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matteredloyaltyaa · 4 years

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NAV.

GOOGLE DOC (RULES/ABOUT/VERSES).

PLOTTING FORM. HEADCANONS. WISHLIST.

Tumblr mobile friendly version of my rules under the read-more.

DISCLAIMER:

I do not claim to own or have created this character, though the headcanon posts you see here are of my own interpretation of this character and events. I am private and selective, meaning that I only write with mutuals (those who I follow and who follow me in return), and tend to watch who I follow back and/or write with for my own comfort. However, my askbox is open to everybody if you wish to talk to me or the character on this blog, but I may not answer everything put in there.

PASSWORDS:

Due to my social anxiety, I don't have a password in these rules, nor do I send them in. I read everybody's rules and pages before following and usually before interacting.

ACTIVITY:

This is my main blog, which means that I am on it most of the time. However, I do suffer from some mental disorders, namely anxiety, depression, and OCD. These tend to affect how I interact ooc and can make me overly distant sometimes, and it's usually nothing anybody has done to me but my own mind running off on it's own about things. So, I do apologize for that. I may be absent from blogs during bad periods or make a couple posts here and there that I always delete after an hour or two stating that I'm in a bad way. Everything will be tagged.

HIGH HONOR:

Please note that I base my characterization off my raw play of this game, in which Arthur is HIGH HONOR and you may see more of that toward the end of his main verse. However, I still play him as a morally grey individual, especially as he’s trying to find his own mind on things in a way, but ultimately he leans more toward honorable moral choices (or what are considered honorable for the life he leads). He will do both good and bad things. At his point in time, I’m not exactly leaning towards adding a low honor verse, as his portrayal within the fandom has turned me off completely and after playing that route myself, I don’t really see much reason to. However, that may change if I end up finding a way to put a spin to that.

BLOG & PERSONAL TRIGGERS:

Please note that I don't have many triggers myself outside of suicide and overly anxiety inducing content (jumpscares, purposely paranoia inducing posts, etc).

There are some themes that I would like to avoid writing about in detail or at all. Namely, I WILL NOT write out anything like incest (the John/Arthur ship tends to fall into this category for me, along with Arthur/Dutch and Arthur/Hosea, so I will say that it's a NOTP for me), abuse (outside of mentions in regards to backstory, all forms), pedophilia, and rape. Also, I should note on a personal side that pregnancy can make me a little uncomfortable due to some gender stuff with me. I don't mind mentioning it, nor do I mind parental relationships when it comes to Arthur and sometimes outright adopting children in certain verses, but threads and interactions solely based off pregnancy can make me uncomfortable. It's difficult to explain but I would like to avoid it. Really, when in doubt, just ask.

This blog does and may contain triggering material, due to the nature of this game and the character. The biggest ones that will be present here are violence, guns/shooting, crime, and illness. I should also note that, due to the fact that this game takes place in 1899, there may be some triggers related to the views of this time period. Arthur himself is rather progressive and doesn't hold those views himself, but that doesn't mean the people around him don't and may be referenced in threads. Everything will be tagged as I catch it and where needed.

SPOILERS:

This game has been out for at least a year now. I will not be tagging for spoilers anymore, so please follow or read at your own risk if you are working through the game for the first time.

WRITING, SPEED, and NSFW:

My general writing style is paragraph/paragraphs. I don't mind one-liners but I usually only reserve those for starters that I’m writing and I tend to expand on the length of those as I go. I format my posts, mostly just some minimal spacing, small text (not sub), and all-caps words, bold, and italic usage. If this bothers anybody or makes it hard to read, please let me know and I can continue our thread in a non-formatted way. I also use icons, but I will follow my partner's lead on iconless rps. I can also be a little long-winded with my replies but you aren't obligated to match that. As long as I don't get like three sentences back to five paragraphs, we're all good.

I'm a slow rper. It may take me a day or two to get around to things, both asks, threads, and messages. I don't mind a nudge here and there but if it feels like you're pressuring me, I will warn you and block if it continues.

I'm 24, the muse is 36 in his main verse. We are both over the age in regards to nsfw. Smut is kind of rare for me and I don't do it often on Tumblr, however if we're in a ship and you want to write that over Discord, I may be open to it. That said, too, I will ONLY write nsfw with people and muses who are OVER 18. There is no exception to this. That noted, too, Arthur's in his 30's so a massive age gap may not appeal to him much either.

SHIPPING:

I’m going to sound like a hardass but: I am a highly selective shipper on here, and the ships that do appear on this blog are ones I have had for quite some time. Everything of a romantic nature will need to be discussed with me and the chemistry has to be there for me to agree to shipping. I’m not an insta-shipper, nor am I accepting to pre-established romantic relationships outside of those in canon. They will need to be discussed with me like every other ship and may be subject to me disagreeing to do it. Otherwise, I am multi-ship, despite being highly selective, and I’m fine with discussing them but please be aware of this.

FOLLOWING, DRAMA, AND DUPLICATES:

I will usually give someone a day or two of active posting after following before I unfollow if I don't receive one back. I don't mean anything personal by that, I'm simply making sure I don't accidentally like or send anything in if we aren't mutuals. That said, too, I am selective with who I do follow. If you're a sideblog and you don't have that blog easily accessible on your main blog or you don't message me about it, I'm likely going to miss it. I don't follow rp blogs that are run more like personals if only to keep my dash slower. Also, generally, if our writing styles don't mesh, you're rude to me, or you post nasty things, I will likely unfollow/block/or not follow back.

I don’t interact with or reblog callout posts. I don't have great patience with ooc drama and will likely unfollow if there is a lot of it being posted by you.

Following and being followed by duplicates (other Arthurs) is completely fine with me. However, with the mentality sometimes, I won't go out of my way to follow first if only to avoid making anybody uncomfortable by me doing so. I'm also non-exclusive for general interactions, so multiples of the same character I am fine with. I may take mains, however, which means these blogs get priority over plots and focus in headcanons, etc.

CROSSOVERS AND ORIGINAL CHARACTERS:

I'm crossover friendly so long as I know the character/fandom. That said, if I just can't get into it or make it fit, I won't force it.

I love original characters and you guys are cool with me, however I do need to see at least some stats or a verse we can interact in before I follow/follow back. I'm also fine with your OC knowing Arthur in their backstory but, again, romantic stuff needs to be talked over with me first.

STARTER CALLS:

I've found that I don't enjoy doing starter calls. I may do them here and there when the urge strikes, but the best way to interact with me is to message me or continuing memes sent or sent to me. I'm also more than happy to like other starter calls, too, if you want to throw them my way.

QUESTIONS?:

No. Go away. >:(

I’m kidding. Just drop me a message, I’ll get back to you. I also have a Discord available to mutuals, if that’s what you prefer. I promise I’m not as much as a hard ass as these rules make me seem.

ABOUT THE MUN:

Hey! Thank you for reading these if you do. A little introduction here: my name is Rory, I'm 25, Canadian and operate mostly out of the GMT-7 time zone. Though, I tend to post at odd hours so that may not be too noticeable. I'm nonbinary and I prefer they/them. I'm a full time university student, which means that I may disappear when studies pile up or my time is divided. That said, I do enjoy talking to people when I'm able. My IMs and Discord are always available to mutuals, just drop me a message.

#failed: rory has died . || ooc .#;pinned #[Figured I could do a more mobile friendly thing on here to pin #or more mobile friendly to Tumblr lol]#/// long post #[I hope the readmore works on the dash rn #if not I'm sorry]

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azazelsconfessional · 3 years

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((so i was gonna open up my askbox again but I got distracted doing this and watching streams i think idr what i did the past few hours, buuut there's something I need to cover first, especially since there are so many new people around! Hello! Especially since so many of you are playing OCs/MCs.

Don't worry, it's a tip to hopefully help you along! It may get a little long, especially as I try and provide examples. . .but hopefully it'll help.

I'm gonna talk a lot about OCs but this applies to canon characters too a bit. It certainly helps.

Tl;dr, you should have a character profile page.

(also remember that tumblr mobile doesn't really have direct access to Pages made with the Pages function on desktop, so you'll have to link them manually in your pinned or description or host them on another site(I used Google Docs in the apst) or in a regular post(this makes it very easy to lose as a forewarning) for maximum accessibility!)

(rules pages are also really really handy if you have alot of resteictions.)

So, in general, OCs have a bit of a lower reception rate in rp. Idk if that'll be the case here with MCs because they're, well, the main character. Housamo is also a series that lends itself well to OCs pretty well, especially non-human ones, but I figured I'd warn for that.

BUT. That doesn't mean you shouldn't play an OC! It just means there are things you need to keep in mind!

Think of all of the OCs you've seen--you all seem to be fun and wonderful people, and your characters are surely interesting. But. . .if you don't tell anybody about them, nobody will know what's going on or where to start, which makes asking questions a little hard, right? That's easier to work around with MC characters--we've played the game, we know the story, we know the characters, so we can figure out questions fairly easily based on that alone and go from there.

But with other OCs, especially those that don't represent charactera from mythology or fiction like many other characters in housamo do, there's like. Nowhere to start. We may see a face or some dialogue, but otherwise we don't have a frame of reference.

That's where a profile comes in!

Azazel-mun, I don't want to share all of the info about my character at once!

What if I don't know everything about my OC yet and want to figure it out along thw way?

The profile doesn't have to be super detailed! At most it shoule include things like the character's name and age and probably things like their location, profession, grade in school or place of work, etc., and anything you'd notice on the surface like their apperance. It's never a bad thing to include a description of their personality too, or a small section about their history/background. Little things that even you should probably know, too.

You can also section your profile off a bit into things like "surface info," "meta info," "things you could easily figure out about them," etc. That way, no one can spoil themself. Making lists like this can help you think these things through if you haven't already as well.

Let's use Azazel, a character that you probably know already, as an example here. I don't have a profile set

Name: Azazel

Species: Fallen Angel; Capra Therian - an anthropomorphic Goat (?)

Gender(pronouns): Male(he/him)

Age: difficult to calculate; several thousand years old?

Apperance age: hard to say, he's not human. Adult.

Origins: banished from his home world of Eden, has been in the human world for several thousand years

Profession: Priest of dubious denomination, most likely Catholic or Protestant; teacher at Daikanyama Academy; de facto head of the Missionaries Non-Profit charity Organization; supervisor of the Aoyama Missionaries

Role & Rule: Watcher; Revelation - allows him to see anything within the territory of the Aoyama Missionaries and anywhere the pages of his Artifact see

Apperance: Azazel is a 5'10"(180cm) tall, anthropomorphic goat of ambiguous breed, with fawn fur all over his body and lighter fur on his head and around his neck. He has brown, riged horns which curve out and back. Though his eyes are often closed, when opened they're red. He always carried around a leather bound bible with an eye on the cover, and is never seen without several chains on his person, although only the one(s) around his neck can be seen unless he's undressed.

He wears a black priest's cassock with a maroon sash and a capelet of the same color, with the same eye as on his bible on the shoulders of the cape, and brown dress shoes. The front of the robe is always open to expose his bare chest and the chains beneath.

Personality: Azazel is kind and doting, very fitting of both a teacher and priest, although his openly flirtatious, lustful, and secretive nature causes others to distrust him. He doesn't mind this at all. He has a strong adoration for humans, and values love in all of its forms more than anything. He's a bit of a passive person, often being unmotivated but working hard regardless, and seems to prefer to watch others and the world go by, although he won't decline most invitations to take part in it. He is always aware of anything that happens within the extensive territory of the Missionaries, and seems to know and see just about everything about anyone he meets, from their surface to their soul. . . .

If you know Azazel, or take note of some of the wording or question marks, you'll note I didn't explain everything(although I may have shared more than you want to.) This is just a bare bones exampe of how I do my profiles--but it can get even more bare!

I'll do two this time, a more vague version of Azazel's, and another that obscures information all together, using the same or a similar format to the above.

Name: Azazel

Species: anthropomorphic goat

Gender(pronouns): male (he/him)

Age: unquestionably an adult

Origins: Eden

Profession: Priest; teacher; head of a charity NPO; member of the Missionaries

Apperance: Horned goatman of slightly above average human height. Light brown fur, blond fur-hair, red eyes. Wears priest robes and a gold chain around his neck and chest. Carries around a bible with an eye on it?

Personality: Kind of eerie, but friendly and affectionate. A little flirtatious, especially towards humans. Seems to know everything about people for some reason?

Compare it to the one before--see how I've left even more things off or left things ambiguous while still sharing what's necessary or surface level? However, it's also not as engaging or as informative as the other one where I gave more information.

As someone who plays him, profiles like this aren't as helpful for me lol since he knows so much about everyone and everything, having a lot of details helps me play my character!

Now, as helpful as this is, this is also a character you probably know. So how about I do this with an OC? Normally I'm extremely detailed in my profiles and such, especially for OCs, sharing headcanons and ideas for relationships between characters. But, again, I'll try and show how you can show some info while leaving some up to people to ask about to later be filled in.

Name: Kezia

Faceclaim/Art Source: [this is where you would put where you get the art for any icons you use--if you draw it yourself, say so; if you use official art from a series, credit the name of the character and the series; if you use picrews, link the specific picrews. DO NOT USE ART YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PERMITTED TO USE. DO NOT STEAL ART. IF YOU CAN'T FIND THE CREDIT, ASK SOMEONE TO HELP YOU, DO NOT JUST SAY THAT IT ISN'T YOURS. DO NOT USE ART YOU HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN PERMISSION TO USE OR THAT ISN'T FROM A SERIES OF SOME SORT.]

Species: Human

Gender(pronouns): Female (she/her)

Age: mid 20's~early 30's?

Apperance age: older than she looks?

Origins: Tokyo?

Profession: Professor; Witch

Apperance: A fidgety woman who looks older than she is. She looks anxious and confused as often as she looks curious and confident. Wavy light brown hair. Often carries around schoolbooks and is never alone, always with a Rattus Therian and often with a Nyarlathotep.

Personality: seemingly anxious, but curious and exploratative nonetheless. On the awkward side, but can still keep up with the Nyarls that accompany her. Gets into trouble when she gets ahead of herself in exploring and learning about the arcane, but her Rule allows her to disappear easily.

History: Has always been curious about magic and attempted to run through a Gate when they began to open up. Performed a summon and brought a certain transients to Tokyo and recieved her familiar and the magic to use her Rule as a result. Currently teaches at a college. She stumbled into a certain someone while attempting to explore time, and became a fan ever since.

That tells you a fair amount, doesn't it? Even for someone you don't know? It may even raise some questions that you could ask. At the same time, it doesn't tell you that much, and that can be as much of a hindrance for coming up with questions as saying too much can. It's really up to you what's too much and too little. Here's a more detailed version! Some things have been left vague or confusing in such a way that they could be filled in after being revealed through asks and play. That way, people are encouraged to/given ideas of what to ask--and you can still share things in the long run.

Name: Kezia

Faceclaim/Art Source: [N/A]

Species: Human

Gender(pronouns): Female (she/her)

Age: mid 20's~early 30's?

Apperance age: somewhere in her 30's, maybe even a little older

Origins: Tokyo, with some sort of connection to at least one other world

Profession: Professor of [?] at [?] Academy; Witch

Role & Rule: [?] & [?]

Artifact, Summon, Familiar?: Always accompanied by at least one Nyarlathotep and some sort of man-rat? She also carries around a book that's labeled as a Grimoire, but it's rare for someone to be both a summon-user and an Artifact-user. . . .

Apperance: A fidgety older woman wearing a labcoat and a witch's hat. She looks quite stressed and has trouble sitting still. Her ashy brown hair is thin and a little wavy, with some strands of gray. Although she often squints, she doesn't wear glasses. She carries around a lot of books relating to maths and sciences and one labeled 'Grimoire' decorated with arcane symbols from Gehenna and Old Ones. She's always accompanied by at least one Nyarlathotep and a very short, bearded man who can best be described as a brown rat therian with a human-like face. Sometimes there's a normal rat on her person or in her pockets.

Personality: Kezia is a fidgety and anxious magic practitioner. She's very curious about other worlds and has been since the Gates appeared in this Tokyo since she was a child, however she has been pursuing magic before then. She often appears somewhat confused about or fascenated by even her usual surroundings, but, at other times moves through the world with confidence even in unfamiliar territory. She also likes rats and other rodents, and as such will often avoid felines and birds of prey. She has a tendency to disappear, seeming to walk through walls despite assuredly being alive.

She's a little bit awkward with people, but somehow keeps up with Nyarlathoteps nonetheless. She's a good teacher, once she figures out how to explain things in ways others can understand easily, but can be a bit difficult to follow and flighty up until then. Aware of this, she's rather patient, if a little down on herself at times. However, she most often simply has her mind elsewhere. Despite this and the company she keeps, she's relatively sane. . .most of the time.

She shares a name with a witch from the world of Old Ones who made a pact with Nyarlathotep, believing him to be the Devil. . .and the ratman always at her side uses the same name as that witch's familiar as well. It's. . .probably just a coincidence. . .who would rightfully make a pact with Nyarlathotep?

History: Kezia is an adult human from this Tokyo before the apperance of the Gates and construction of the Walls. She's explored various witchcraft pursuits since she was a child, with what was originally a mere imaginative curiosity and fascination. After the arrival of the Gates when she was still young, she snuck over the fences built around one and attempted to go inside the massive pillar of light, which she attributes to the reason she often seems to struggle with her vision. Several years later, she performed a successful summon and she recieved her familiar, Brown Jenkin, transformed into a somewhat therian form from one of her pet rats, and was given some powers from Nyarlathotep. She has no discernable control over any of the chaotic creatures, however they seem to spend time around her regardless.

At present she's a professor of a subject that interests her at a certain college. She's had other dangerous run-ins due to her excitement over the arcane and "darker" arts, but doesn't seem to show any signs of stopping. However, after an incident in an attempt to explore time itself, she encountered a certain guardian of time and feels reluctant for once to explore it further. . .although she's become quite a big fan of his.

