to take a deep breath. Think of not sexy things. Things that don't make his life out to be a bad porno.
Then, he needs to leave. Hide in the forest. Live among the trees, away from temptation, until November is over. Only then can he be at peace.
That's it!
Trees. Nature. Forests. Cold. Snow. MJ in the snow. Kissing MJ in the snow—NO.
NO.
He slams the bathroom door, leaning back against it. He heaves out a shaky sigh, running a hand over his face in frustration. How he can possibly survive the rest of the month, he has no idea.
MJ has to be messing with him, right? There’s absolutely no way in hell she’s not doing this on purpose. And why? Why is she torturing him like this? What has Peter ever done in his life to deserve this torment? It isn’t fair. 
No matter how desperately he wants to take care of the not-so-little problem in his jeans, he holds himself back, clenching every muscle in his body as he switches on a very cold shower. He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to will the image of Michelle—his best friend and roommate—eating a popsicle out of his mind. It has absolutely no right to be there. 
And still, as Peter stands under the stream of freezing water, letting it run down his back and front as he holds himself up with one hand, he can’t help but think that the worst is yet to come. That somehow, someway, MJ would top simulating a blow job on an ice pop. He doesn’t know how she’d do it, but he knows it’s coming. 
He must be ready. 
--
Not to MJ’s surprise, Peter avoids her the rest of the day. He keeps his head down, not daring to even glance up at her as he walks past. Weirdly enough, this is a good sign. It confirms her hypothesis that her actions can have some sort of an effect on him. It helps her to know what to do next. 
And, well…
She’d be lying if she said it weren’t at least a little bit thrilling. 
There’s something deep inside her that finds all of this so interesting, so amusing. She wants to know how far she can go, how hard she can push before he cracks under the pressure. And the fact that it’s her that has all this power over him—it’s certainly a revelation. 
But still, even if this is “fun,” she can be professional about this. She would never let it get “too far,” whatever that would be. No, the goal here isn’t to seduce her way into Peter’s pants, but to seduce him—innocently—enough that he just does it to himself. 
Her next plan might be a little more unfair, a little more direct, and perhaps a little more daring than the last one. 
And—she should add—much more difficult than she had anticipated. 
For one, she just can’t seem to get the right angle, holding her phone above her body, making sure to get both the underside of her breasts—a tasteful amount of boob, thank you very much—and the same cheap, pretty pink undies she bought from Target. It’s awkward, tilting and twisting her phone, her thumb just barely reaching the shutter button. The first few shots aren’t anything to be particularly proud of. Too blurry, her arm cramping up from holding the camera up so long. This isn’t something she’s really done before, given she’s never seen the appeal. Why send pics when you could just, you know, show them the real thing? 
But for some reason, it makes her heart climb into her throat, makes her face almost unbearably warm. 
It’s when she changes her positioning on her bed, finding some nice light filtering in from the early evening sun. Golden hour has always proven to be exceptionally kind to her. She finds a decent pose, covering both breasts with her forearm, arching her back, making sure to get that perfect “booty tooch” that would make Tyra proud. She breathes out in an attempt to cool her heated nerves, parting her lips in a way that’s sure to incite some kind of reaction. 
Click. 
And then, she’s got the shot. 
Okay, technically it’s not a nude, but there’s something about the idea of sending this picture to Peter of all people that gets her stomach twisting in knots. 
And as her hand hovers over the send button, her heart hammers in her chest, hesitation holding her still. She takes her bottom lip in her teeth, beginning to wonder if this is the best idea. Her plan had been to send the picture, play it off as some kind of mistake, and hope that he goes to… take care of himself. Sure, it might get a reaction out of Peter—one big enough that causes him to give up this whole no nut thing—but it almost feels as if she’s crossing some kind of line. 
Miming a blow job on a popsicle was one thing—one that she can’t decide if she’s proud of or not. That was just a performance. It wasn’t something she was doing to Peter. This—sending him a racy picture when he’s literally in the next room—is a direct interference. 
Plus, there’s no telling what this would do to their friendship. It could ruin everything. Catastrophically. 
Awkward would be an understatement. 
She puts her phone face down on the mattress, avoiding the picture all together, before getting up and pulling on one of her comfy robes. 
God, all of this was a terrible idea. 
Wallowing in her own self-pity and regret, she flops back down onto the bed, grabbing her phone with the intention of deleting the picture once and for all. It’s still there in the text conversation, just waiting to be sent. She scoffs, shaking her head at herself, only for her heart to stop in her chest when—in her frazzled state—she hits “send” instead of that little “x.”
“SHIT.” 
No no no no no NONONONONO.
She drops her phone immediately, wrapping her robe tighter around herself as she scrambles for her bedroom door, nearly tripping over her rug in the process. 
Peter’s sitting on the couch, blissfully unaware, when his phone pings. And to Michelle’s utter horror, he picks it up. 
“NO!” MJ shouts, jumping on top of him. It’s a futile attempt really, seeing as her best friend—she stupidly forgets—is an actual superhero. 
Peter yelps as she pushes him down into the couch, tumbling onto the floor, holding his phone away from her grabby hands as she straddles his hips. “What the fuck—” And while he could push her off of him with a ridiculous amount of ease, he stills, becoming suddenly aware of their precarious position. 
“Gimme your phone!” Her voice comes out in a half-plea, half-demand. All panic. 
Peter still holds it away from her, his own brand of panic flashing across his features when his other hand naturally falls at her hip. He yanks it away, instead holding her back by the shoulder. “Why?”
It’s also then that he sees what she’s wearing—or rather, what she isn’t wearing. 
And in his distraction, Michelle snatches his phone, instinctively throwing it across the room. She winces apologetically when he looks up at her, jaw dropped and brow wrinkled. 
“What the hell, MJ—”
“—I’m sorry! I panicked!”
“Why?!”
“I—”
It’s then, as they both stare at each other in shock, that they both realize the position they’re in—but neither of them seem to be able to move away, frozen solid on the living room floor. 
Peter can feel his heart beating relentlessly in his ears, his throat suddenly going dry when he notices how tightly Michelle’s thighs are holding him in place. Another problem starts to arise when he sees how her cotton robe is pooled around their aligned hips, his eyes catching the sliver of shiny pink underwear when one side falls back. “What—” He clears his throat, his voice coming out uncharacteristically breathy. “—What was on my… my phone?”
“Uh—” She presses her lips together. “A picture.”
Peter’s gaze drifts lower for a split second, dipping to the exposed dip in her chest, drawn to the rise and fall with each breath. “Of?” 
“Me?”
“You?”
MJ breathes out a laugh, glancing down. “I, uh—accidentally sent… You a picture. Well—I meant to send it to you, not that like, it wasn’t for you, but I kinda decided not to send it… and then… I did. Accidentally.” 
And even though he’s trying everything in his power to keep his eyes on her face, he can’t help the way they seem to travel lower and lower with each second. He’s confused at first, but then, it hits him, like a train, what exactly that picture was. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
The air crackles between them, static in their ears. Michelle finds her own gaze drifting lower, lingering on his parted lips, a warmth pooling in the pit of her stomach. She shifts slightly, her breath catching as she suddenly feels the hardness pressing into the inside of her thigh. Peter stares up at her, something in his eyes bringing her closer, inch by inch. The warmth and weight of both of his hands tentatively, slowly moving to her waist causes something to ignite within her, and in a split-second, her lips are on his. 
Michelle’s surprised to find herself… well—surprised—at how this kiss doesn’t immediately turn into an all tongue-and-teeth, ripping-eachother’s-clothes-off kiss. It’s sweet. Slow and tender—as if the two of them are savoring it. Nothing like she’d expected Peter to be capable of. Nothing like how he’d painted himself to be from all of his hook-up stories. 
And she’s not entirely sure who’s “fault” it is when it turns into more. 
It could be the way she’s subtly grinding her hips against his, her body alight with the friction. 
It could be how his tongue swipes over her bottom lip, innocently at first. 
It could be her soft, breathy whines as one of his hands moves lower to cup her ass, pulling her closer, the new angle against his hardness bringing an indescribable feeling. 