. . .i ran out of steam amd kinda lost track of where i was going. idk if that helped at all really. But maybe it did! I hope it did. You don't need to use any of those things exactly by any means, but that's the kind of thing you usually see in profile pages. Basics like someone's name and birthday and age and apperance and a little about their personality, maybe some history. Oftentimes things like powers and weapons and the like. Interests, hobbies, ways they could be intereacted with, etc. Just stuff that'd help you know the character.

I write everything in paragraph form, but everyone is more than welcome to use a more script format. I love making profiles, myself--it really helps to think about the character and details about them. Normally I make really, really detailed profiles, but maybe I'll try and be more simple about it this time around. depends on how i'm feeling.

I know this seems weirdly hypocritical given I don't have one but when I first made this blog there were like four of us including myself. I didn't see the need for a rules or profile page because I didn't anticipate that there'd be so many of us or, like, people from other fandoms or who aren't familiar with certain characters. I'll rectify that soon hopefully. But I figured I'd pass along this idea/knowledge to others.

. . .I'm gonna go reopen my askbox now. Feel free to send asks again, ask about this, etc! You can send me an IM too if you want. I'll properly close up the guest event tomorrow. I'm real tired rn lol so idk how much i'll get done, but i usually do things super late at night my time, so i have some time to pull my shit together haha))

#ooc #((anyway i'm gonna open the askbox and crawl into a hole))#((i got nothing done lol i was so engaged with something else all week))

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imaginingmyloki · 3 years

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Shift in Reality (pt 2)

Word count: 2,120

A/N: ok so obviously this took way longer than I expected/promised it would. Life has been getting in the way of fun lately. As some of you know, A year ago I left home and moved across country to Arizona to discover myself/make a new life/have an adventure. Well now I am moving back home to Virginia and it has just been a wild few weeks. (more on that later) anyways, enjoy part 2! There will definitely be a part 3! I said in a few answers to anons yesterday that this would likely be the last part but it kinda took off from me and started writing itself haha. I am not going to give a promised date for part 3 but I do have a good chunk of it already written from cutting it out of this lol. I won’t be linking any youtube vids about her powers this time, if you check out part 1′s note there is a compilation video of Daisy Johnson using her powers and she is based off of Daisy. ok byyyeeee

“No this can’t be right... I was just with them. What is going on?” I was frantically looking around the room trying to figure out where the hell I was. “Ma’am you need to calm her down or we will have to sedate her.” One of the white coats told the woman with the familiar voice. The heart monitor next to me was beeping rapidly, adding to my anxiety. She moved slightly closer to me and grabbed my hand and started talking. I couldn’t focus on what she was saying but the familiar cadence of her voice was calming me down significantly. “I don’t understand why I’m here. Who are you?” she looked hurt when I asked her that question. One of the many people buzzing about the room checking on the machines quietly said “Some amnesia is really common in these situations. She will likely regain her memories as time passes.” the woman nodded sadly and kept talking to me even though I was not paying any attention to her and was trying to focus on all the details I could about the room I was in and the different faces coming and going.

-At the Compound-

Loki was sitting next to my unconscious form reading when Bruce came in with a machine that looked like a very small version of an MRI. “This is S.H.I.E.L.D.s latest, top of the line medical equipment. It is essentially a mobile MRI but way more advanced in what it can pick up. I didn’t do one before but she’s been out for almost 24 hours and hasn’t even moved so I need to see what’s going on in there.” He positioned the machine near my head and Loki watched Bruce’s face go from curious to concerned in a matter of seconds. “What is it?” He asked. At this point Nat and Wanda had come over to check on me and joined the group to see what was happening. Bruce shook his head, “I have no idea. There is something foreign in her temporal lobe. It looks like it is sending electro magnetic pulses to her brain causing her hippocampus-” He looked around and had to remind himself to use more understandable wording for them,”-uh her memory and dream centers to light up like crazy. I wish we could get in there and see what was happening.” Everyone slowly turned to Wanda who nodded and said, “Ok move the machine out of the way.” as she approached me.

“Well? What did you see? Is she ok?” Loki demanded when Wanda had finished. She sat on the end of the couch by my feet, “We have to get that thing out of her, guys. She didn’t even see me when I was right in front of her trying to get her attention. It has her in this fake reality where she was in a coma and just woke up in the hospital with someone I assume is meant to be her mother. And the worst part is that we don’t exist in that reality. We are just movie characters. She seems really confused but the doctors are saying she has amnesia and its common for coma patients to wake up thinking they were a part of their favorite fictional world. It looks like she is starting to believe them. She looks so lost and heart broken. I couldn’t pull her out of it.” Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes, no one having words for the situation. Wanda looked to Bruce “How is this possible?” He was quiet for a few more minutes before answering “The only thing I can think of is the Winter Soldier.” He put a hand up to stop the incoming questions from the group as he continued, “With Bucky, their first and most formidable success, they wiped his memory, emotionally and physically tortured him until he broke and they had total, absolute control of him. Until Steve. The programming used on Bucky, while it was effective, didn’t hold up against the memories surfacing. So other than the obvious technological upgrades of this new programming- if that is what’s happening- they realized their fatal flaw. They tried to completely wipe out memories and when they resurfaced it undid everything. Making (Y/N) think that she made us up, that we are fictional characters, and now that she has forgotten her own life will not only break her but it will solve the issue of us breaking the programming in the future. She thinks we only exist in her mind and on the screen. I wouldn’t be surprised if this reality they have her in starts to change into doctors discovering she has a mental disorder that comes with hallucinations. Now, after they wipe her memory, if we start showing up again, she will question her own sanity and not her handler’s orders because her most recent memories of us are going to be that she can’t trust her own mind.” Everyone stared at him in stunned silence. “We need to get Tony and the others in here and brief them now. and we need to find Nelson.” Nat said and quickly left the room. Loki looked at Wanda and said, “Please keep watching her. I know you haven’t been able to connect to her but at least we will know what she is dealing with.”

-Y/N’s Mind-

This doesn’t feel right. Something is just off about this hospital, these people. After initially waking up and everyone fluttering around my room to check vitals and ask me 800 questions that I couldn’t answer, they finally left me alone to rest with the promise of checking on me throughout the night to wake me up and see if I remembered anything. The woman- my mom I had been told- was sleeping on a cot in the corner of the room lightly snoring. I had asked her what had happened and the story was that I had been at the beach with my family when a wave had caused me to hit my head on a rock under the surface. I had nearly drowned but my best friend, Paul, had been right there and dragged me back to shore. That was 4 months ago and I had been unconscious ever since. She had spent a couple hours telling me all about our life as I grew up. I was an only child and we had traveled all over the world throughout the years. Because of moving around and experiencing so many different places, I knew 15 different languages by the time I was 18. We had recently moved here to California and bought a house close to my grandparents. She was going to call them and tell them I could have visitors in a few days when my memories started catching up with me but was going to call Paul and have him come tomorrow and see if it would hopefully jog my memory. A nurse came in very early and quietly woke my mother, “Ma’am, we called the friend you asked us to have come in. Mr Nelson? He’s here.” My mother got up and went with the nurse. I hadn’t slept at all and was very tired but that name sent a jolt straight through me. I knew he had to be behind this somehow. I looked around for some kind of weapon I could use when he came into the room. There was nothing but the dull butter knife from my dinner that was still untouched from the night before by my bed. I grabbed it a slid it between the bed and my thigh then, I waited. The door opened and I heard my mother’s cheerful voice, “Oh, Paul, she is going to be thrilled to see you. Well, she may actually not remember you yet. We have been waiting on her memories to come back but so far nothing has.” A chuckle and a chilling voice that sent shivers down my spine and raised the hairs on my neck replied, “No worries at all. I have talked this girl through so many breakups, I’m sure I can talk her out of amnesia.”

As they came through the door, my entire body tensed as I locked eyes with Nelson. It was definitely him but he looked different. Casual and relaxed with almost friendly eyes. “(Y/n)! I am so happy to see you conscious! You gave me quiet the scare.” he made his way towards me and my mother backed out of the room with “I’ll give you two some time to talk.” and a hopeful smile. As soon as she shut the door, I had him pinned against the wall with the knife to his throat. “What is this, Nelson?!” The look of fear in his eyes made me hesitate and he pushed me off of him. “(Y/n), what are you doing? We have been friends for years. Wait, you remember me? But, since when do you call me Nelson?” I slowly backed up until my legs hit the bed and I sat down. A nurse came in to check on the commotion I had caused and Nelson - Paul? - told her we were fine. Satisfied, she nodded and closed the door behind her as she left. “Stop playing games. I know what this is, Nelson. Let me go.” I watched his face carefully but showed no signs of knowing what I was talking about. He gave me a concerned look and slowly made his way to the chair by my bed with his hands raised to show he wasn’t a threat. “(Y/n), I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Do you want me to get the nurse for you?” I rolled my eyes at his concern. Being trapped and the constant lack of answers were starting to fill me with a frustration that would typically have the room trembling around me but nothing was shaking except for my hands. As I clenched and unclenched my fists and took a few deep breaths to try and steady myself, I caught a glimpse of Nelsons face. It still had the mock concern plastered on like a mask but his eyes had a glint of amusement. He found my frustration and suffering amusing. The frustration bubbled over and I lunged for him, bringing both him and the chair to the ground.

-The Compound-

The compound shook violently as Loki used his body to shield my still unconscious form from the ceiling tiles and dust that was falling. “Why is this happening? Wanda, what is going on in there?” Tony asked as he came through the door followed by Nat, Steve and Bucky. Wanda explained the scene to them, “Nelson is in there with her under the pretense that he is her best friend. She’s on to him and just took him down but now they are fighting. She doesn’t have her powers in there so she’s struggling. Nurses and doctors are starting to come in to restrain her but she’s fighting them too.” The shaking stopped suddenly and Wanda gasped. When she didn’t say anything to explain the sudden calm, Loki inquired anxiously, “What happened? Is she ok?” Wanda nodded but was still watching the scene unfold in my mind. “They started it over. She’s waking up in a strange hospital again but it looks slightly different than the first one. It is exactly the same situation. They are telling her she has been in a coma for months and that she is finally waking up for the first time. Now she’s seen the tv showing you guys in New York again and she looks even more confused.” Everyone rushed around to clean up the area and Tony said “Loki, I set up space for her downstairs to keep anything like this contained and to keep her safe should Hydra try and take her. You and Wanda take her down there and watch over her while the rest of us clean this up.” Loki gently lifted me and he and Wanda headed towards what had once been my holding cell before the team decided they could trust me.

“We need to bring Wanda back up here.” Nat said to Steve. They had just brought in Nelson. Bruce had figured out that Nelson had a device in his temporal lobe as well that was linked to the device in mine and had been able to track him using that connection. He had been unconscious when they had found him, likely because he was inside the fake reality with me and she knew that Wanda was the only one who may be able to get the information we needed about how to save me.

#marvel fic #loki fic #loki imagine #lokixreader

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juiceboxesheadcanons · 4 years

Note

I finally figured out how to send asks on mobile :D Got any headcanons for how Illumi, Hisoka, (plus gon and Killua if it's not too much trouble) would decorate for Christmas? I just think that would be kinda poggers UwU

YESSSS I DO ACTUALLY! CANT WAIT TILL CHRISTMAS GUYS! I decided to just pin this post until the end of December so if anybody else wants any Christmas headcanons I’ll just add it here and I did put extra characters/headcanons because of that reason and if you want me to add anybody else just send in a request about it! (also dont mind the random juiceboxes I just left them out bc I don’t feel like adding new ones when adding random hc’s.) THANKS SO MUCH FOR REQUESTING! I’ll finish illumi and hisoka later but my food just arrived so I’m gonna go start on that first :)

Hunter x Hunter Christmas Event! This Event Includes The Main 4, The Adult Trio, The Phantom Troupe, The Zoldyck Family, The Freecss Family, And The Minor Characters!

Illumi

🧃 rich kid is gonna be the one with either nothing but a tree or literally is gonna go to the point of fake snow on the stair rails

🧃 it’s either nerf or nothing for this man. either go all out or don’t go at all mf

🧃 he likes Christmas except the fact it’s cold, girlie isn’t a fan of cold weather

🧃 he’ll probably do the jazz with the gingerbread cookies tho :’)

🧃 but yeah his tree’s gonna look like the ones in the movies with like all the height and the little balls with the perfect star on top bc babie is perfect so his tree should be too ✨

🧃 he says he doesn’t want anything but if you actually get him something he’ll be so touched-

🧃 he maybe will take a day off of fuck knows what to spend Christmas with anybody-

🧃 okay we all know he’s spending Christmas with hisoka and we can’t change that

🧃 poor baby he just wants to be held and feel the feeling of warmth again so he is a fan of hot chocolate

🧃 will not go out in the snow but he will go with you or anybody that wants to go outside and play

🧃 he isn’t a fan of dressing up but he’ll take his s/o out on a Christmas date (I will do a mini scenario/hc’s for this if you guys want.)

Hisoka

🧃 I feel if he wasn’t a pedophile or mass murderer they would hire him to work as a mall Santa Claus.

🧃 he’d probably do a color coded thing and the whole house would be that color

🧃 this mf would buy a gift for himself-

🧃 he wouldn’t do anything to his room and the biggest ick about him I have is that he has nothing in his room but a bed, dresser, desk, lamp, and nightstand like only the necessities so he wouldn’t do that much.

🧃 if he had a kid he’d 100% to elf on the shelf until they were like 16 years old and even use his nen ability to secretly make them move so the kid would believe in the magic for a while

🧃 he’s forcing illumi to come over cause he doesn’t want the little shit to be alone and sad on Christmas.

🧃 he got illumi a present

🧃 not a fan of those childish Christmas films but he’s pretty fond of the romance ones tbh

🧃 he literally never ends up under the mistletoe because everybody’s avoiding it so they won’t have to kiss the scary guy-

🧃 he can COOK asf so he’ll def make a feast for him and his s/o or just friends :)

Killua

🧃 he’s gonna be the most fun with all this, he want everything either blue, purple, or white. Literally he hates doing shit and not perfecting it (nikki minaj??)

🧃 he’d be the one to act like a mom saying “stupid I’m not buying that it’s too expensive!” and then you wake up with it under the tree- “you thought you weren’t getting it didn’t you?” I stg he is literally EVERY SINGLE MOTHER ON EARTH and it’s not even funny.

🧃 he wants to go play in the snow and make snow angels but he won’t say anything until you say something

🧃 hc that his ears and nose turn kinda red when it’s cold

🧃 he’s literally cooking a red velvet cake and there is no point in stopping him

🧃 he probably isn’t a morning christmas guy, he’s all for around 11-12 gifts so then you guys can bake cookies and play in the snow a ton because you got some energy stored up

🧃 this mf wants chocolate robots for Christmas and probably at one point in his life asked Santa for a new family but he didn’t deliver ig. (Illumi probably wrote him a fake Santa note saying that his family was better than everybody else’s.)

🧃 his parents forced him to go sing those fucking Christmas songs when they know damn well those kids sound ratchet.

🧃 he ALWAYS ends up under the mistletoe with somebody. Even if it’s unintentional it always happens.

🧃 a giant fan of wreaths for some reason? He puts one on every door.

Gon

🧃 his favorite holiday is Christmas so ohhh boy this is gonna be magical-

🧃 red green and white colors. you cannot change his mind literally that is what colors are in his head as soon as he hears the word Christmas.

🧃 the tree’s gonna be HUGE and he’s gonna want to decorate every room in the house. The bathroom, your room, his room, and yes he is that one neighbor with the fucking big ass lights outside-

🧃 he is a firm Santa believer he doesn’t take criticism.

🧃 literally is going to wake everybody up at 6 fucking am to open gifts and everybody is gonna do it because can we really resist his pouty face? no.

🧃 the joy on his face opening any gifts make it a fucking can of baked beans makes it all worth losing about 3-4 hours of sleep :,)

🧃 he probably wants toys for Christmas, I get he’s 14 but hxh doesn’t exactly have too much social media so he wouldn’t be trying to grow up too fast

🧃 he would get matching sleepwear for everybody except for some fucking reason it actually will look cute and he won’t just settle for a ugly ass tight suffocating elf sweater.

🧃 he believes Christmas is about spending time with your family and probably donated his old toys to a center so kids who didn’t have toys got some :)

🧃 he’s gonna make sure everybody has a good time, like every single person. it’s a main protagonist thing I guess but I mean I applaud him for it.

🧃 doesn’t quite ever end up under the mistletoe with anybody but if he happened to he’d giggle and kiss their cheek in a friendly way.

Leorio

🧃 he’s gonna reuse the same fucking plastic wrinkled tree he’s been using for 12 years because the tree prices are “insane” even on sale.

🧃 he would be the one a Walmart ringing the little bell and forcing kurapika to sing with him because he needs the money.

🧃 his house is the one with rainbow colored little balls and it’s so ghetto but at the same time adorable

🧃 he is literally that one neighbor who gets the most snow and it’s the snow that’s basically ice and will take around 6 good days to shovel up.

🧃 maybe wont shovel out the snow too early because he wants killua and gon to have fun.

🧃 he wants money for Christmas and nothing more, but kurapika tells him money isn’t a real gift and to ask for something else

🧃 even not being a morning person, he LIVES for morning Christmas.

🧃 probably eats snow.

🧃 he would try to cook and it might work actually

🧃 miss girl is plopped right down right next to gon watching elf on the shelf movies

🧃 he wears the Santa hat and is lowkey twinning with kurapika-

Kurapika

🧃 this bitch is gonna make you wait all fucking day to open gifts 😀

🧃 he thinks afternoon/nigh Christmas is the best. On Christmas eve he would literally sit down and watch movies with killua and gon for exactly 2 hours while leorio waits outside because kurapika wants him to sound like there’s somebody on the roof and kurapika can put the two children to bed and get a break for the rest of the night to finish gift wrapping and food making

🧃 hella good at wrapping gifts- commercial wrapping mf.