And then again, it could be her robe starting to fall off her shoulders—she’s not sure who starts that, but all of a sudden she’s feeling cool air on her skin. 
She almost smiles into the kiss, thinking about how easily and quickly this “chaste” kiss had shifted. 
And it’s immediately after that thought that she snaps out of it. 
“Wait!” She says, pulling back and sitting up—but still staying in Peter’s lap. Before this can go any further, she has to tell him the truth. He has to be able to… back out of it. 
Where this sudden sense of generosity’s come from, she has no idea. 
He follows, sitting up with her, brows creasing, his expression a concoction of worry and panic. “Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry—”
“No!” She puts a hand on his shoulder after fixing her robe. Her thumb smooths over the fabric of his shirt. “No. It’s… fine. I just…” Surprisingly, she finds herself chuckling, unable to bite back her smile as he looks at her with concern. 
“What is it, Em?” 
It’s the nickname for her nickname that does it for her. Truly. 
“You good?” He asks, wincing as she shifts in his lap again. 
“Yeah, uh—” She coughs, trying unsuccessfully to hide the way her lips are twitching violently as she fights her smile. It takes her more than a few moments, the deep breaths she’s taking not doing all that much to help mask the humor in her tone. “—I know about No Nut November.” 
At first, Peter’s confused, staring back at her with furrowed brows, his mouth in a cute little ‘o’. He tries to play dumb, maybe thinking that he can get away with one final attempt to save his pride—letting out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his neck, he shrugs. “Yeah, my new diet. Crazy, huh?”
She blinks, blankly staring at him. “Peter.” There’s some amusement there, especially as she pointedly glances down to their current position. 
“What?” He asks dumbly. 
“Ned told me.”
Peter curses, wincing. “Damn it, Ned.”
“Yeah…” In a strange, very unwelcome bout of insecurity, Michelle removes her hands from Peter’s shoulders, twiddling her fingers together in front of her. “I made him tell me… and I kinda… also made him let me in on the bet.”
His eyes nearly bug out of his head. “What?!”
“We kinda made our own bet that like… If you lasted less than a week, I would get all the money.”
“You didn’t think I’d last a week?” Peter almost takes offense at that, even if there’s merit to her prediction. “Damn, MJ…”
“I mean… I also wanted to win. So… I kinda tried—or I guess have been trying… to sabotage you?” 
At that, his jaw drops. “No! Wait—You—What? I—” He stammers like that, his brain short-circuiting as she still watches from his lap. “That was—what? The porn? On my laptop?”
MJ nods, grimacing. 
“The… underwear? Just in the couch?” 
“Yeah…”
“And you were gonna…” He looks down at her, the cotton robe still just barely tied around her—the journey his eyes make also coinciding with his mouth going dry once again. “...That picture you took…?”
She nods again, looking down at her hands. 
“Putting your head on my lap?!” He asks, as if he of all people is scandalized. 
“That wasn’t part of the plan. That was kinda what helped me figure out that… I could just… do it myself.” 
“Oh my God,” he puts a hand on his face. “The popsicle. The fucking popsicle.”
“That was probably my best work, honestly.”
“That was so cruel.” 
And when he laughs, his eyes crinkling, she starts to see that maybe this will all be okay, and a sense of relief fills her chest. “Yeah, sorry. I also had Felicia help.” 
“You put her up to that?!” 
“Nah. She offered. I felt kinda weird about it—” She says the last part without realizing it, immediately shutting her mouth. 
“That’s why I said no,” Peter replies. 
It’s Michelle’s turn to be surprised. “What? Really? I thought it was just ‘cause you were so dedicated to this whole no nut thing.”
“I mean, yeah, I was but—” He laughs, reaching a hand up to smooth the curls at the base of his neck. “—I just… felt weird about it. With you guys being friends and all.” 
The way MJ’s heart flutters is strange, but not entirely unwelcome. “Why would that be weird?”
“Why did you think it’d be weird?” He throws back, his lips twisting into a curious grin. 