🧃 he thinks a white color coded Christmas looks best

🧃 he’d give killua and gon like 150$ to buy Christmas stuff for their rooms and that’s lowkey just him trying his best he doesn’t know what the fuck else to do he isn’t a mom-

🧃 he might teach the other 3 traditional kurta songs his clan and him sung on Christmas.

🧃 he’s twinning with leorio cause he got the reindeer ears I mean get it ig-

🧃 leorio is BEGGING kurapika to let him get a couple of drinks and kurapika’s like “YOURE GONNA STAY SOBER AND YOURE GONNA LIKE IT BITCH.”

🧃 he may or may not boys whatever they asked for and accidently on purpose use leorio’s credit card-

🧃 he just wants everybody to be happy, but can we blame him? it’s Christmas why wouldn’t he?

🧃 okay all wholesomeness aside he’s making leorio shovel the driveway.

Chrollo

🧃 he thinks this is like a romance thing

🧃 he’ll probably steal a gift or 2 for you ya know

🧃 I feel he’s the mf to have a black Christmas tree or a white one theres no in between

🧃 cookies are a yes

🧃 just go watch a classic romance movie one with him, it’ll give ya clear skin ma

🧃 he won’t decorate outside but inside will look magical asf

🧃 I think personally he’d wear a santa hat

🧃 probably would make a big phat juicy meal just for the two of you and he’d get gifts for the troupe if they cared about celebration

🧃 I feel the troupe isn’t big on that holiday stuff but if you felt like celebrating with him he’d be over the moon

🧃 he got that big tree though for no reason, he also takes the tree down the day after Christmas

🧃 Probably would give you a gift everyday leading up to christmas

Feitan

🧃 He probably was forced to sing carols and ring the bell on christmas as a kid-

🧃 he doesn’t really care much and won’t care to decorate but may or may not get you gifts

🧃 if you get him something he’ll have a small smile behind his mask

🧃 he doesn’t wanna be in the cold just make some hot chocolate and watch a movie with him jeez

🧃 probably will wear reindeer horns if you insist

🧃 his favorite holiday is halloween but christmas is nice I guess

🧃 he probably would spend his entire day if he didn’t have a s/o with shalnark seeing who could figure out the christmas word find fastest

🧃 he’s gonna just see if theres anything he could steal for anybody

🧃 doesn’t bother with snow at all if there is snow he just doesn’t care to go outside when we got a perfectly nice house

🧃 firm believer in christmas isn’t about family it’s about gifts

🧃 he’s gonna get you something expensive though

Alluka

🧃 alluka the sweet princess is literally the neighbor that has the biggest brightest lights

🧃 she probably had her big brother killua come help her

🧃 her christmas tree is pink and white, and she decorated every square foot of her house

🧃 Christmas is her favorite holiday :)

🧃 she get’s everybody gifts and for christmas she wants some toys maybe to go shopping or something

🧃 snow angels are a must 100%

🧃 firm santa believer doesn’t take criticism.

🧃 she’s gonna be so happy just to spend time with people honestly even if nanika comes out she’s just gonna be happy

🧃 her gingerbread houses look absolutely amazing like please become a house builder sis-

🧃 she’s wearing matching sleepwear with killua and gon, probably doing a elf santa and reindeer theme which is adorable

🧃 this is the best day of her life and I’m living for it.

machi

🧃 This bitch is not a fan of anything

🧃 she want’s to paint those little christmas ball things and yeah

🧃 probably says she doesn’t want anything but some jewels or bracelets would be nice

🧃 also isn’t a fan of snow but her house doesn’t get much to be honest

🧃 for the troupe she gives them like some bakery idem she made because why not that’s her family after all

🧃 probably wears fluffy socks on christmas and they’re like really adorable she just doesn’t realize it

🧃 she probably got something extra for shizuku idk I head canon them to be friends :)

🧃 she wont steal anything probably will buy or make it

🧃 omg machi stitching little christmas sweaters and socks omg that’s the highlight of my mother fucking day

🧃 her house if she decorates, is red and white.

Pakunoda

🧃 omg this beautiful woman I love so much

🧃 her house is white and blue and it’s all pretty

🧃 she has lights and stuff but doesn’t like overdo it or anything because she isn’t that jolly but might decorate a tree or two

🧃 she donates to animal shelters on christmas and literally it’s so cute

🧃 will probably get the troupe something specific that fits them or that they like because she isn’t trying to get somebody useless shit

🧃 for her s/o she’ll go out in the snow with them if they’d want

🧃 she buys the best gifts like that one aunt you don’t wanna give kisses but they always come through except we do wanna kiss her asf

🧃 she’ll wear machis socks that machi made her :,)

🧃 probably is the best person to have on christmas because just look at her

🧃 cuddles are everything just let’s just hug her while she watching a movie yes

Shalnark

🧃

Phinks

🧃

Uvo

🧃

Shizuku

🧃

Mito

🧃 yes

🧃 she thinks christmas is all about family

🧃 def an adult who says that they don’t want anything

🧃 she loves gons little handmade gifts or cards though

🧃 she decorates the house whatever way gon would want to cause you know he’s the only kid in the house

🧃 so basically her family has like a huge feast and everything and the food slaps

🧃 she makes gon wear this adorable sleepwear thing cause she thinks its cute

🧃 won’t let gon near any gifts before christmas

🧃 she’ll bundle gon up like a burrito if he wants to play in the snow which is adorable

🧃 she’s the mom like “you thought you wasn’t gonna get that huh? oh you welcome baby.”

Kalluto

🧃 this small little boy omg

🧃 he loves christmas but nobody really pays attention to him so he’s a little sad

🧃 with the troupe if they get him something he’ll be so excited but you won’t be able to tell :(

🧃 he’ll give people stuff because to him this is probably the most spirt he gets

🧃 he might just go sit out in the snow to enjoy the scenery

🧃 he enjoys christmas eve most because of the vibes

🧃 doesn’t believe in santa but you know he’ll let alluka believe in it

🧃 probably a bit hurt killua wants to celebrate with alluka but not him tho

🧃 will ask killua if he wants anything def

🧃 might get illumi and milluki something if they let him

Milluki

🧃 he is always cooped up in the zoldyck house so they probably don’t decorate or celebrate but he still enjoys it

🧃 if illumi or something gets him a new game he’ll pretend he doesn’t care but he’ll appreciate it :)

🧃 he loves snow like yes

🧃 he might ask his siblings for something because his bitch ass parents wont buy him anything

🧃 yeah he doesn’t rlly give af but like yes

🧃 he probably just wants a new game or figure

🧃 he might go online and talk to his online friends to see what they got and watch hauls on yt

🧃 probably the mf to want something that arrives in like july like damn pick something else

🧃 wont get anybody else anything sadly

🧃 we stan milluki here

THATS IT FOR NOW!! IM PLANNING ON ADDING SHALNARK, PHINKS, UVO, SHIZUKU SO IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER CHARACTERS YOU WANT JUST SEND IN REQUESTS! 😁🧃 this event does not include nsfw.

#christmas #hunter x hunter #hxh #christmas event

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the-blueish-trashcan · 5 years

Text

He’s in Charge; Chapter Two

Pairing: Henry/Bertrum

Warnings: [None yet]

A/N: I would like to say that I am not a poet. This chapter includes what is supposed to be sweet, cute poetry. It’s not good. Feel free to skip it. The in-story author of the poem is genuinely good with poetry. I am not. I am the suck poet here. Also.... I had to reformat and post this because mobile tumblr is ass.

Chapter word count: 2,508

{First part} {Previous part} {Next part}

Chapter Two; Bonding

“So with the design the way it is, the person playing the mascot wouldn't really be able to see…” Henry pointed to a sketch in his hand, walking through the warehouse with Bertrum just behind him. “What we could do is change the material in the eyes and make the mask smaller, which would also get this a little closer to the actual model…”

“That may be better than what we have, and possibly cheaper, as well.” Bertrum responded. “We already have a few prototypes in, just back here.” He pointed the animator towards a small room behind some of the game booths.

The room itself was small, with only enough room in it for two or three people at a time. It was dimly lit, as well, only one fluorescent light pinned to the wall with wires exposed. The light, as well as the dirt floor, told Henry that the room was far from finished. Though that’s not what Bertrum wanted him to see; No, the attraction of the room was pinned to the wall, and laid out on the small metal workbench against the wall. Three prototype mascot suits with massive heads and mesh mouths hung from hooks on the wall, one sitting up on the bench. At the sight of them, Henry felt a shiver go up his spine.

“These are… uhm, creepy.” He carefully voiced. “Just, you know… just saying! If I think it’s creepy, kids may not like it…” He justified soon after.

At his tone, Bertrum gave him a strange look. “Don’t be so nervous, your feedback is very important. I was afraid that would be the case, my team just did what was simple at the time. I’ll get them your newer design and hopefully that will yield a more… friendly mascot.” He placed a hand on Henry’s shoulder, causing the shorter man to flinch ever so slightly. “I’ll let you know when we get them in.”

“Are… you going to tell Joey about this?” Henry asked as Bertrum led him away from the room again.

Bertrum waved his hand. “Drew doesn’t know they’re here to begin with, he won’t know I’ve had them switched.”

Henry relaxed ever so slightly. “Good… That’s good.”

“You know, Henry,” Bertrum began, turning to him. “I was thinking about perhaps having other mascots, seeing as you have more than one character. I’ve drawn up concepts for them, if you’d like to look at them.” He paused, but before Henry could reply, he started speaking again. “I know you’re a very busy man, so perhaps we could discuss more over dinner?”

Henry’s eyebrows went up, his eyes widening. “Oh, uhm… sure, that sounds nice, actually.”

Bertrum offered a warm smile. “Wonderful.”

*****

That night, Henry arrived at the restaurant Bertrum specified with a sheaf of papers in his arms. As he stepped in the glass doors, he found the designer waiting for him. He offered a smile.

“I'm glad you're able to meet with me, Henry. I think it's important to maintain a good relationship outside of the work environment.”

“You know, I think you're onto something there.” Henry returned a hesitant smile as a waiter in a three-piece suit lead them to a table for two. A small menu was handed to them both, Henry setting his papers as far to the side as he could.

Once their drink and appetizer orders were taken, Bertrum spoke up. “Have you been here before?”

Henry chuckled. “Well, no… it's a little above my normal price range, if I'm honest…”

“I think it's very worth it, the food is as high quality as they want you to believe. The wine, too, if you'd like to give it a try?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, no, no, I don't think so… I don't drink a lot, especially when I'm working.” At his words, he turned back to his papers. “So… I really liked those concepts you gave me earlier, I’ve been working on them for a little while…”

*****

By the time the waiter was bringing the pair a dessert menu, which they both declined, Henry had been rambling for a good hour or more between bites of dinner. Bertrum, however, only looked interested in what he had to say, his chin resting in the palm of one hand and a small smile on his lips. When the bill was placed on the table, Henry idly reached for it. However, a hand much larger than his own stopped him, causing the animator to look up.

“Please, let me pay.” Bertrum voiced.

“What? No, I can't let you do that, at least split it with me.” Henry tried.

“I insist, let me. Please?” The gentle look on the man's face contrasted the determined look in his eyes.

Henry sighed. “Alright, fine… But I'm leaving the tip.”

“Nonsense.” Bertrum waved him off, scribbling on to the paper, then setting a five and three two-dollar bills with it.

Henry tried to hide the surprised look on his face. “You didn't have to do that…”

“And yet I did.” He stated with a smirk.

“I suppose we should get going, then. I really appreciate being able to meet with you outside of work, I feel like I don't have to be looking over my shoulder every minute.” He started stuffing papers back into his folder, throwing a smile up at Bertrum. “Did you want to hang onto these now that I've made some adjustments?”

“That may be best, yes. I can get them to my teams as soon as possible tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Outside, despite the papers clutched in one arm, Bertrum held the door open for the animator, who quietly thanked him.

“I would like to do this again sometime soon, Henry. Perhaps not with so much work mixed in.” Bertrum's hand came to rest on the small of Henry's back, moving down the short sidewalk with him towards the parking lot.

Henry didn't try to shake him off, but gave him a baffled look. “What do you mean?”

“I simply want to get to know you better. You have a sharp mind, and just the right sense of humor. Surly there’s more to you than ink, paper and cartoons.”

Henry's eyes shifted to watch his shoes. “Oh, you would think that…” By then, the two had arrived by Henry's car, a slightly used white Lambda. Bertrum's hand fell away from his back.

“Have a good night, Henry.” The designer spoke fondly.

“Thank you, you too.” Henry responded cheerfully, sliding into the driver's seat.

*****

Two days later, after taking time off over the weekend, Henry arrived back at the studio before anyone else, even Wally Franks. He turned on the lights near his desk and in the break room, immediately going there to make a batch of coffee.

Caffeine in hand, he set to work, only to find a lone piece of paper folded neatly on his desk. His full name was scrawled across it in elegant letters, ever so slightly smudged. Setting his mug down, he took the paper between his thumb and forefinger, unfolding it. Inside, centered on the page, lines of more precise words. They read,

Artist's hands, Artist's pens,

do you treat the day so well?

Mind your self, mind your mind,

so you think yourself fair.

In glass, see as one should,

orchid in golden light.

Fire deep in heart, coals go warm,

let one close, without being burned.

Feel your warmth, through the nights,

linen cold no longer.

At peace, we rest, perhaps soon together.

Henry tilted his head at the words, not quite sure what to make of them. He had a vague idea of what it could all mean, but even so, why had someone given it to him? And with the paper unsigned, it just confused him more. Briefly, he considered Bertrum, who he'd had dinner with recently, but… No, he couldn't think of why the designer would write something like that for him, of all people. He also considered it a mistake, but his name on the front said otherwise. He shook his head, folding the paper back up and setting it on the shelf below his workspace. He had other things to worry about for the time being.

*****

By mid morning, most of the other staff members had arrived. He could tell just by the noise starting up in the studio, between the projectors and the faint sounds of the music department below. Having the time to work uninterrupted was a blessing to him, but that all ended when a familiar voice came up the hall.

“Henry!” Joey chimed, approaching the desk. “How's the new episode coming along?”

Henry sighed internally, but didn't turn around. He felt Joey lean over his shoulder to watch him work. “It's coming along just fine, Mister Drew. Right on schedule.”

“Great! Glad to hear it's nearly done, then!” Joey made to walk off, but Henry whipped around.

“What do you mean? I'm only half done with this, there's another two weeks before the deadline...”

Joey blinked. “No, the deadline's in four days. I told you about that, didn't I? We're a little strapped for cash, we need to put the episodes out faster.”

Henry sighed outwardly this time, through his nose. “I think you failed to mention it.”

“Hm. Oh well. Just keep at it! Work hard, work happy! Then I won't have to dock your pay.” The last line he spoke was much darker, more serious than the jaunty voice he normally used. It made Henry flinch, but then he was alone at his desk again. He struggled to make ends meet as it was, he couldn't afford an argument with Joey.

*****

Henry decided against taking a lunch hour, instead trying his hardest to get his work done. He'd already accepted that he would probably be spending a good amount of the night there as well.

“Heya, Henry!” A Brooklyn accent called across from Henry's desk.

Knowing the voice, Henry waved without looking up. “Hi, Wally. How are you?”

“Same ol’, same ol’, different day.” Wally moved closer to the animator so he wouldn't have to raise his voice as much.

“Hey, by any chance, did you see anyone around my desk while I wasn't here? Someone left this for me and I can't figure out who.” Then, Henry set down his pen and held the letter up for Wally to see.

Wally's bright green eyes squinted as he leaned closer. “I didn’ see anybody over hea, no. What's it say?”

Henry's face flushed a bit. “It's a poem. I'm not sure I'm interpreting it right, but…” He trailed off, allowing the janitor to take it and read over it.

“I can tell ya this; I ain't the smartest, but ta me, this sounds like somebody's sweet on ya. You dunno who wrote it?”

“Not a clue.” Henry replied convincingly.

“Maybe it was one'a the gals downstairs. Th’ writin’ sure looks like it.”

“You really think?”

“Yeah, any’a th’ girls downstairs left-handed?”

Henry tilted his head. “Does that matter?”

Wally nodded. “Yeah, lookit th’ way th’ ink’s smudged.” Henry looked at the letter again. “Whoeva wrote it did it with their left hand.” To emphasize, he held up his gloved left hand and wiggled his fingers.

“You know, you may be onto something there, Wally.” Henry tilted his head, hoping the janitor really was.

“Yep! And tha’s my one good idea for th’ day, don’ ask me for anythin’ else!” The janitor gave a wink, making Henry let out a hardy laugh.

*****

By nearly ten that night, Henry found himself making decent progress on the newest cartoon. However, it came at the price of feeling relaxed, or rested. His eyes burned, and a deep ache went all the way up from his hips to the base of his skull. The only light left on was the one above his desk, one of his hands gripped his hair while the other inked in his sketches. He was focused so hard on the drawing in front of him that he didn’t notice the heavy footsteps coming closer. A voice caught his attention, but didn’t pull it away.

“Still working?” Bertrum questioned.

“I have to.” Henry replied numbly.

The designer hummed. “You look awfully tense. When was the last time you had a break?”

“I couldn’t take breaks today.” Henry shook his head ever so slightly. When hands landed on both his shoulders, though, he froze, sitting back from his work.

“You’re taking one now.”As Bertrum began to gently massage his shoulders and neck, Henry felt himself practically melt. He let his hands fall into his lap, his eyes closing. After a few long, silent moments, Bertrum spoke again. “Go home. You need sleep.”

“Well so do you.” Henry countered, turning in his chair.

Instead of his usual suit, Bertrum was wearing a plain white t-shirt, which he’d obviously sweated through. His arms and clothes were smeared with dirt, and what could have been ink or machine oil. Dressed in such a way, it was easy to see that his normally formal clothes hid well-toned muscles. “Yes, I know… I was just on my way out. Walk with me?”

“I really can’t…” The animator sighed.

Bertrum’s expression turned firm. “You can’t stay here all night.”

Henry shrugged in return. “I have before, it’s not a big deal. I have a deadline to meet.”

“You’re practically falling asleep in front of me. Go home, Henry. No deadline can be that important. What’s Drew going to do if you miss it?”

“Dock my pay.” Henry mumbled.

At that point, Bertrum leaned down to meet his eyes, a hand on his shoulder again. “So you leave, and take your characters with you. Suddenly he has no animator, no cartoons, and you have plenty of companies that want you. Right?”

Henry’s gaze shifted away. “I’d need a really good lawyer if I want my characters back, and no one’s even heard of me.”

“Sue Drew, and everyone will know your name. Besides, if you need a lawyer, I could provide you with one.”

Henry tilted his head. “Why would you do that? No, you know what, I shouldn’t even be considering this. I have work to do. I really appreciate your concern, but-”

“Don’t make me carry you out of here.” He snapped.

“Excuse me?” Henry's voice become more confused than upset.

“If I must, I will.” Bertrum crossed his arms.

“I don't think you even could. Please, just leave me be. I'll be fine, you should go home.” Henry’s last attempt had him waving off the whole thing. It seemed his insistence paid off, as well. Bertrum sighed.

“Fine. But do, please, go home soon. Good night, Henry.”

“Good night, Bertrum.” It was only after the designer had left and Henry had gone back to work that something clicked in his mind. Though no one was around to lighten, he spoke aloud. “What was he even doing up here so late if he didn’t know I was here?”

22 notes · View notes

cindylouwho-2 · 4 years

Text

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, June 28 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles, podcasts, videos and infographics I came across since the late May report, although some may be older than that.

I am currently working on Etsy search testing and a few new blog posts and pages for my website, so it may be a few more weeks before I get a new report out. In the meantime, if you have an questions, comments or suggestions, please contact me here or on my website.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Ecommerce sales are way up, but so are many costs, and delays in shipping are part of the problem. “...many of our merchants start preparing mid-year for peak-season volume, holidays. We’ve seen many merchants hitting and even exceeding their normal Black Friday and Cyber Monday volumes consistently through April, forcing them to adapt quickly for greater capacity.” UPS is charging high-volume customers a surcharge based on how much more they are shipping compared to normal times, and also for an increase in oversized packages.

Mail delivery is still slow in many countries. Canada Post hit an all-time delivery record with 2.1 million parcels on May 19, but may finally be getting caught up. [article in French] Shipping between countries can also be substantially delayed, in part due to the lack of air traffic right now. USPS is using sea transport for packages to some European countries. And USPS rates are going up for international shipping in July, due to the new Universal Postal Union deal. "Anyone who is a bulk shipper, your rates are going up".

A reminder that the US economy isn't suddenly going to stabilize in the fall; it’s likely to crash. The US is now officially in a recession. Many people are not going to have money for a lot of discretionary spending. Furthermore, some categories of items will likely drop in price due to company closures, supply chain issues and bankruptcies. That will increase competition at the same time there are fewer buyers for many types of items. Ecommerce sales in the US are projected to rise 18% this year, but it won’t be enough to make up for the loss of brick & mortar retail sales. “The apparel and accessories category is typically the second-largest in e-commerce, for example, but will only grow 8.6% as consumers shift spending away from discretionary, non-essential purchases.” Retail in the US is expected to be down more than 10% in 2020.

ETSY NEWS

Etsy has released an addition to the iOS app that will allow shoppers to use augmented reality to see wall art on their home’s walls. The Verge was critical of how long it took for Etsy to catch up with the competition, and the fact that it is not available for Android yet. TechCrunch went into more detail.

As mentioned last time, you can now add short, no-audio videos to your listings. Etsy is so big on this, they are offering listing credits and ad credits to sellers who upload 5 or more videos by July 6. As always, make sure you read the legal policies before you participate in this offer.

The Etsy Design Awards are back, with submissions due by July 15th. Note that they are only open to 38 countries, for some reason. There is a forum discussion thread with tips, and a podcast [audio & transcript] with previous winners.

If you sell any items for kids, you will find this trending items article from Etsy useful. Searches including “kid,” “child,” or “baby” didn’t go up as much in April as one might have expected, given the pandemic shopping bump, but puzzles were popular. They include some search terms: for example, there was a “250% YoY increase in searches on Etsy containing “jump rope” in April. Also, “while school may look different this fall, we’re already seeing an increase for school-related searches compared to the same time last year.”

Face mask seller ZhenLinen was interviewed on NPR [text and audio] about mask selling, and was even asked about the offsite ads fees near the end. They sold 31,000 masks while their event-supply business was in pandemic limbo; most of those sales were through Etsy. The good news articles about mask sales, & suggesting Etsy as a source of masks, are continuing, although some do mention slow delivery times and even undelivered orders. By the way, if any mask sellers are looking for new places to sell, Facebook finally caught up and is now allowing mask sales, ads and other promotions.

According to analysis of Etsy’s API data, May 2020 was Etsy’s best month ever. Remember that the API data misses things like sales of multiples, so it is not the most accurate source, but I don’t have any reason to doubt the statement is true.

Etsy stock went over $100 for the first time, before dropping as the rest of the market went down.

You have probably already seen Etsy’s statement on race issues after the recent murder in the US. “That’s why today we are announcing donations of $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and $500,000 to Borealis Philanthropy’s Black-Led Movement Fund, as well as matching employee donations. We encourage our community to join us in supporting these important organizations. Etsy is built on a belief that communities have the power to change the status quo. Change is hard-fought, and we are committed to this fight.“

If you have your real name on your Etsy account, don’t attract any attention from the police.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

If you don’t really understand what algorithms are and how they work for search engines, you will want to get caught up here. Key to understanding: “An algorithm is not a formula.”

This is a bit advanced, but it’s a good explanation of how to figure out searcher intent in Google results, and then fulfill it with new content. [video, transcript, and downloadable form]

Linking from one page on your website to another can be an important part of SEO. It can also help you get more page views, if you link to new pages from your most popular pages. Creating internal site links on the same page through a table of contents [advanced, coding info] can even get you more links in Google search results.

Speed on mobile devices is also a big part of SEO as well as conversions. “a 0.1 second improvement in site speed resulted in Retail conversions increases of 8.4% and average order value increases of 9.2%.”

Bing made changes to its backlink tool, including the ability to see your competition’s backlinks. The option is part of Bing’s Webmaster tools, & allows you to analyze “similar sites”. Their Webmaster Tools now can also analyze your site for SEO errors.

A former Google employee is starting a new search engine, called Neeva.

Some SEOs recommend removing “low-quality” pages from your site to improve your overall rankings, but low-quality doesn’t necessarily mean pages that few people visit [text & video]. And short posts are not necessarily “low-quality”. If your page is mostly duplicate content, it is like low quality, but just repeating a few lines on each page is not duplicate content.

Google missed a few episodes of its Google search news YouTube post during the pandemic, but they were back on May 26 with an update. They’ve also finally released their webspam report for 2019. “we observed that more than 25 Billion pages we discover each day are spammy.”

Advanced content [video with multi-language subtitles, & text summary in English]: Google, JavaScript, & links.

Shopify sites have built-in blogs,and those blogs can help you get sales through SEO. And while we are on Shopify SEO, here is some advice on fixing technical SEO issues on Shopify sites. [the second is advanced content unless you know some coding]

While having an author page isn’t a requirement on any news/blog site, it might be a good idea anyway [text and video]. Content that is useful for readers is ultimately good for your site’s SEO.

Here is a history of Google’s PageRank, and what it still does for ranking.

Did the Google May core update really mess up organic search relevance? Some people think so. [I had noticed the Wikipedia drop but thought it was just for a particular search.] There may be more ranking updates underway right now.

Google plans on introducing user experience as part of the ranking algorithm, although it won’t happen before next year, and we will get 6 months warning. Search Engine Land lists the following elements: “whether the page loads quickly, if it’s mobile-friendly, runs on HTTPS, the presence of intrusive ads and if content jumps around as the page loads.” They add a bunch of technical advice, and the tools to follow up on it.

Do you find SEO confusing? Don’t worry - even the pros working for big companies make huge errors.

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Updated infographic with the common social media image sizes used today. (Several of these get published yearly, because there are always changes.)

Is blogging still relevant? [TL;DR - yes] And if you want to write more interactive posts, here are some tools for that.

Video app TikTok made a lot of money in April, but is seeing competition from a new short video app called Zynn, which allows users to make money by watching videos and bringing in new users. However, Zynn has already been removed from Google Play store amid accusations of content theft. Instagram has a challenger called “Reels”, and even YouTube wants some of that TikTok traffic, so they are introducing 15 second videos. Meanwhile, TikTok is coming under closer scrutiny for its invasive tracking.

Every social network apparently needs to have their own version of Stories these days, so Pinterest has introduced a new version of Story Pins in the US. “Unlike Stories on other platforms, which are often self-focused snippets from someone’s life, Pinterest Stories Pins are designed as clickable content focused on sharing ideas. For example, Story Pins could offer a step-by-step guide to cooking a recipe or creating a craft project. A Story Pin could also offer ideas around how to reorganize your home office, keeping the kids entertained, beauty tutorials and more.”

Google appears to be imitating Pinterest with their new release, called “Keen”. You add items yourself but Google then attempts to find more things you are interested in, using AI.

If you are looking for some new tools to help with Instagram, Social Media Today compiled a list of 5 recent ones. They include image processing, templates, and analytics.

Twitter is beta-testing the ability to tweet sound files directly from the platform, instead of embedding links to other sites. The article notes that these may be more difficult to moderate than text tweets would be.

Two of the three parts of this article cover local businesses, but the middle part has some promotional ideas that mostly involve content marketing & social media. Nothing groundbreaking, but a decent list if you are looking for new free ways to advertise.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Semi-advanced - how to improve your Google Ads optimization score.

GCLID is short for “Google Click Identifier” to help track ads and conversions. You can learn more here. [Understanding this is useful for both your own ad campaigns and understanding other ads, such as the Etsy Offsite Ads program.)

Money coming in from social media video ads has increased from the lows in April. Facebook ads have improved the most.

New advertisers on Instagram will not necessarily have to link their accounts to Facebook any more. It may be linked to a campaign to “stop hate for profit” that calls for people to stop buying Facebook & Instagram ads during July, and which has attracted several big players such as Unilever and Verizon. Some companies are leaving all social media ads, or are extending the Facebook boycott until the end of the year. But as the first article points out, Zuckerberg’s complete control of voting means he can’t be turfed by a board just to protect profit, so a short boycott may not be the best way to get change.

Facebook published a new explanation of how ads work on the platform.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

For people who are new to Google Analytics: here are some things you should be tracking, as well as these, and some tips on finding source info for SEO work. If you want to improve your customers’ experience with the site, check out these tips. [There is some crossover between the 4 articles, but I think that those of you trying to learn more detailed examples of how GA works will find everything useful.]

What is a “session” in Google Analytics? This article includes screenshots & tips on changing their length.

You can get great keyword data from the Google Search Console - here’s how.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Online shopping has received a huge boost from the pandemic lockdowns, and big online marketplaces are now competing for new small businesses to fill the growing demand. Walmart outsold eBay in May, for the first time ever. Things are slowing down a bit, though: “buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) had begun to “plateau.” BOPIS growth in May was 195% year over year, which was down from its April peak of more than 200%.”

Amazon is being criticized for allowing many prohibited items to be sold on the site, even through “fulfilled by Amazon”, so the items are stored in its warehouses. “Graham did not respond directly to many of our specific questions, including how many of the banned items that The Markup found had been sold, why the company had not noticed some of them for months, why some were listed as Amazon’s Choice, and why many were stored in Amazon’s warehouses for shipment. He did not respond at all to questions about why Amazon itself had offered banned items for sale. Most of the banned listings we reported to Amazon have been removed, although at least three have popped back up.” [emphasis added]

Amazon is now offering multi-channel fulfillment in the US; you don’t even need to use Fulfillment by Amazon to sign up. They’ve also introduced lines of credit for sellers, through a partnership with Goldman Sachs.

eBay is rallying sellers to object to a proposed Louisiana law that would force marketplace sites to verify the identities of higher-volume sellers in the state. The law was passed anyway, and takes effect July 1. Here are the highlights of the new law.

Now-fired eBay employees harassed and stalked the EcommerceBytes owner and her husband for months after eBay’s CEO at the time said eBay needed to “take down” the site & its owner.

Walmart now has ThredUp as one of its third-party sellers on the Walmart website. They sell second-hand clothing and accessories for women & kids, often famous labels. Sales are all online but buyers will be able to return things to Walmart stores.

Walmart has also partnered with Shopify, allowing small businesses to list directly on Walmart’s website through Shopify. This appears to be a limited initiative, as they only plan on including 1200 Shopify sellers by the end of 2020. Most analysts think this is a plan to compete with Amazon more directly.

In addition to its existing website, Target is now offering items on Instagram Checkout.

Shopify has been getting great media coverage lately, including this article suggesting them as an alternative to Amazon third-party selling, once the new “Shop” app gets some traction.

BigCommerce has introduced drag-and-drop design tools for its website builder.

Square has begun using rolling reserves to reduce its risk with some sellers. “In one instance, Legal Knock, a company that builds websites for law firms, told the Times that it never had a customer demand a refund for their work and yet Square kept $4,000 in reserve in May. Sean Weber, the owner, said he had trouble contacting the company and wasn't satisfied with its explanation. He even said Square blocked him on Twitter.”

Upcoming PayPal changes for US users include seller protection for some digital items, and not necessarily requiring buyers to return items to win a significantly not as described case. Remember that many PayPal changes start with the US and then expand to other countries; Canadian changes are here.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

When thinking about customer returns, remember that a lower-than-average return rate is not necessarily your top goal. “You may ask, “why would a merchant want to increase returns?” It’s because they’re using returns as a growth driver. They’ve figured out, for their respective businesses, that a higher rate of returns actually nets out to an increase in sales and repeat purchasing. So much so, that the overall uptick in business far outweighs the increased costs of more frequent returns.”

Consumers are reading reviews more than ever, but half of this study’s respondents said that “‘too many companies’ are creating fake reviews online.”

Many people are tired of the “things are different” ads that have predominated, & want to see more ads showing people getting back to normal. “The U.S., U.K. and the Netherlands are primed for a jump in fashion purchases, with significant percentages of consumers in those countries planning clothing purchases in the next 30 days. The finding suggests that fashion marketers may increase their marketing efforts to reach consumers who are ready to buy apparel as lockdowns are lifted.”

We don’t know what the holiday shopping season will look like this year, so ecommerce businesses should be planning for many different scenarios.

Here’s an interesting overview of how some searches changed in the first few months of the pandemic. [infographic] And some of the shopping changes people made, especially Gen Z, may be permanent. “...younger consumers are shifting their habits faster than their older counterparts.” That report also states that “33% of these consumers have increased their online spending, for a net increase of 6%, versus 23% of consumers in older generations, or a net increase of 1%.”

Here’s more on the second-hand clothing trend that is hitting its boom years. “According to the report, secondhand goods are expected to make up 17% of a person’s share of closet space by 2029, up from just 3% in 2009.” Gen Z is a big user of Depop, which has a lot of altered and enhanced vintage clothing available.

MISCELLANEOUS

This article has inspired me to completely redo my website’s About page. Not yet, of course, but some day soon…

Speaking of websites, here’s a good list of dos & don’ts for a contact form.

eBay may be probing your computer when you visit, and that is not always legal.

Free Zoom accounts can’t set up encrypted calls/meetings, because “the firm wants to keep this feature away from free users to work with law enforcement in case of the app’s misuse.”

Finally in privacy news, Google is being sued for still tracking you in various ways when you use Chrome’s incognito mode.

#etsynews #search engine optimization #analytics #content marketing #customer service #ecommercetips #social media news

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ilovereadingandilovebreathing · 5 years

Note

Hi! Hope you're having a good day or night depending! For the strangers meeting thing, could you do one for Soul and Maka?

Thank you; you, too! Holy CRAP I haven’t written SoMa in a long time, but I have been binging Soul Eater again, so I’ll do my best. Sorry the formatting is funky; I did it on mobile, and I’ve already had one format fiasco, so....

Young Adult!AU

“I swear to god this cat is gonna be the death of me.” Soul “Eater” Evans grumbled haughtily as he pinned up his last Lost Cat poster and began the weary trek back to his apartment. His brother had begged him to take Blair in last year when his long-time girlfriend, who was painfully allergic to cats, decided the pair should live together before getting engaged. Having no other family to willingly pawn the creature off on, Wes had turned to his bachelor younger brother. Of course, he was the one with the crazy cat lady landlady; she’d even offered to catsit for him.

Honestly, though, as much as he begroaned the circumstances of Blair’s adoption, he’d grown to like, maybe even love, the frisky little black cat. Her hours were as odd as his (night shift jobs screw up a sleep schedule), so they often kept each other company. As long as he remembered to put out her food and water and clean her litter box, she was really a low maintenance cat. Well, unless she was starved for attention. Then she’d rub herself all over him until he acquiesced to stroking her until she fell asleep, usually on his stomach so he couldn’t escape. Or unless she decided to vanish for a week without a trace. A few days was normal for Blair; Soul often suspected she had another family somewhere, but this long was unusual. Hence the posters.

Soul shoved open his lopsided apartment door, a frown pulling at his lips when he realized he’d expected Blair to come bounding over to him; maybe he did love her after all. He sighed and dropped his keys on the small table next to the front door, immediately slipping out of his coat and shoes. He collapsed onto his aging couch, allowing his head to fall back and his eyes to fall closed just as a loud buzz buzz buzz from his back pocket startled him upward again. He pulled out his phone to find an unfamiliar number.

[+1 555-6969]

Hi, you put up wanted posters for a black cat?

[+1 555-7685]

Missing? Yeah.

[+1 555-6969]

Oh. Missing? NVM

“What the hell?”

Another message came through just as he was turning his phone off; another strange number.

[+1 555-6666]

When did you put those signs up?

[+1 555-7685]

Today

[+1 555-6666]

Oh, okay. Good. Your can’t wasn’t with me, but I can’t promise anything from the others in the area. Hopefully she isn’t used.