And not for the first time when talking to Peter, Michelle feels all knowledge of the English language leave her body. It’s strange, how much confidence she can have while literally dry-humping him on the living room floor, but how scared she can be trying to explain something about how she feels. 
She only shrugs. 
A beat passes, and still, Michelle can’t bring herself to move. 
“So…” Peter draws out after another moment. “All that—” he clears his throat. “—stuff… that was just to win that bet?” 
“Well, I mean—yeah?” The look of hurt on his face makes her heart lurch in her chest. She’s quick to correct herself. “But—I… I think maybe that could be a good thing.” 
His brows raise in careful curiosity, though he still seems apprehensive. “A good thing?” He asks slowly. 
Michelle nods, swallowing. “Uh—Yeah. ‘Cause… If I hadn’t then I wouldn’t have figured out that—um… I might—” It’s weird, how frustrating it is that she can’t seem to find the words she wants to say, that her brain seems to have completely abandoned her in her greatest, most dire time of need. And this shouldn’t be this hard. She’s an adult. She’s in her third year of college. 
Confessing the feelings that you’ve just realized you have for your best friend since high school should be easy right?
Right?
And she’s only just figured this out. In the last five seconds. That all these years of weird feelings, long glances, warm faces has actually lead to something, they’ve actually meant something other than a weird stomach bug or whatever. 
All it took was attempted sabotage during No Nut November for her to realize that. 
The power it has. 
“MJ?”
His voice grabs her attention; the caution in his tone snapping her gaze to his. And for a moment, she just looks at him, mouth hanging open as she tries to say something, anything. But still, she can’t.
So, she does the next best thing. 
She kisses him—again—trying her best to put all of the words she can’t seem to figure out into it. And although he kisses her back—easily—he doesn’t seem to understand what she means, because he pulls away not ten seconds later. 
“Listen—MJ—” Peter stammers, running a jittery hand through his hair as he breathes out a huff of laughter. “—I don’t think I can do—” He gestures between the two of them. “—This… if it’s just… casual.” 
So, he really didn’t get it, and now, she’s feeling the impatience creeping up her neck. 
“I really like you, MJ,” he confesses, and for a moment, she’s not sure if she heard him right, or if she heard him speak at all. Her brain must be playing some nasty, cold-hearted trick on her, because Peter—perpetually single and ready to mingle Peter—just said that he liked her. 
God, she feels like she’s a teenager again. It feels so high school, the amount of butterflies in her stomach hearing him say that. 
Even more so when she finds herself responding automatically, “I really like you, too.”
“Cool,” he says lamely, his breathless chuckle making her heart flutter in her chest. 
He doesn’t waste another second before he tugs her back to him, capturing her lips to his, one of his hands moving to cup the underside of her jaw. She tilts her head, letting out a gentle sigh as he deepens the kiss. His tongue brushes against her lips before slipping into her mouth. The weight of his other hand on her waist is comforting in a way, heavy and solid as he holds her in place. 
Truly, she hadn’t expected any of her plans from earlier in the week to come to this. 
Instinctively, her hand snakes down to his hips, sliding underneath the hem of his t-shirt and dragging across his stomach, smiling into the kiss as his muscles twitch underneath her touch. It’s then, as her hand dips even lower, palming him over his sweats that he seems to snap out of whatever trance she put him in. 
He grabs her wrist—gently, of course—pulling it away and breaking the kiss. 
His chest is heaving with each breath, the corner of his mouth twitching upward in an apologetic smile. “I—I can’t—the… the bet.”
And it dawns on Michelle then, that she’s been cockblocked by No Nut November. 
Even though she tries to appear understanding, he must be able to see the disappointment in the twist of her lips, the way she nods quietly. 
“But—” He starts, pressing his mouth together into a thin line. He nudges her, pointing his finger as he’s hit with a revelation, talking slowly. “—You’re not… doing… No Nut November…”
MJ lets out a surprised laugh, shifting in his lap as her face warms even more. A beat passes as she stares at him, giving him a chance to take it back. “Are you sure?” She finally asks.
Peter nods quickly, insistently. He’s got this. Clearly. “Oh. Yeah. Definitely. I’ll be fine.”