[+1 555-7685]

Fuck off, weirdo.

He blocked the number.

A few more ominous texts came in and one from his landlady expressing her wishes for Blair’s safe return. A few fellow searching pet owners asked him for leads on their pets, and he exchanged yeses and the same request. Just as he was going to throw his phone after another sick-headed black cat hater, a properly formatted message came through with a kinder message. Finally.

[+1 555-6252]

Hey, I saw your Lost Cat posters. I’m really sorry to hear you lost her. I’ll be keeping an eye out for her; I’m pretty active in the area.

[+1 555-7685]

Thank you I appreciate it

[+1 555-6562]

No problem! I have a cat, too. Crona.

A photo of a small, sweet-faced but timid-looking kitten came through; it’s big blue eyes and stark white fur made him gasp a bit.

[+1 555-7685]

Beautiful cat

I’m a little jealous seems to be the opposite of Blair haha

[+1 555-6252]

Thank you! I just got him. He’s really shy but a good cat. What do you mean? What’s Blair like?I know you said “noisy asshole” on your poster, but…

[+1 555-7685]

Haha gets peoples attention

Pitch black fur

Big yellow eyes

Needy and bossy as hell

Nah really she’s pretty good for the most part

My brother dumped her on me

[+1 555-6525]

Crona has his moments, too, but she sounds like a handful! That’s no good, but it’s nice that you kept her! I hope you find her soon. I’m Maka, B. T. W.

[+1 555-7685]

Soul

[+1 555-6525]

That’s a cool name! Nice to meet you, Soul!

[+1 555-7685]

Maka’s pretty unique too

Back atcha

[+1 555-6525]

Like I said, I’ll be on the lookout, so let me know if there are any updates!

[+1 555-7685]

Will do.

Thanks

A few days passed with silence about Blair. And from Maka. Soul didn’t know why he cared about that second one. He usually got bored with texting people, especially girls who talked a lot and formatted their texts perfectly, but something about Maka was the right balance.He shook his head and focused back on his TV. He didn’t even know Maka; how could he daydream about her?

As if on cue, his phone buzzed, and he picked it up, finding himself disappointed that it wasn’t Maka’s number, but his eyes widened when he read the text.

[+1 555-7827]

Hey dude found your cat I think over near the market on Crescent Street she was bugging my girl for something to eat I think while she was waiting for me to get off work

A picture came through of a bright-blue haired young man with a wide grin and a sweet-looking lady with dark hair. The latter gently held Blair who looked up with wide eyes.

[+1 555-7685]

Yup that’s her

Where are you?

[+1 555-7827]

Outside the Limpin’ Imp Tavern on Crescent

[+1 555-7685]

Cool be there ASAP

Soul jogged out the front door and down the steps. “Found Blair, Miss Ortega!” Soul called as he eyed his landlady sitting in her front window.

“Wonderful! I’ll have a treat for her when you return!”

“Thanks!”

He continued jogging toward Crescent Street, thankfully not too far from his house. He slowed when he neared the tavern, easily spotting the couple who’d contacted him.

“Hey!” Soul waved as he approached, eying Blair curled up in the woman’s lap. “I’m Soul. You’ve got Blair.” He laughed and the woman giggled in reply.

“Yeah we do! Totally saved your cat for you, as any good citizens would!” The man erupted, laughing loudly if not unnecessarily.

“Yeah…”

“She’s very friendly.” The woman cut in. “I figured she was a local stray until I saw her collar and Blake saw your posters.”

“Yeah, maybe I should save some time and paper and get her a license with my number on it.” Soul rubbed the back of his neck.

“Not like she’s a dog or anything.” Blake cut in. “Cats are way smarter. Unlike this one. Or maybe she’s just more stubborn.”

“Blake.” The woman rolled her eyes. “I’m Tsubaki, by the way, since you introduced yourself. Here.” She took Blair into her arms and carefully stood. “We have to get going, but I’m so glad we found her.”

“Absolutely. Thank you both so much. Here’s the reward.” Soul handed a wad of bills to Blake and took Blair from Tsubaki.

“Thanks a bunch! We’re off to a great dinner!” Blake laughed loudly and threw his arm around Tsubaki’s shoulders, drawing her against him as they walked away and planting a firm kiss on her head.

“Bye, Soul! Bye, Blair!”

“Bye!” Soul chuckled as the couple made their way down the sidewalk, idly chatting about their evening plans. “Time to go home, Missy.” Soul chided the cat but ran his fingers over her back. “You’ve been gone for too long.”

Blair just sat comfortably in his hold and purred as Soul walked them both home.

The evening hours found Soul and Blair lounging on the sofa, Blair curled comfortably on Soul’s stomach as he scrolled idly through Netflix. The companionable quiet was shattered when Soul’s phone buzzed loudly against the glass coffee table top, and he grit his teeth. He needed to take those damn posters down. However, his annoyance simmered out when he registered the familiar number.

[+1 555-6525]

Hey, it’s Maka. Just checking in since it’s been a while. Any luck finding Blair?

Soul stretched back and snapped a shot of Blair sleeping on him.

[+1 555-7685]

Yup

Just got her back a little while ago

[+1 555-6525]

Aw awesome! So cute!!!

Maka sent an above shot of Crona snoozing on her chest, but Soul was fixated on the photographer. Big green eyes, a sweet smile, and smooth skin and hair made his heart flutter, and he swallowed.

[+1 555-7685]

Really cute

[+1 555-6525]

Ugh I know! He’s so peaceful when he sleeps. I love it so much.

[+1 555-7685]

Thanks for checking up on us

[+1 555-6525]

Yeah of course! I’m glad that she’s home! Maybe she and Crona will meet sometime, though he’s still not quite an outdoor cat yet.

[+1 555-7685]

We could arrange it

Soul smacked himself internally. A kitty play date? Really? What was he, a cat dad?!

[+1 555-6525]

True! It could help Crona develop confidence and social skills to meet in a controlled environment. Did you have anything in mind?

Shit. He didn’t really think she’d agree.

[+1 555-7685]

Uh not really

[+1 555-6525]

That’s okay! There’s this cool cat cafe that lets you bring your cat and keep it in a play area. We could try to rent a little space there or something!

This was becoming way more real and serious than Soul anticipated.

[+1 555-7685]

Sounds cool

Though we don’t really know each other

[+1 555-6525]

I promise I’m not a serial killer! Haha!

[+1 555-7685]

You’d meet some random guy? What if I’m a weirdo?

[+1 555-6525]

I’ll change my number. Easy.

[+1 555-6525]

But really it’ll be fine! I trust my instincts if not you. L.O.L.

[+1 555-7685]

Gee thanks lol

[+1 555-6525]

😉

So….Is next weekend okay?

[Soul & Blair]

Sure works for me

[Maka]

Great! See you two then!

Maka sent a snap of an awake Crona and herself making a thumbs up. Soul’s breath stuttered.

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough, but when it did, Soul found himself blindsided. Was he ready to meet Maka? They had only gone back and forth for a week, but the exchanges were multiple times daily, and he quickly found himself falling fast and hard for the girl in the photos and videos.

As he opened the door to the cat cafe, he gasped, ignoring Blair’s pitiful cries to be free of her cat carrier when he spotted Maka in the back corner. Her slender legs were folded over each other; her hair was pulled back into a neat messy bun (crazy how that worked somehow), and he could see her eyes quickly skimming over the pages in front of her. Smart and beautiful. He was done for.

“Hey…” He pulled up in front of her and pulled out the chair across from her.

She looked up and beamed, her eyes catching the dim glow of the Edison lights around them.

“Hey!” She closed her book and pointed to a low, plastic door. “The play area is over there. They have some toys in there, but I kept Crona with me until you guys got here.” She picked up Crona’s carrier from its guarded spot between her seat and the wall and led him to set their cats free.

Once they settled back in, Maka handed him a menu. “They have great coffee drinks here.”

“I drink mine black, so it doesn’t make a huge difference to me.”

“I could never. Why, if I may ask?”

“Lactose intolerance.”

“Ah.”

“This is so weird.”

“What?” Maka cocked a brow, a slight shadow of worry passing over her features.

“I dunno. It’s like we’re texting in real life now.”

“Texting is real. Just not in person.”

“You know what I mean.”

She giggled. “I do.”

That giggle confirmed it.

Soul would make sure their conversations were purely words and in person as often as possible.

“So, tell me about yourself. I wanna hear it all.”

Hope you liked it! Thanks for the prompt!

#soul eater #soulxmaka #soma fanfic #soulxmaka fanfic #soul eater fanfic #sefanfics #mine #wowee i havent written soma in a minute so i hope its okay

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the-writing-mill · 5 years

Text

Whumptober Day 04 - Human Shield

“Not another step, Kenobi,” Ventress hissed, lightsaber humming so close, Cody swore he could feel it shocking his blacks, “or you lose this clone as well.”

Cody watched his general appraise the situation. Both sides had been whittled down so that Ventress had to retreat or die and they were going to win the battle, but with too few forces to be able to chase Ventress down. Especially since he, Obi-Wan, and a few brothers had been separated from the rest with Ventress into a crashed ship. Half of their small squad was down for the count, and Cody wasn’t sure they would all get back up. That left him, Obi-Wan, and six other brothers against Ventress, who had him, weaponless and with a dislocated shoulder, pinned to her chest and her lightsaber at his neck.

But with him being held hostage, Ventress couldn’t move very quickly.

It would be easy. The last six brothers already covered 240 degrees around them. Obi-Wan was in better condition than Ventress.

They didn’t have the resources to chase her, no. But the lack of mobility was a mistake on her part. And if he was going to go marching far away, this was a good way to go. Over a year past the average life expectancy. For the sake of killing one of the Separatists’ best killers.

He saw his general’s eyes flicker back over to meet his through the helmet. Cody would have nodded if he could.

“You realize, Ventress, my dear, that you don’t have the best track record with hostages?” His general finally drawled, voice purposefully even.

Cody can imagine the steely look in his eyes, the one that he hides beneath whatever act he’s putting on over his, well… not anger, since Jedi don’t get angry.

He heard his brothers shift their weight just a bit, saw Longshot hold his blaster just a little more aggressively next to their general.

“I don’t think you and your clones are in a very good position to critique my combat strategies, but perhaps you’ve finally realized that your mouth is the most competent thing about you,” Ventress snarled.

In a moment, he saw his general use the hand not holding his saber to sign at him.

Drop

Cody did so immediately, letting all of his muscles relax and making his legs give out. Not questioning the order.

Ventress was pulled down a bit but didn’t bother to slice his neck for the action.

No, she was far too busy trying to keep her balance and moving her saber to block his general.

Cody rolled out of the way and dashed over to longshot, taking the backup hand blaster out of the other’s leg holster.

They all shot when they could, used to their general’s movements, and fired freely once Ventress disengaged and started running down the hall freely.

Then the kriffing sith jumped out of a hole in the crashed ships’ wall, and their general ordered a retreat.

Back at camp, once everyone had been checked over by medics, once the dead had been counted and buried, once the general gave another rousing speech about duty and how they have saved yet another planet from Separatist tyranny that lifts the mood so the men will celebrate, Cody and Obi-Wan retreated back to the tent they were sharing for an office and started on the basic paperwork.

Or at least, that was what they would usually do.

Instead, Cody stayed standing by the tent entrance, bucket still on.

He saw Obi-Wan sigh before clearing off a space on his desk and sitting down, elbows on the desk, hands clasped, chin resting on his hands.

“What’s wrong, Cody? You’ve been… tense, since we dealt with Ventress,” his jedi implored.

Cody stalked forward, tore off his helmet, and nearly slammed it onto Obi-Wan’s desk.

“I don’t think I’d call that “dealing” with Ventress, sir,” he said brusquely.

“What do you mean?” Obi-Wan actually looked confused at that.

“I mean you could have finally killed her, sir!” Cody spilled out, “With me as hostage, she was practically immobile! Surely you noticed you could have ordered the others to shoot, distracting and injuring, then gone in for the kill yourself!”

Obi-Wan looked taken aback, almost horrified, at that.

“Yes. Yes, I could have done that,” he said, quietly, softly, “And that would have killed you, Cody.”

“And how many of my brothers are going to die because you didn’t kill her today, sir?!” Cody asked, internally horrified at critiquing and yelling at his superior as soon as he said it, but unable to stop himself, “I am here to serve you and the Republic, general. If that means dying to stop the Separatists, then so be it. You should know that by now. You should have- I should have-“

Cody broke himself off from his rant, unsure of what he was saying anymore, or what Obi-Wan’s carefully neutral face meant.

“Cody?” the general said, soft, “did you want her to kill you?”

Oh.

No, that wasn’t what he meant. It really wasn’t. But his general had every right to think that.

He saw Obi-Wan glance at the other chair and Cody complied with the request, grabbing the chair and sitting across from his general. Willing himself to calm down.

“No. No sir, I was not hoping to die. But I was… I have always been willing to die, for the sake of the Republic.” His general understood that, right?

“I know, Cody, but sometimes, in hard situations - and what is war but hard situation on top of hard situation? – there is not good answer. And certainly no right answer. Please answer me honestly, would you prefer to serve under a general who will order your brothers to fire on each other, or one who doesn’t?”

Cody flinched, he’d heard stories about some of the non-jedi generals. About their lack of care for his brothers and their lives.

“Of course I don’t want a general who does those things, but in this case-”

“It’s different?” his general cut him off, “Or it’s worth it?”

Cody didn’t bother hiding his face. Whatever emotion he was showing was more easily understood through the force by the being in front of him. Obi-Wan sighed.

“Where’s the line, Cody? What counts as too far, for the senate, for the war, for who I am as a jedi? Should I not bother to block a tank’s shell from hitting a squad because I could instead run closer to Grievous? Should I make battle plans that risk friendly fire in every encounter?”

Cody rolled his eyes, he knew that his general would never do that. Most of the non-jedi generals wouldn’t either, those risks were inefficient use of resources.

“Should I send in Waxer to scout with a comm, on a mission where he can get valuable information but likely won’t be able to escape? That would let us make battle plans that cost far fewer lives, and only cost me one of your brothers,” the general said in a hard tone. Cody couldn’t help bristle at that hypothetical.

“There is no perfect answer to most battles, Cody. You know that, right?”

“Yes, sir. I do,” he replied evenly. It was true. There was a reason he had made it up to marshal commander.

“Then please, Cody, in the interest of us being able to make imperfect decisions that we can still live with, please never ask me to kill you again,” his jedi begged, tone letting a bit of desperation in.

And that felt like punch to Cody’s gut. No wonder Obi-Wan had looked horrified earlier.

“Sorry, sir. I just…” Cody trailed off, not able to figure out what to say. Not able to tear away from Obi-Wan’s pleading eyes either, so he watched them softening, a little nod, empathetic.

“I don’t want anyone else to die,” he choked out, trying to maintain some composure but largely failing, “and it seems like we’re never enough and I just want for this war to be over without losing any more brothers and I’m not sure what I’m willing to do, but dying’s easy. We’re really good at dying so if that’s what-“ Cody shut his mouth to stop himself from sobbing.

Obi-Wan reached out towards him before aborting the gesture, uncertainty on his face.

Cody let out a broken laugh at that, “don’t worry, sir. If it was Rex, he would have had me in a headlock by now and wrestled me to the ground. Wouldn’t have stopped hugging me for an hour,” Obi-Wan breathed a laugh through his nose at the image then slowly put a hand on Cody’s arm. It was stable and grounding in a way Cody would have bet alcohol on it being some sort of force technique. He took a deep breath.

“I don’t want to die, sir. And I won’t ask you to kill me. I promise. I just can’t always figure out how to win without dying.”

“Cody…” the hand squeezed lightly as Obi-Wan thought of what he wanted to say, “I’m so sorry.”

For Ventress today. For Ventress everyday. For the war. For the brothers he had lost and would lose. For how much all of this was hurting him. For neither of them being able to fix it. There were a lot things his jedi was apologizing for. And Cody couldn’t find anything right to say in reply.

Instead, he just bent his head and lightly rested his hand on top of Obi-Wan’s on his arm, keeping them there in silent vigil for everything gone wrong.

#whumptober2019 #no.4 #human shield #Star Wars fanfiction #obi-wan kenobi #Cody #this will be up on ao3 when a03 is back up

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hcts5sos · 5 years

Text

Here Comes The Sun - Chapter Two

Two days later, Ellie finds herself sat in her favorite armchair in the basement watching the boys play their single (and by single, she literally means their single; it’s their only finished song). Normally, this would be cause for contentment – the little turds are actually quite good – except for the fact that it’s audition day, and Ellie’s been listening to a handful of hopefuls crash and burn.

“I don’t know, I sort of liked him,” Ellie says when they take a fifteen minute break between their last audition – a mousey looking boy with an unfortunate twitch; Ellie had wanted to tuck him under a duvet and cuddle him after Michael had dismissed him – and their last audition of the day.

So far, so good. Ellie hasn’t heard a peep from Ashton for the last two days – probably that soundproof basement – and time’s just about run out now. She can’t help but feel a little smug about it; as it turns out, her momentary lapse in judgment about Ashton had been, as she’d thought, due to the mild concussion. She’d taken a paracetamol and by the time Michael and Luke had come home, she’d been thinking much more clearly. Namely, about how Ashton Irwin ruined her life, and there was no way that she could possibly, sanely think of him any other way.

“Are you kidding, Ellie,” Luke deadpans, throwing himself onto the couch next to her. “He kept twitching and adding in extra beats. Calum got all messed up listening to him.”

“I sort of liked the third one we saw,” Michael says, taking a large swig of water from a bottle. “What was her name? Joanna?”

“You mean the one with the huge boobs?” Ellie asks dryly, and Luke giggles into his wrist.

“Yeah, I liked her too,” Calum pipes up before cackling away, and honestly. They’re such kids.

“She hit the rim most of the time!” Ellie protests. “I’m not even musically inclined and I knew that.”