Yeah, she’s not sure how much of that she actually believes. 
Probably none of it. 
But, that doesn’t mean she’s turning down the offer. 
“Okay…” She trails off, unable to bite back her grin at the brief self-doubt that flashes across his features. “What do you—what do you wanna do?” She asks, her face burning, suddenly finding herself the slightest bit tongue tied. It takes everything in her to at least look calm and not like she’s about a half-second away from just jumping his bones. 
Or, one in particular. 
Peter clears his throat, the tips of his ears turning an adorable shade of red. “Uh—” He huffs out a laugh. “I mean… Whatever you’re comfortable with? I’m cool with whatever you want.”
He’s cool. Okay. Yeah. 
She shifts her weight again, biting back a smirk when he inhales sharply as she brushes against the hardness in his gray sweats. “Sorry.” Feeling merciful, Michelle climbs off of his lap, sitting back against the couch, curling her legs underneath her. “Any ideas?” 
Though, Peter can’t seem to tell if he’s happy with this new development or not—as hard as it was having her sitting on him. “Um—” And his expression tells her that he does have one. “I could…” He coughs again. “I could go down on you?”
It’s funny, how casually he says it, like he’s offering to give her a ride to the airport, or something. But it still makes her ears ring. 
“Yeah,” she says, nodding slowly. She swallows. “That sounds—that sounds good.”
“We should probably—” He gestures to his bedroom door, huffing out a laugh. “—not do this out here.” 
“Probably,” she snorts. 
The speed at which he scrambles to stand and runs to his bedroom, compared to her somewhat-leisurely pace, makes her let out the most undignified laugh. 
A silence falls between them as he shuts the door, the click echoing. MJ takes a moment to glance around his room—literally a single moment, because in the next he’s wrapping his arm around her waist, yanking her to him and crashing his lips to hers. His hands are greedy, twisting handfuls of the soft fabric of her robe, finding purchase on her ass and grinding her against his hardness. 
MJ revels in the groan he lets out as she melts into him, her hands winding themselves in his soft curls, twisting and tugging ever so slightly. 
He guides her to the bed, pausing to gently lay her back on the mattress before crawling over her, his mouth finding itself on the underside of her jaw, his lips and tongue dragging along the column of her throat. With one hand, he prises her legs apart, happily settling between them while his other fumbles with the tie of her robe. 
His eyes meet hers first, silently asking for permission, before pulling the thick string back. His eyes darken as Michelle helps him slip the robe back, leaving her almost completely bare underneath him. He unconsciously wets his lips as his eyes hungrily rake over the expanse of her body—he feels as if the only accurate description for how he feels at this moment being a deer caught in really well-defined headlights. 
She thinks for a moment that he’s just going to do this—stare at her—instead of, well, what he said he’d do. 
But he doesn’t seem to have that kind of patience. He lurches forward, his mouth hot on her neck, trailing open-mouthed, wet kisses down to her collarbone, her sternum, the swell of her right breast. 
She bites back a gasp as he takes her nipple into his mouth, her back arching off the bed as his tongue swirls around it, palming the other with his hand. It’s a sight to see for sure, Peter’s head on her chest, his curls tickling her skin.
His trail continues, back to the dip in her chest, lower and lower, his kisses hot on her stomach, down to her hips, the lace trim of her thong.
Peter sits back on his heels, breathless as he looks down at her. “Fuck—” He curses, drawn to the damp patch in the middle of the soft faux-satin, how it clings to her. 
He doesn’t give it another second, hooking his thumbs around the lace and roughly pulling them off of her legs. 
He’s diving his head down in the next instant, his lips leaving scorching kisses on the inside of her thighs. He thinks that he can maybe tease her, trying to slow his pace as he gets closer and closer to where she wants him to be. 
(Okay, it’s where he wants to be, too.)
He pulls back a little, trying not to smile too much at the disappointed edge in her shuddering sigh. As much as his mouth waters with her so close to him, he controls himself. Kind of. To a degree. He takes a finger, experimentally teasing her entrance, his sweats—somehow—tightening at Michelle’s quiet gasp as he touches her. There, he collects her wetness, coating his finger in her arousal, swirling it over her cunt, around her clit. And he sits there, marveling at how impossibly wet she is already. 