“Well, she’s the best so far,” Luke says, his voice wobbling with laughter, and Ellie spares him a withering glance.

“Maybe the next one will be better,” Michael says doubtfully, scanning the sheet.

“Who is it?” Ellie asks while poking her brother in the head.

Luke yelps and bats at her hand, then answers: “Irwin, from next door.”

Ellie freezes as Calum brightens. She doesn’t even put up a fight when Luke punches her none-too-gently in the shoulder and then pulls out his mobile to text or Tweet or something. “Oh him! Yeah, ran into him the other day when I was with Ellie putting up posters. Like, literally. Ellie ran into him.”

“Oh?” Michael asks, looking at Ellie with a smirk. She glares at him as best as she can with dread curling in her stomach. “Did she really?”

He all but purrs the last bit. Ellie’s going to murder him in his sleep. She jabs a finger at him.

“Shut it, Clifford,” she says dangerously. “I know where you sleep.”

“What’ve you got against Ashton?” Luke asks mildly, looking up from his phone as Calum tackles Michael and starts wrestling with him for some unknown reason. The amount of testosterone in the room is stifling. “He’s pretty cool, you know, for a first year at uni.”

“He is not,” Ellie hisses, and it’s with enough vehemence that Calum and Michael stop tussling long enough to stare at her. Luke seems skeptical and a little bit shocked. “He’s not cool at all. Do you not remember?”

Luke squints at her. “Ellie. That was like, nine years ago. Think he’s changed a bit.” He rolls his eyes, like she’s the one being unreasonable about wanting to not be around the boy that ruined her childhood.

“Aw, she’s just being prickly ‘cos she’s got a big fat crush on him,” Michael says offhandedly, demonstrating by planting a wet smooch on Calum’s cheek. Calum shrieks and laughs, trying to wriggle away.

Ellie whips around so fast her neck nearly snaps off. “I do not have a crush on him!” she all but shrieks, and Michael and Calum stare at her. Even Luke looks up, alarmed, and he’s practically glued to his mobile at all times. It’s possible Ellie breaks the sound barrier with her scream; she’s decided to use her power for good.

“Ashton Irwin is a horrible person, alright, why on earth would I have a crush on someone who literally made my childhood a living hell?”

Ellie’s voice goes so high on the last bit, only dogs are probably meant to hear it, and she knows she’s got a bit of crazy-eye going on, but she honestly hates Ashton Irwin with a passion, and she’ll be damned if any bit of concussion changes that about her.

It’s so silent in the basement, you could hear a pin drop, and then there’s a small, awkward cough at the staircase.

“Should I come back another time?” Ashton asks tentatively. Ellie closes her eyes and sighs. Of course.

“Um,” Calum says, breaking the silence. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Just the last bit about hell,” Ashton says, tromping down the stairs. “Who’s made whose life a living hell?”

Michael swallows. “Er, not important. You’re early.”

Ashton stops at the bottom of the stairs, hand on the railing. “Er, thought it’d be better to be earlier than later,” he says. He sounds confused, and Ellie wills herself not to look at him. “Hiya guys. El.”

Ellie makes a sound from the back of her throat that sounds a bit like Calum’s cat before it hacks up a hairball. Michael snorts at that, and she glares at him.

“Alright?” Calum says, smoothing over the awkward spot with his usual friendly candor. “C’mon, we’ve borrowed a kit from my dad, so go on and do your thing with it.” He waves over at the set, and Ashton grins, flashing those damn dimples again, and shucks off his shoes and heads on over. Ellie determinedly does not notice Ashton’s got really nice arms. The nicest arms in the world wouldn’t matter if they were attached to the likes of Ashton Irwin.

“So, basically, we’re going to see if you can hold a beat, first of all,” Michael says, plopped down on the couch on Ellie’s other side. Calum perches on the arm rest next to him. “Feel free to, like, sing too, since it’d be sick of we could get a four part going. Then, we’re going to see if you can follow our music, and that’s basically your chance to show off. Let’s see what you can do, yeah?”

Ashton nods, surprisingly serious about it. Ellie can’t help but watch as he tests out the snares, the cymbals, tightening screws as he goes, and then he’s twirling the sticks in his hands and beating out a quick one, two, three, four, before launching into a fast, up tempo, and then he’s singing, a dry, raspy voice that’s a little too quaver-y but fairly good nonetheless.

It’s his hands that really capture Ellie’s attention, the effortless way he makes Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” rockier with the change in the kick drum, and he’s good. God, he’s really good. Ellie’s more than a little surprised at it, and so is everyone else. Luke’s even stopped texting to pay attention.

When he finishes with a final cymbal clash, Calum and Michael burst into applause, and Ashton goes a little red.

“Jesus Christ, that was amazing,” Calum exults. “Dude, we could totally, like, do a cover of Teenage Dream now, the chords are pretty easy – ”

Michael talks over Calum, his voice getting high pitched and excited, “Yeah, definitely, and we could totally rework the lyrics a bit, fit it with Luke’s vocal range – ”

Ashton glances over at where Luke and Ellie are sat, and Ellie determinedly doesn’t look away when Ashton locks eyes with her. She hates him. She hates him. She definitely, one hundred percent hates him. She hopes he stubs a toe on his way out or trods over Lego pieces.

“Okay, okay,” Luke says, getting up and tossing his mobile onto the cushion. He’s smiling, even though he sounds serious. “The second part. We’ve got a song called Out of My Limit, and, well. It’s our only song right now, so just. See if you can follow along a bit. No pressure if you can’t.”

“We’ll play it first,” Michael adds, tossing his guitar strap over his head. “So you can get a feel for it.”

Calum fiddles with the strings on his bass, testing it a bit, and then he gives a thumbs-up to show he’s ready. Luke beams at Calum then focuses in on himself, counting out a soft one, two, three before they launch into the intro.

Ellie’s heard it so many times she probably could play it in her sleep – which is saying something, since she can barely play Mary Had A Little Lamb without making something twinge off-key – so she watches Ashton, how he stares hard into his lap and taps his foot along with the rhythm. It’s hard, looking at him now, to figure out just how the scrawny ten year old from ages past turned into him, with his stocky shoulders and his well-cut jaw. The hair’s the same – dirty blonde, gently curling throughout – and the eyes are similar (not as mean-looking), but. Well. Ashton Irwin grew up well.

The final lasting chord rings out, and the boys beam at each other, congratulating each other silently for a job well done, too cool to make any outward appearance of delight. Ellie’s by no stretch of the imagination “too cool” so she bursts into raucous applause that has Michael rolling his eyes at her. Whatever.

“Well?” Luke asks, turning to look at Ashton. “Think you’ve got it?”

“Reckon I could give it a go,” Ashton says, twirling his sticks in his hand again. It must be a nervous habit, Ellie thinks with a harrumph, and it’s not at all impressive. Not in the slightest.

“Alright, let’s go from the top, then,” says Calum with a nod at Luke, and then he starts counting down again.

Ellie’s not sure what she expects. Probably that Ashton crashes and burns painfully, as all the others did, and that he’d be shuffling out of the basement shamefully hunched over with hands shoved in the pockets of his trousers. Or that he just tries to skate by with a simple beat and gets overwhelmed by the guitar and the singing.

She definitely doesn’t expect Ashton to literally carry the song. She doesn’t expect Calum and Michael to trade incredulous glances, and for Luke to lose his place halfway through the song because Ashton – Ashton is literally hitting the ball out of the park. He’s not too loud, not too soft, and he knows innately just exactly when to improvise and when to stick to the beat given by the guitars. Ashton even makes Michael’s guitar solo better, which had been difficult for others because they’d tried to overpower him; Ashton just compliments him, the thud of the kick snare a constant rhythm.

The same last chord rings out, but there’s no too-cool demeanor waiting on the end. Instead, Calum hoots and leaps into the air, starts randomly jamming out on his bass, and Michael looks like he’s ready to cry, and Luke, even, looks impressed. His face does that thing where it seems like he’s constipated, and Ellie knows that means that he’s really, truly floored.

“How was that?” Ashton asks. There’s a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, and he looks exhilarated, eyes shining, dimples out in full force.

“Dude, you’re totally in,” Calum crows, hurrying over to give Ashton a fist-bump and a hug. Ashton looks mildly surprised at that – Ellie harumphs; Calum’s a very tactile person. If Ashton can’t deal with it, he’s better off not in the band – but he accepts the hug enthusiastically.

Ellie wilts a bit. Well, fine. Ashton can hug Calum all he wants, it’s still not going to change anything.

“That was awesome, man,” Luke says, crowding the front of the drum set. “Can I talk to you about some parts I thought were a little shaky, I…” Ellie tunes out her brother; he’s probably blabbing on about some sort of thing, and while Ellie’s proud of him – so proud it’s almost painful – she could do a few minutes without hearing how Luke thinks the beat ought to go.

Michael collapses onto the sofa next to her again, taking Luke’s spot and slouching all over her, like some sort of limpet. With black, straightened hair. Ellie ruffles his hair affectionately; she’s got a soft spot for Michael’s continuous hair-dye. It changes almost as consistently as the weather does. Last holiday, it had been a galaxy-theme, but going back to school had meant Michael had had to dye it to an ordinary color.

“Hiya,” Michael says. “He’s good, isn’t he?”

“Passable,” Ellie says evenly, and Michael snorts, pushes himself off her.

“He’s better than just passable, Ellie, he’s awesome,” he says, then hesitates. “And it’d really fucking be awesome for the band if he were in it.”

“You don’t have to ask my permission,” Ellie says, watching as Ashton tries to fend off overexcited Luke and Calum.

“Is that a yes?” Michael asks anyway, and Ellie rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” she grumbles, and Michael whoops, ruffles her hair and hugs her only somewhat awkwardly. Ellie’s impressed.

“Love you,” he says easily, smacking a kiss to her cheek, and Ellie waves him off with a sort of fondness bubbling up within her as Michael heads over to the drum kit to talk rehearsals and practices and whatever it is they talk about when she’s out of hearing distance.

Ellie watches them interact affectionately, feeling a bit like a mother hen. She really loves her boys, to the moon and back, and there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for them.

Ashton catches her eye as her gaze slides over from Michael to Luke, and he’s staring at her, an odd expression on his face. Ellie, caught off-guard, just stares back until Calum’s tugging at Ashton’s arm and saying something ridiculous (“You’re nineteen right? Sweet, free booze! We should go out to the pubs soon!”) and he breaks their eye contact to grin at Calum.

Ellie frowns. Weird.

That night, after dinner, Ellie stands in front of the closed curtains of her window. She remembers when she’d first discovered that her window opened directly across from Ashton’s; it’d been the day before The Incident, the day after the Irwins had settled in, and she’d been so excited to see that someone her age was across from her. She spotted him, shaggy blonde hair curling wildly atop his head, sitting alone on his bed, and she’d waved. He’d waved back and smiled a little uncertainly, and nine-year-old Ellie had thought he had a very nice smile.

Ellie wants to go back in time and shake the little girl she’d been. How naïve. How foolish.

Since The Incident, Ellie had kept the curtains facing Ashton’s window closed, though the window itself is almost perpetually open. She can never quite sleep in a stiflingly hot room, and even in the dead of winter, she tends to keep it open, preferring to swaddle herself in duvets than close it. Her mum gives her flack about it all the time, but Ellie ignores it mostly. Just like she ignores Ashton’s existence literally less than ten feet away from her. Like she ignores his music when he plays it on spring days, like he ignores his friends when they come over, like she ignores the girls Ashton brings home (Ellie always scoffs and rolls her eyes at them, because, seriously. They could do loads better).

But now, Ellie flings open the curtains of her window, and there Ashton is, in his room, sat at his desk with his back facing her. His head is bent down, so all Ellie can see the top tuft of his curly hair – and also a rather gratuitous view of his bare back, with his shoulder blades shifting underneath his skin, the lamplight throwing the definition of his spine into relief. It is, for all intents and purposes, a nice back.

Ellie squeaks and ducks down under the window, her cheeks flaming. For God’s sake, is he immune to shirts? Admittedly, it’s summer and it’s hot, but still – the window’s open. It’s not that hot that Ashton needs to – to – trapeze around the house shirtless.

“Pull yourself together, woman,” Ellie mutters to herself, trying to calm her thudding heart. She reminds herself that this is the same Ashton Irwin who’d caused her so much pain growing up; regardless of how fit he’s become – which, wow. Very, very fit – he’s still that ten year old boy on the inside.

Ellie clings to this hope as she slowly straightens and peeks over the windowsill.

“El?” Ashton asks, suddenly there at his window, filling out the small square pocket of space with his chest and arms and face. Ellie does not scream. She doesn’t. She shouts in a very heroic manner.

“Ellie?” Luke calls from his room, and Ellie whips around. Luke can’t know that she’s about to talk to Ashton. He just can’t.

“I’m fine,” she calls back hastily. “Just saw a spider, no reason to be alarmed.”

“Did you kill it?” Luke shouts back. He sounds panicked, and Ellie curses herself. Right, she’d forgotten Luke is terrified of spiders.

“Yeah, I got it, it just caught me off-guard,” she says, and Luke seems appeased by that because he doesn’t call back.

“What the fuck, Ashton, you scared the shit out of me,” she breathes harshly, turning back to see Ashton’s bemused expression. She wants to punch it right off his face.

“Why were you under the windowsill?” Ashton asks.

Heat creeps up underneath the collar of Ellie’s shirt. “I dropped something,” she lies.

“Thought you were killing a spider,” Ashton says, and he sounds smug. Ellie automatically scowls at that.

“Do you make a habit of listening in on my private conversations?” she asks snidely, before she can stop herself. “First Michael, now this.”

“Your window is open, and you were shouting,” Ashton points out. Ellie frowns. Damn it. “Besides, it was an accident. I thought I heard something, and came over to check it out. Sounded like a cat getting trodden over.” Ashton glances over the edge of his window. “Guess not. Carry on, then.”

“Wait!” Ellie bursts out as Ashton moves to go back to his desk. He glances back, surprised. “I just – um.” She can feel the bile rising her throat. She cannot believe she’s about to do this. It’s like offering an olive branch to the devil himself who’s likely to use the leaves as toilet paper to wipe his bum.

“What?” Ashton prompts, and Ellie swallows and glares at him.

“I just, um. Wanted to apologize. For my rudeness,” she bites out.

Ashton frowns at her. “That sounded very sincere,” he says dryly, and every fiber of Ellie’s being is to sneer at him and tell him that she meant it that way, but. But she’s got to take the higher road, be the better person and all that. Michael would be so proud. More or less.

“Sorry,” Ellie mutters. “I’m, um. Not good at this.”

“What?” Ashton asks with a hint of sarcasm. “Being a decent person?”

“Apologizing,” Ellie snaps. “Which, I guess you don’t seem to comprehend, seeing as you’ve been rude to me.” Never mind that Ellie had called him the harbinger of all misfortune in her life once, when she’d been drunk off her arse.

Ashton has the decency to look contrite, his flinty expression sliding off his face. “Sorry,” he says, and the word rolls off his tongue like water. “I didn’t mean that. You’re a decent person, El, honest.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Ellie asks, exasperated and a little irritated, though she’s not sure if it’s by Ashton or by herself. “My name’s Ellie.”

Ashton looks surprised, like he hadn’t even realized he was using that particular nickname. “Dunno,” he says, shrugging. “I just like calling you El.” He pauses. “Is that, um. A problem? Do you have like a thing about nicknames?”

He sounds so genuinely distressed, it throws Ellie off. The more she talks to Ashton, the harder it is to reconcile the Ashton of now with the nasty boy who’d shoved her off the swings. It’s like watching a 3D film without the glasses – everything’s a bit blurry and fuzzy, just enough out of focus to give her a headache.

“No,” Ellie says slowly. “I don’t. I was just – no one really calls me El.” The singular syllable falls off her tongue neatly, and Ellie likes it, actually. It makes her sound less like a kid – an image Ellie’s been trying to shed with little success – and more like. Someone.

“Cool,” Ashton says happily. Ellie blinks at him. “Then it’s just, like. Our thing. Nicknames. You can call me Ash if you want.”

Ellie inexplicably flushes, and she says, a bit harshly, “That’s not our thing, everyone’s got nicknames. I call Michael Mikey all the time.”

A flicker crosses Ashton’s face, but he smiles crookedly, the hint of a dimple whispering at his cheek. “I was just saying,” he says placidly.

For some unknown reason, Ellie’s blood pressure rises at that, and she snaps, “Well, don’t. Don’t, like. Pretend that you know me or that you even like me at all, because I’ll tell you, I – I know.” Know what exactly, Ellie has no clue – that Ashton’s secretly the devil’s spawn, that he kicks puppies in his free time, that he pushes little old ladies over; all perfectly reasonable suspicions – but Ashton’s face goes blank, and Ellie feels strangely triumphant. So Ashton’s hiding something. Ellie feels like doing a little jig; she’d known it all along.

“You know?” Ashton asks quietly.

“Yeah, and you’re a dick for it,” Ellie says wildly, grabbing at frantically straws. “And to think, I was going to apologize for being rude when you’ve been – you know.” Ellie literally has no idea what she’s talking about, but Ashton’s face crumples a bit, and Ellie expects to feel the rush of triumph that she’s finally gotten Ashton to look like that.

To be honest, Ellie’s not impressed. Feels a bit hollow, actually. The books have got it all wrong, it seems. She’d have thought besting her greatest enemy would feel better.

Still, it still feels good, shutting the curtains on Ashton’s pained expression, and Ellie huffs out a satisfied breath. She’s not quite sure on what grounds she won, but it certainly feels like a victory, so she’ll take it.

Luke shuffles past her open door and peers in. “Who were you talking to?”

“Ashton,” Ellie replies, feeling a bit smug. She’s going to text Michael a picture of a triumphant My Little Pony thing. He’ll get a kick out of that.

“Oh,” Luke says disinterestedly. “Cool.” He plods out of the view of her doorway, then backtracks, a little bit more keen on the conversation. “Why were you talking to Ashton?”

“Just letting him have it, a bit,” says Ellie happily, not looking up from her phone. There’s an embarrassing number of My Little Pony reaction pictures already saved in her photos.

“You were rude to him,” Luke sighs, not even a question. He sounds a bit cross at her, and Ellie shrugs.

Stood up to my hair pulling demon :DDD Xxx. “He started it.”

“Don’t be so bratty,” Luke says, which is brilliant coming from him. He still whines if their mum doesn’t bring him a glass of water. “We need him more than we need you.”

Ellie looks up sharply. “But where would you be without your first groupie?” she asks tightly, pasting a smile on her face. Luke doesn’t back down.

“Where would you be without a band in the first place?” he shoots back, then shakes his head, pulling out his mobile seemingly out of thin air. His trousers don’t even have any pockets. “Whatever. Do whatever you want to do, Ellie. Just don’t drive Ashton off.”

Luke disappears again from the doorway; Ellie can hear the stairs creaking as he goes, and she throws herself onto her bed, sprawling out.

Do you think I’m a brat? She texts.

!!! BRONY POWER!!! :DDD

And yeah, sometimes.

Wait, why did Ashton just text me with a sad face and an apology????

Ellie scowls at her phone. Why do you have The Thing’s number????????

We traded numbers for band stuff. What did you say to him? Ellie can almost hear Michael’s accusing tone, which she thinks is highly undeserved, considering Ashton’s been hiding something. Ellie’s not sure what he’s hiding, but it’s something.

Nothing!!

Michael’s text is instantaneous. WHY DID HE JUST OFFER TO LEAVE THE BAND??? WHAT DID YOU SAY

Ellie stares at the text message, shocked. Her finger hits the call button before she can even process what she’s doing.

Michael picks up on the first ring, and he sounds near hysterical. “What did you say to him?!”

“I didn’t say anything!” Ellie says defensively, even though something akin to guilt is slithering down her gut. She puts it up to the spicy Chinese her mum had brought home. Never again, sweet and sour chicken.

“Well, you must’ve said something wrong, ‘cause he’s offering to leave the band, which is ridiculous ‘cause he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us – since me, of course,” Michael says. “You have to apologize to him.”

“That’s what I was going to do!” Ellie replies frantically. “But then he said something about nicknames, and I just – we’re not friends or anything, like – ”

“So you mean to tell me,” Michael says, “you made him think he should quit the band. Over. Nicknames.” He sounds utterly calm, which is strangely terrifying. Ellie hedges.

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“You’re going to have to fix this, Ellie Hemmings,” Michael says lowly. “I swear to God, if you don’t fix this, I’ll pull out another chunk of your hair and we’ll call it even.” He sounds like he’s near tears, which would be hilarious, if it weren’t for the fact that Ellie might’ve accidentally ruined her brother’s band. Guilt, meet Ellie.

“Alright, alright, alright,” Ellie says hastily. “I’ll fix this, promise.”

“You’d better, or I will kill you,” says Michael simply before he hangs up on her. In the safety of her room, Ellie scowls at her phone. Honestly. Musicians. Overdramatic lot, they are. Ellie can fix this – not that she’s sure what she needs to fix; she doesn’t even know what she said – Michael is just overreacting. She’ll apologize to Ashton tomorrow morning when he shows up for rehearsal, and everything will go back to as it was before. Easy.

And it’s no one else’s business if Ellie can’t sleep because of the vague stirring of guilt in her gut.

The next day, Ellie literally drags herself down to the basement, having rolled out of bed and thrown on a loose fitting top and her favorite pair of shorts. Luke’s studiously ignoring her, Michael’s glaring daggers at her – even Calum, cheerful, bright Calum, seems to be giving off an anti-Ellie vibe.

“Is Ashton coming?” Ellie ventures timidly when her morning greeting goes unreturned.

Michael ignores her. Luke ignores her. Calum ignores her. It’s like she’s talking to three teenage walls with bad hair. “Hello?” Ellie tries again.

“Yeah,” Calum replies in a clipped tone. “Yeah, he’s coming.”

Ellie sits back, a little stung. “Oh.” Then: “Talked him down from the proverbial tree, then?”

Luke glares at her. “Shut up,” he says, which, rude. “This is your fault. You’d better set things right when he gets here.”

“Rude,” Ellie says back. “And I will. Promised, didn’t I?”

Luke just shakes his head. “Don’t fuck this up, yeah?”

“I’ll do my utmost,” says Ellie dryly, feeling the tiniest bit stung by the cold shoulder from her three favorite people in the entire world. It’s not that she’d tried to make Ashton quit the band; Ellie honestly, genuinely doesn’t even know what she’d said.

Footsteps on the stairs alert the four of them to Ashton’s presence, and Ellie automatically swivels her head to look at him. Ashton ducks his head as he walks in, not even caring to kick off his shoes. Ellie stares. He looks, well, a bit like shit, to put it plainly. His hair’s mussed up – and not at all in the artful way; more like a woodland creature had unsuccessfully tried to make a home there – and he’s got dark circles under his eyes and it’s like he rolled out of bed and threw on whatever he’d found lying the floor.

Which. Probably isn’t a far stretch from the truth. Ellie’s seen the travesty that is Luke’s bedroom, she knows full well how messy teenage boys can be.

“Hiya,” Ashton says, and he even sounds tired. Calum looks sympathetic and Luke waves a little, like he’s trying to be gentle. Even fucking Michael looks solemn, and Michael’s usually like a hyperactive kid who’s been let into the sweets box.

Ellie can’t take it anymore. She stands up abruptly, and all eyes turn to her. It’s not for him, she tells herself as she stomps over to Ashton. It’s for the band. For Michael and Calum and Luke.

“Can I talk to you?” she asks – demands really, staring up at Ashton. He really is too fucking tall. It’s not fair. Nothing in Ellie’s life is fair, starting with this entire situation.

“Um,” Ashton says awkwardly, glancing around the room. “I don’t think – ”

“Great,” Ellie cuts him off, seizing his arm and dragging him back up the stairs. She’d really rather not get on her knees – figuratively, of course – in front of people who would undoubtedly take the piss out of her for the rest of her natural life.

Ashton doesn’t look at her when she all but pushes him down onto the couch, and honestly, Ellie’s already ten thousand times done with this bullshit. She feels guilty as all hell for some unknown reason, her favorite people won’t speak to her, and Ashton won’t even spare the fucking courtesy to look her in the eye.

It’s totally not her fault she starts out what’s supposed to be her apology with “For fuck’s sake, you’re so infuriating.”

Ashton looks up sharply, like he can’t believe he’s just said that. Ellie can’t believe she’s just said that, and she quickly backtracks because she knows that even though she’s shut the basement door behind them, the Terrible Trio are probably stacked like Jenga blocks, ears pressed against the door, nosy little shits that they are.

“I’m sorry, fuck,” Ellie says, running her hands through her hair anxiously. It’s a bad habit of hers, playing with her hair when she’s nervous. “I didn’t – this was supposed to be an apology.”

“It’s a fucking shitty apology,” Ashton snaps, his eyes bright, body tense. Ellie shrinks back a little, and Ashton softens the tiniest bit. “I’m – ”

“No!” Ellie shouts, then in a lower voice: “Fuck’s sake, Irwin! Stop bloody apologizing for things that aren’t your fault!” Ashton’s staring at her, wide-eyed, like she’s likely to leap onto the coffee table and start tearing off her clothes, Hulk-style. “I’m sorry, okay? For whatever it was I said that made you think you should quit the band, I’m sorry. I lied about knowing whatever you think I know, I really don’t, just. Please. Don’t leave.”

She debates for half a second getting down on her knees and clasping her hands together, but Ellie stops herself. She’s not that desperate. Though if Ashton keeps up the surprised look and doesn’t say anything, she might have to.

“You lied?” Ashton asks after a moment of silence. Ellie nods vigorously, so hard her jaw feels like it’s about to unhinge and fall to the floor. “You don’t know…?”

“No, for fuck’s sake,” Ellie retorts. “I mean, no, I don’t. I swear, I literally had no idea what you were talking about.” She pauses, then begrudgingly adds, “Sorry.”

Ashton looks at her, then down at his hands. “Oh,” he says.

Ellie bites back the sharp insult tingling at the tip of her tongue, because what sort of answer is oh. For the band, she tells herself again. This is for the band.

“So?” Ellie asks, arching an eyebrow. “Are you going to stay in the band or what?”

Ashton glances up, and they lock eyes for a moment. His gaze is searching, eyes flicking all over Ellie’s face, like he’s trying to find something there. Ellie stares back defiantly. He won’t find anything. She is a closed book, an iron safe, female masturbation – a bundle of secrets kept tightly under wraps.

“Alright,” he says finally, and Ellie’s practically knocked off her feet by how relieved she is. She hadn’t realized how heavy the weight on her shoulders had been until it’d been taken off – all by one word from Ashton’s mouth.

Ellie considers going into full Irish jig, flailing limbs and coffee table be damned. Ashton’s smiling now, a tentative, shy little thing, and Ellie’s surprised by how little she wants to punch it off. It’s probably due to the overwhelming relief that her friends won’t resent her anymore. Ellie wants to take Ashton by the arm and pull him down to the basement and show him off proudly, like, “Look! I fixed it!”

“Fantastic,” Ellie says, somehow really meaning it. The band, she tells herself. It’s because of the band. “Good. Great. You should go to your band’s rehearsal then.”

Ashton gets up with a grin, and it’s like he’s an entirely different person now. His back’s straighter, his eyes are brighter, and when he passes, he brushes a hand along Ellie’s elbow in thanks. Ellie doesn’t shiver. She doesn’t.

“Thanks,” he says earnestly before he pulls open the basement door and, as Ellie’d predicted, Calum, Michael, and Luke go sprawling out all over the kitchen floor.

“Yay, you’re back in the band,” Calum cheers upside down from where he’s smushing Luke into the tile face first. Calum’s Ellie’s favorite.

Ashton looks down and laughs. “Guess I am,” he says, smile back and blinding. His dimples poke out again as he pulls Calum up, then down the stairs. Ellie watches with a sort of detached interest; she’s actually quite missed those dimples.

Ellie freezes. Hang on, no she hadn’t missed them. This is Ashton Irwin. Just because he’s flashed her a smile here and now doesn’t mean she’s forgotten. There’s a sore spot at the back of her head that still has a phantom sting every time she thinks of Ashton Irwin and the damn swing set. Ellie still one hundred percent sure that she still hates him.

Okay. Ninety percent. Eight seven at the lowest.

Luke gets up grumbling and inanely dusting off his knees before following them down, but Michael pauses before he heads down, eyebrow cocked, hand on the threshold of the door. His gaze makes Ellie squirm a bit, because she knows that he knows her too well. It’s like getting scanned by an emotional x-ray.

“Still hate him?” he asks with a coy smirk. Ellie hates him.

Ellie reaches over and throws an ornamental couch pillow at him. Michael ducks a second too late, and the pillow makes contact with a satisfying thump. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about; the hair dye’s affected his reasoning skills. It’s the only explanation for Michael’s recent bouts of insanity.

“Fine, fine, come down then,” Michael relents before his black hair disappears behind the door.

Yeah, Ellie’s got this totally under control, this pesky undercurrent of something under her skin. She’s fine. She’s great. She can still hate Ashton Irwin.

… Well, she will after she sits on the couch for a couple moments, trying to forget Ashton’s small smile.

#5sos fanfiction #5sosfanfiction #5sosff #ashton irwin fanfiction #hcts: chapter #hcts: chapter two

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kingsleyshacklebolt · 7 years

Text

PSA: Plagiarism/Resurfacing of Manipulative Person

Beth/Noelle/Meg/Wesley/Ash/Elle ( dormre/longbottmwrites/ elleswrites )

It’s been months of watching and seeing as Beth has just wormed her way back in the community and while I had someone who was once close to her tell me themselves that elleswrites/Elle was Beth months ago, there hasn’t been a way to prove it. Not only that but for a few years now, she has taken aspects and parts of a canon character that I have worked hard on making divergent from fanon which I will start with in this PSA. Please know that I don’t want to be doing this, and while the copying is important, her behaviors towards others is much more so. The fact of the matter is, Elle/Beth is a manipulative person who has plagiarized and manipulated people in the past and is now trying to do it again. First, I’ll start with the stolen headcanons and later on I’ll get into some proof on how I came to the conclusion, with evidence, that Elle is Beth -- besides just multiple people agreeing with me on the subject.

IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW WHO BETH IS: Beth is someone who’s plagiarized multiple times and gotten called out for it [ x ], not only that, but was abusive to her friends and manipulative as well [ x ]. Here’s is one PSA made about her, as she also ran a blog called rppositivity [ x ] Not only that, but in the past she has gone by multiple alias’ ( which everyone is entitled to ) that I listed above, not just as a change of name, but as a change of person, claiming to be several different people. Has joined RPs this way, has bullied people including 16 year olds, and manipulated them into doing a PSA for her. Not only that but for those of you who will probably say ‘but this is in the past’ and ‘maybe she’s changed’ it doesn’t change the fact that this happened less than a year ago and that she’s doing old behaviors again. Here’s a whole tag that goes into more of what she’s done, etc. [ x ]

HEADCANONS/IDEAS STOLEN:

FIRSTLY: the sunflower headcanon. This first post is from a blog of mine ( which I can show you by link but i only took a screenshot of the HC and date. ). This HC I’ve had for a VERY long time, I could probably pull out an app from an account where I have it saved privately on a sideblog. [ x ]

Here’s Beth/Elle from a talk tag making the same headcanon: [ x ]

SECONDLY: Collecting memories headcanon.

Here’s a description on a blog of mine, I provided the URL, it’s been up for a while this blog. [ x ]

Then, Beth/Elle’s headcanon from the same mock blog. [ x ]

I think it’s very evident that she took that headcanon from me, as she even goes so far as to mention jewelry in her own headcanon.

THIRDLY: My Alice has always been a deeply athletic person. In this post here, and many posts I’ll link after, it shows evidence of my Alice doing rigorous physical activity. [ x ]

Here’s the exact thread/post with the timestamp -- THREE MONTHS AGO [ x ]

Here’s Beth/Elle’s more recent post of her making one of her character’s archetypes the Athlete. [ x ]

Here are more mentions of my Alice’s physical activity and training. This is simply just extra proof of this characterization with Alice being very into physical fitness and activity. If you look at the collecting memories headcanon, you’ll see her mentioning she does martial arts. That’s only part of it.:

Here’s the first thing [ x ] [ x ] that are from this account [ x ]

Other mentions in musings [ x ] [ x ]

If you need links to these to prove time and date, please IM me, though it should be in these posts and/or able to look up.

I also mention in that post that Alice loves cats and dogs, but especially dogs. Beth/Elle did make a headcanon on her alongbtminps making the same claim on her headcanon. Another long running headcanon I’ve had. Though, that’s, I believe, more common for an Alice to have ( i think ) so I’m not going to link it -- I just thought I’d point it out. Later in on this post, on a stat sheet it says that Alice loves cats and dogs. On Elle/Beth’s Alice inspo blog, she shares that same headcanon.

Here’s a few musings posts that, while I know anyone can reblog, this evidence above plus the fact that Beth/Elle used to do this years back and last year from my Alice tag on other blogs ( though I don’t have evidence of that because her old blog was deleted ), I’ve been waiting a few days for it to pile up.

My blog dated November 14th [ x ]

Her mockblog, dated November 19th [ x ]

My blog three weeks ago, as you see it says ‘3 weeks ago’ if you need the exact date, I’m sure I could get it for you. [ x ]

As you can see, she reblogged it STRAIGHT from my blog and Alice tag. [ x ]

The rest of the stealing ideas / things evidence I have I unfortunately don’t have ALL of it to show but besides all this, I have some mobile screenshots of her taking certain pins from my Alice pinterest board, which I now privated due to her taking things. I don’t have the notification anymore of her taking pins from it, but just know I blocked her from a different Pinterest account that called her out as Beth/Elle, where she then deleted the Alice Fortescue/Longbottom board, that she also took pins from. I had to block her a second time when she did this as well from her new account. She also took a picture from my Alice pinterest board ( which is very far down in her board ) and has it has her icon on Pinterest.

My Alice board [ x ]

Her Pintrest [ x ] NOTE!!! It says Elle B.

( Also, to add though ANYONE can use any faceclaim -- this simply just adds to her watching me/my characterization. Last year she used Lindsey Morgan as Alice, right after I started using her as Alice. More recently, she's been using Deborah Ann Woll as Alice on her mockblog -- who I used as Alice when I posted that first headcanon. This is a little MINOR thing but it shows she's been around and watching. It adds up. )

THIS BRINGS ME TO, Elle = Beth.

Besides the name of Elle B., here’s proof that her old Alice blog, porcelaindagger, was her [ x ]

Alice’s home life in both her mockblog alongbtminsp and porcelaindagger are EXTREMELY similar. In Beth’s post on Elleswrites, she mentions Alice’s dad’s name is Henry [ x ]

If you read the rest of the description on her mother [ x ]

Then, on porcelaindagger -- Henry Fortescue [ x ]

Also, a description of her mother which is EERILY similar to alongbtminsp/elleswrites mother even if they have different names [ x ] Here’s a more up close screenshot -- I just wanted to provide that with the url of the blog. [ x ] Not only that, but here’s her mother talking on the blog about her views of Alice being an Auror etc. [ x ] [ x ]

Then it says, on Alice’s character sheet on porcelaindagger that she loves ANYTHING Shakespeare [ x ]

On elleswrites mockblog alongbtm first moodboard for Alice, she uses a Shakespeare quote. [ x ]

You have to understand that Beth/Elle fooled me for a few months? I thought it was a different person, I was really friendly with her, she would tag me in things as well on my personal blog. I'm usually excellent at tracing this kind of thing. The minute someone told me it was her, it made sense, because a lot of the formatting is the same, both Beth and Elle love Twilight dearly, there's just a lot of other similarities. But I was really fooled with her personality and just how she was with me, and I had no idea.