Though, it’s not long, probably less than a minute, before his impatience kicks in again. 
He thinks he might actually die if he doesn’t eat her out. 
Dramatic? Maybe. 
Valid?
Who’s to say?
But he can’t help himself, and any thought about slowing down is thrown out the window as he licks a long stripe up her center, his eyes rolling back as he tastes her. He dives right back in, his tongue circling her entrance, lapping her up. 
And Michelle can’t help but notice how at home he looks between her legs, how in his element he is as he moves to start sucking on her clit, flicking it back and forth with his tongue as he teases her with two fingers. 
His eyes meet hers and she wonders how on earth she’s going to survive this, especially when those two fingers push into her, curling as he pumps them in and out. 
“Shit—Peter!” She cries, her back fully lifting off the mattress as he picks up his pace, moaning against her. 
Clearly he’s enjoying this, too. 
A choked gasp slips from her lips when he slows suddenly, his eyes locking with hers again before picking back up even harder and faster than before. She reaches down, tangling her hand in his messy curls, holding him in just that right spot. Her thighs try to close on him, trapping him in as the coil in her tightens, but his free hand grips her, holding her in place. And she can’t fight the way her hips buck against him as she begins to grind herself against his face. 
It builds and builds, teetering just on that beautiful edge, when Peter adds a third finger—and then, she’s seeing stars, her brain going fuzzy as all of her muscles tense, electricity shooting from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She comes with a strangled moan, panting as her body’s overcome with pleasure. 
Peter’s movements slow, and he pulls off of her sensitive clit, wiping his mouth with the back of his arm, before taking each finger into his mouth, sucking them clean. 
MJ sits up on her elbows, her chest heaving with each breath as she watches him—and at that moment, her eyes drawn to the hard line in his sweats, she curses No Nut November again, because honestly, she’s never wanted him to fuck her more, never been so angry at a single month.
He seems to be in the same fire, his expression wrought with the inner turmoil he feels. His eyes screw shut, and he pinches the bridge of his nose, trying desperately to ignore how painfully hard he is, how he can feel his dick pulsing already, and how stupidly hot and beautiful MJ is. 
His decision’s made before he opens his eyes. 
Michelle lets out a surprised yelp as he leaps on top of her, his mouth on hers before she can start laughing. Somehow, his hands are greedier as they explore her body, squeezing and kneading her breasts, her waist, her hips, down to her ass. 
None of that’s to say that she’s complaining, though. Peter just ate her out like it was his full-time job, like he was stopping crime as Spider-Man. As far as she’s concerned, he can do whatever he wants right now. 
It’s when he starts to take his sweats—and boxers—off that she gets confused, if not a little too hopeful. 
“What about the bet?” She asks breathlessly when he pulls back.
He holds her gaze, his lips curving into a sly grin. “Fuck the bet.”
If there’s a god, Michelle wants to thank her right now. 
Peter’s hands grip her thighs, his fingers digging into her skin as he wraps them around his waist. He takes his dick in his hand, pumping a few times, swiping it down her center, tapping her clit, before Michelle suddenly remembers to use their one collective brain cell. 
“Wait—” she gasps. “Condom.”
Peter curses under his breath, hanging his head for a moment, biting his lip. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re right.” 
If she thought he was fast running to the bedroom, watching him scramble through his bedside drawers looking for a rubber is something else. A giggle—a fucking giggle—bubbles up out of her at his relief when he finds one. 
He rolls it on quickly, expertly, days of No Nut November clearly not slowing him down. 
He’s back on her in the next second, eager as he gathers her arousal and coating himself with it. 
They both let out a string of curses as he pushes into her—finally. Peter screws his eyes shut, taking a shuddering breath as he feels how warm and snug she is around him, almost unable to believe how well she fits him. MJ grips his shoulder, face burning as he gives her a moment to adjust, a moment to take all of him in. 
When he starts to move, they both wonder again why they hadn’t been doing this in the first place. 
As with everything else, Peter doesn’t waste their time. Even though he revels in how fucking amazing she feels around him, how he can’t even remember the last time this felt so good, so right, he picks up a steady pace, fucking into her like it’s the last chance he’ll get. He hikes her leg higher on his waist, the new, deeper angle causing Michelle to arch her back, a wet moan ripping through her. 
“Peter—” She chants his name over and over, unable to say anything else as his hips snap into hers. “Fuck—”
“God, MJ, you’re so fucking good,” his voice is almost a growl, lower and more desperate than he’s ever sounded. “Taking me so well.”
Michelle should’ve guessed he was one for dirty talk, though she can’t say she’s surprised. 
Or that she minds. 
Peter bites back a groan, stilling momentarily as she clenches around him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He’s already so close, teetering just on the edge, but he’s filled with a sense of determination at the sting of her nails digging into his shoulders. 
His hand trails down her stomach, his thumb pressing her clit, scrubbing furiously as he pumps in and out of her. She squeezes him again, head thrown back, slack-jawed as he tilts her hips even further, the new angle causing a string of curses to spill from her lips. Her muscles spasm around him as she comes for a second time, her eyes screwed shut as she clings to him for dear life. His own orgasm crashes over him, and he moans loudly into her skin, holding her to him , fingers digging into her hips as he comes undone. 
It’s something MJ can’t help but want to see again. And again. 
He flops down on top of her, his head on her chest as he struggles to catch his breath. 
Her hand comes to smooth down his curls at the nape of his neck, and she smiles as he shifts his head to look up at her. 
“God, fuck No Nut November,” He breathes into her skin. 
A light laugh bubbles up out of her. 
He lets out a heavy sigh. “What day is it?” He asks.
“November fifth.” 
He groans, squeezing his eyes shut. “Damn.” He pulls out of her, standing up to throw the condom away, almost missing the bin in the corner of the room. 
“You made it longer than I thought you would,” Michelle laughs.
Peter flops down next to her, his eyes narrowed, though there’s still a smile on his face. “What?” 
“Well, yeah. I bet Ned that you wouldn’t last a week,” she replies, patting him on the chest as she gets up, disappearing into the bathroom. 
Peter’s eyes widen before he covers them with his hands. “Oh. Shit. Ned.”
He’s still there when she comes back; still naked, too. 
“Ned, doesn’t have to know,” MJ says, falling back into the bed with him. 
Peter peeks out from underneath his arm. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. We can like, pretend you’re still doing it.”
There’s a crooked grin on Peter’s face as he stares at her—a look that makes her insides gooey and heart fuzzy. 
And she hates how much she doesn’t hate it. 
“And when Betty inevitably breaks Ned,” she shrugs. “We can split the money.”
He shakes his head, amazed and somewhat scandalized. “MJ, you’re a genius.”
Again, she shrugs. 
“So, we can keep doing—” He gestures between them, brows raised. “—And let Ned lose. The money’s ours.”
“Right.”
He lamely sticks his hand out, offering for her to shake on it.
“Deal?” He asks.
She kisses him. “Deal.”
58 notes · View notes
princessniitza · 2 months
Text
[The English fic] Full House (1/5)
Fandom: The English
Pairing: Eli Whipp/Cornelia Locke
Rating: Teen
Word count: ~ 2.400 words (of ~ 11.000 words)
Tags / Warnings: Alternate Universe – Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Family, Parent-Child Relationship, Sibling Relationships, Gay Panic, Semi-Planned Pregnancy, Women Solidarity, An Epic Quest, Eli Whipp/Being Out There Living His Best Life, Cornelia Locke/Punching Assholes In The Face, POV Multiple, Fluff, Humor
Summary:
“You shouldn’t worry, you know,” Eli said once. “They’ll love you.”
And he was right.
OR: How Cornelia wins over everyone in the Whipp family in a week tops. Includes: a gay awakening, a stint at a police station, Cornelia’s strategic skills, astrology charts, and the first forays into a taxonomy of Eli’s smiles.
Link to the fic: 1. Layla |
2 notes · View notes