Now, I figure, she talked to me and was nice to me to get close to me so I wouldn’t see the similarities? That she was being manipulative by being nice and kind, tagging my personal blog in things, etc. I was fooled by it but when someone else mentioned and pointed it out to me, it made complete sense. I’ve known for a few months now and not known what to do, have been scared and I hope that this is enough to at least warn people that it is her.

This has caused me a lot of anxiety, truly, for the past couple of years and I can’t imagine how the people she was directly horrible, abusive and manipulative to feel and felt with her around once again. To have her get way with this once again.

Even with all this evidence, I hope that you DO NOT send Elle/Beth/Wesley/Meg/Noelle any anon hate. In fact, please don’t send her any anon hate. In the past when she’s gotten anon hate, she’s used it to victimize herself and garner sympathy. Besides that, it’s just not right.

Anyways, I don’t want to be doing this but I felt I had to, and honestly -- she’s not doing a great job at hiding it. Even if you don’t believe me, I think at this point it’s good to get the suspicion/facts out in the open because I know for A FACT that I’m not the only person who thinks that elleswrites is Beth.

Thank you for reading.

#rpc #rph #signal boost #hp rp community #rpt #psa #please don't send her anon hate don't do that! do not!#just take this info and spread it around #thanks!!!#im tired of abusers and manipulators getting away with shit it's happened too much and im done

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imaginetonyandbucky · 7 years

Note

Tony is arrested post-Ultron and is held in the Raft. Bucky gets captured too, and held in the cell next to Tony's. They support each other through Tony's "interrogations" and Bucky's impending execution, and slowly fall in love. So when Steve arrives in the middle of the night to rescue Bucky, there's no way he's leaving Tony behind.

Combined with:

1014 Hello, you guys are the best, I LOVE this blog ❤ would it be possible to get some more protective Winter Soldier ?Like maybe Tony gets hurt (up to you as for how/why) and the WS comes right outand just turns into a big mother hen, fusses over him and everything ? (Btwit's obviously totally alright if this prompt doesn't get picked, I'll be happyto read anything you are willing to write and share ❤)

A/N warning for torture, starvation, water deprivation, seriousamounts of dub-con, suicidal ideation, past hydra trash party references,pre-slash, medical aftermath including a foley tube (catheter), not ClintBarton friendly, notparticularly Steve Rogers friendly, kissing, frottage, bonding over shitty experiences

Thanks to @mto-art for their artwork. A few weeks back, MTOapproached me with interest in doing a collab project. I tossed one of theabove prompts at them, and I got an art piece back in a few days. The fic waswritten about half before I got the art and half after. So, the art does notmatch up exactly with the fic (for instance, Tony’s got his hair, and neitherof them are in the prison outfits) but the sense of the fic; Bucky protectivelyover an unconscious Tony, trying to keep him from drowning and defending him…that carried through.

This fic is four chapters long, approx 10,000 words, and has some cliffhangers.

Chapter One: Stark Men are Iron

Stark men are iron.

Tony Stark sat on the stone floor in his cell, wearing nothing butan orange prison jumpsuit. His hands were on the back of his neck. Absently heran one over his head. They’d shaved his head when he arrived. The stubble wasgrowing back in, but in another few days, they’d do it again. He supposed itwasn’t that bad; having no hair was probably better than having greasy, long,tangled hair that people could grab hold of.

He’d lost track of how long he’d been there, locked in this hole.

Oubliette. A place to throw people to forget about them,

Ross had figured it out. Wasn’t hard to do, really.

Blamed him for what Rogers had done; the break out at the Raft.Made Tony a scapegoat, if nothing else. And no one was going to come for Tony,were they?

Hell, it was possible that no one on the outside -- no one legit-- even knew he was gone. There were rumors that someone had finally crackedthe Life Model Decoy problem. A well programmed LMD could distract and confusefor a while.

There was no way to keep track of time; they fed him irregularly.Infrequently enough so that he was slowly watching himself starve to death.He’d probably lost at least ten kilos, just based on the fit of the jumpsuitthey made him wear. And what food they did give him was pretty unsavoury, threeof ten, would not order again.

He was dragged off to a shower every half dozen sleep cycles orso. Well past when he’d started to stink; he didn’t even notice his own bodyodor much anymore. He’d learned to take his jumpsuit off the moment he heardthe Cleaners coming. Being marched naked through the halls and to theshower-facility was unpleasant, but less so than the alternative. If he was stilldressed, they’d just throw him in the water anyway and it was fucking cold inhis cell. Sitting around in wet clothes was really damned uncomfortable.

He saw no one else, except the Cleaners, and a few times when They-- whoever they were, really -- had questions. There were other prisoners; Tonyheard them screaming sometimes. Occasionally, they heard him screaming. Butnone of them were close enough to communicate with.

Tony had been tortured before.

It didn’t get easier with practice.

(Mobile readers: more below the break)

There were questions. Sometimes they made sense. Sometimes he evenanswered them. It didn’t matter; he didn’t know any of the things they wantedto know. He had suspicions, but by the time Ross had him arrested --black-bagged really, he’d been unpersoned with brutal efficiency -- Rogers hadprobably already moved.

Tony found himself hoping so. That Rogers had gotten away; thatall the rogue Avengers were somewhere safe. He’d known, damnit, that Rosscouldn’t be trusted, that what Ross was really after was control of poweredpersons. Tony knew he wasn’t immune from that, but he’d thought, he’d hoped, byplaying the game, to buy them time.

His time was up.

Tony was going to die in that cell.

He tried to view the matter objectively; he’d always known deathwas the only outcome. It was a numbers game. Eventually, the house always won.Red, black, even, odds.

But Stark men were iron.

They were chipping away at his defenses, bit by bit. He wasn’timmune; even if his passcode was ridiculously long, they could try everycombination. Eventually, he’d break.

Stark men were iron. There was a deep coreinside Tony that knew nothing about surrender. It only knew survival.

Eventually he would break. Or die. But he saw days, weeks, monthsof pain and fear and suffering before that happened. He knew he’d long fordeath and be denied before they were done with him. That pathetic, mortal fleshthat would keep him tied here where he could do no good anymore, he could onlyhurt people he cared about. People he’d sworn to protect.

Perhaps, in the end, they’d turn him into a killing machine, likeBarnes before him. Like Romanov. Like countless others.

He’d lost track of the days; there was no time in this place. Heate, he slept when he could. They came and they hurt him. That was all therewas.

Tony wasn’t expecting it when the door opened.

It had only been two or three sleeps since his last “shower.” Theywouldn’t be in a hurry for that, despite it being its own kind of torture. Coldwater, harsh chemicals, the humiliation. Sometimes the guards would shock stickhim, just for fun.

He blinked. Even with his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, thecell was dark. The guards were mere shadows against the corridor lights.

Someone was shoved into his cell; they stumbled forward a fewsteps, hit the wall. Yelled, turned, but the door was already sliding closed.

The sound when they hit the locked door wasn’t a fist striking,not flesh against metal, but metal against metal.

It was loud, and Tony cringed away from it. Sparks flew, sendinglittle flashes of light, like hostile fireflies. The door didn’t budge or bendor break. Given what Tony was starting to suspect, that was unexpected.

The shadow stopped, after a while, panting for breath. Thenturned, took a few steps toward Tony. Yeah. One of these days, Tony wasactually going to be wrong about something, and it was going to be a good day.

James Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, stepped closer. Close enoughfor Tony to see the glint of recognition in his eyes.

“I’m supposed to kill you.”

Yep.

Six weeks earlier

Coming out of cryo was nothing like waking up.

Pretty much the first thing he always did was puked. And not likea quick, simple, ate-too-much vomit, but retched until there was nothing leftin his stomach, and continued to heave until his throat was raw from stomachacid. Until he was spitting blood and until his lungs ached and his diaphragmwas strained.

Hibernation sickness would probably kill a man who wasn’tenhanced.

The horrified look on Steve’s face told Bucky that the Wakandadoctors hadn’t bothered (or hadn’t known) to explain. Or hadn’t done so inenough detail that Steve had believed them. Bucky didn’t care. What he did knowwas at least Steve was there. He patted Bucky’s back lightly, or kept one handon the back of his neck, or murmured nonsense that was supposed to bereassuring.

By the time that was over, the tingled had started. Pins andneedles didn’t even begin to cover it. More like dirks and daggers. Everymuscle in his body seized up, cramped, twisted, ached. Bucky’d beenthrough torture that wasn’t as imaginative and painful.

Finally, though, it was over.

“They figure it out?” That was the only reason Bucky had said theyshould wake him up.

“Stark did,” Steve admitted. “So he claims. Princess Shuri lookedover his process. She okayed it.”

Because of course Steve needed someone else’s okay, these days.Not that Bucky blamed him; Stark had good reason to want Bucky dead, andgetting him out of Wakanda under the guise of scrubbing the brainwashing wouldbe the only thing that’d do it. And Stark and Steve… didn’t trust each otheranymore.

Turned out not to matter; Stark’s quinjet -- along with Stark, andall his supposed brain-fixing equipment -- went missing. The whole fuckingthing just vanished enroute.

There were rumors that Ross -- or someone above Ross, eitherlegally or otherwise -- had been hoarding a team of enhanced persons. Eitherbrainwashed, or controlled, or had loved ones in hostage situations. Thepossibility was raised by the rogues that Tony had been taken in revenge forSteve’s mass jailbreak. A scapegoat. Maybe to lure Steve into making a secondattempt.

Woulda been a great plan, except Ross (theoretically, if it wasRoss. It might not have been. But in any case, the only people who knew howbadly the Avengers had broken themselves were in Wakanda and probably nottalking to Ross.) didn’t realize that Steve…

“You ain’t even gonna look for him?”

“Buck, I wouldn’t even know where to start,” Steve protested. “Noone knows where he went down -- if that’s what happened. Or who would havetaken him.”

“So find out, punk,” Bucky protested. “You got a whole goddamn teamhere of spies and superheroes, here. Hell, you gotta fuckin’ witchqueen.”

“I am not going to ask the team to help find the man who lockedthem up in the first place,” Steve said.

It didn’t take much for Bucky to draw conclusions: Steve was stillangry with Tony because of the Accords, because of the fight in Siberia, andall that boiled down to Tony had -- with every good reason in the world, andeven Bucky wouldn’t deny that -- tried to kill Bucky. And Steve wouldn’tforgive him for that. Which meant, like every other Bad Thing that had happenedover the last seventy years that Bucky had even been tangentially involved in,this was his fault.

He didn’t argue with Steve. There was no point and it was justgoing to be exhausting.

He found Romanov, however. Told her what he was planning. She’dback his play, and she did. She knew about red in the ledger.

Some things you just had to do, no matter the cost.

The cost was simple; he fell right into the trap meant for Steve.

Tony didn’t bother to try to run. Where would he even go? The cellwas only ten by six, and a good two feet of that was taken up by hisridiculously tiny toilet and the seldom-functioning sink-tap. (All his drinkingwater came from there, and if he was lucky, they turned it on every ten hoursand he had to be awake, and have his jug underneath it when it started or he’dlose his opportunity and be damned thirsty by the time it turned on again. Thathad happened a few times. When his urine got thick and orange, he started tobecome worried that they were going to let him die of thirst. No such luck withthat, although it would have been excruciating, it would also have been quick.)

There wasn’t even a point to try to fight. In his suit, maybe, hewas a match for Barnes. When he wasn’t weak from the bad food, erratic water,and frequent torture. When he’d not been forced into solitude for -- fourweeks? Two months? He didn’t know -- and no room to stretch or exercise. Cold,all the time. He couldn’t fight.

Honestly, at this point, if Barnes wanted to strangle him todeath, Tony wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just say thank you.

“Well, get on with it, then,” Tony said. He didn’t move; hadn’teven bothered to look at Barnes since realizing who it was.

“I don’t do that, anymore,” Barnes said. He all but flopped downon the cell floor next to Tony, close enough to touch if they both reached, andonly not further away because there wasn’t that much room in the cell.

“Don’t kill people? There are some GSG9 guys whose families sayotherwise.” Might as well get this over with. Tony was good, very good, atpoking hornets’ nests, and while Barnes wasn’t the craziest fucker Tony hadever had to deal with, he shouldn’t be too hard to roust to some sort ofmayhem. The question would be, could Tony possibly direct it?

“I--”

“Look, Red October, what the fuck do you think happens to a normalhuman, even one wearing combat armor, when they get hit in the face with afucking cinder block?” Actually, that guy hadn’t died, and the doctors had beenimpressed with that, but he needed some massive corrective surgery and whilehe’d gotten his neck broken, there’d been no spinal damage. Tony wasn’t abovelying.

And he was just a little bit petty.

Okay, maybe a lot petty.

Like anyone was keeping score.

(Except him.)

So he wasn’t exactly surprised when Barnes shifted, and thenpounced.

Tony kept telling himself that he wanted to die, to go ahead andget it over with, not to struggle--

And then realized two things.

He couldn’t struggle; Barnes was strong, and Tony was usedto fighting in the suit, which made the man’s strength even worse. Barnes hadhis wrists pinned in mere moments.

The second was that Barnes wasn’t hurting him. He had Tony pinned,helpless, legs spread and Barnes nestled in between them.

Oh… oh, god, no.

“What are you doing?” Tony’s voice went up severalregisters. “Get off me!”

Tony had been through a lot of shitty, terrible, painfulsituations. Humiliated, tortured, betrayed, defeated… and he’d probably had sexwith a lot of people who didn’t have his best interests in mind, but--

“Get off me!” Panic flared. He bucked up, using the minimalleverage he had--

Tony couldn’t speak suddenly, because Barnes had his metal handover Tony’s mouth, and then shoved two of those shiny fingers inside. Tonycontinued to struggle, shaking his head from side to side and pushing at thosefingers with his tongue, trying to dislodge them.

“It’s all right,” Barnes said, low in his ear. In Italian,which Tony’s brain stuttered over a few times, trying to translate and then hefell into it. “I’m not going to hurt you, but they need to think I will.I don’t know how many cameras they have in here. I’m not going to do anythingwithout your consent.”

Tony went limp for a moment, confused. Barnes pulled those fingersout, slick with Tony’s spit and wiped them gently over Tony’s cheek, leaving awet trail. It was… weirdly seductive, kind of gross, and wholly unsettling. “Hateto break it to you, Gottlieb, but you’re already doing this without my consent.”

“Go ahead and struggle, it’s okay, you can’t hurt me,”Barnes said, and that was just insulting. And also, terrifying, because Barneswas right. Tony could struggle, a little, but Barnes was like a rock. Theservos in the metal arm made noises, clicks and whirrs, as Barnes flexed, keepingTony locked in position.

And oh god, Tony was going to be sick, because he literally waslike a rock. Barnes was sporting an erection against Tony’s thigh. Tonyredoubled his efforts, writhing and twisting, but all that seemed to do wasmake Barnes toss his head back and roll his body against Tony’s.

“No,” Tony gritted between clenched teeth. “Don’t you--”

Barnes interrupted that with a kiss, mouth moving over Tony’s,muffling the sound, swallowing down Tony’s protests. Barnes continued to thrustagainst Tony’s leg, and Jesus, if it hadn’t been so weird, and Barnes didn’thate him so much, Tony might have melted into the kiss. It’d been so long sinceanyone had touched him. Barnes licked his way into Tony’s mouth, and when Tonywent to bite down on that invading tongue, the metal thumb ended up in hismouth at the hinge, keeping his teeth apart.

“Listen to me,” Barnes whispered, mouthing down the side ofTony’s neck. “They want me to hurt you, they think we’ll save them thetrouble. Leave us somewhere and they can spin any story they want. If they --if they think I’m going to rape you, they’ll let it happen. So we need them tothink that’s what’s happening. So we can stay together. I am here to rescueyou.”

Barnes bit at Tony’s collarbone, and that was one of his weakspots. Despite his -- inspite of? Tony didn’t even know -- his revulsion, Tonyarched up into that with a stuttered, shocked groan.

Tony couldn’t decide what it was; the sensual sounds of Barnesspeaking Italian in Tony’s ear, the fact that nothing Barnes was doing actuallyhurt, and did, in fact, feel good to Tony’s touch starved and aching body, orthat Tony was really just that fucked up. But he was starting to get hard andthat was… that was… shit, shit, shit.

“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” Tony snarked.

Barnes didn’t even blink, but there was something about the wayhis mouth came down on Tony’s throat that implied a smile. So, Barnes was notas culturally deprived as Steve had been, maybe? “I have a plan. Two plans, actually,but you’re going to have to play along or neither of them is going to work.”

“And I’m just supposed to trust you?” Tony was incredulous.But he must, at least a little, because he was playing along, speakingItalian. He couldn’t seem to stop struggling. He was panting for breath; hismuscles burned from the futility of trying to get Barnes off of him.

Barnes pressed his jaw against Tony’s and what he said was fuckingsub-audible and how the hell did he do that? His voice travelled rightthrough Tony’s skull, but couldn’t have possibly been heard by anyone else.“Come with me, if you want to live.” It was the best, and most fucked up,impersonation of the goddamn Terminator that Tony had ever heard. And he didn’teven hear it with his ears, it vibrated through his jaw and teeth and directlyinto the tiny, delicate cochlear nerve.

Barnes’ metal hand was roaming all over Tony’s body, and there…fuck, what-- “Goddamnit, no,” Tony burst out as the zipper of his prisoncoveralls went down. And when had Barnes stripped himself, because that wasskin-on-skin and Tony was still pinned, helpless and--

“Go ahead and bite me,” Barnes told him. “It’s okay,it’ll heal, but we need the blood.”

Tony’s eyes widened, terrified and disgusted. “You cannot useblood as lube,” he protested, horrified.

Barnes ducked his chin at that and Tony was revolted to see he wastrying to hide a smile. “I’m not… oh, for fuck’s sake, just hurt me. Theyneed to think we’re fighting.”

“I am fighting,” Tony protested. Tony braced himself andbit down hard, because oh, god, if he really was going to get fucked by theWinter Soldier, he didn’t want to do it dry, but oh, Jesus, this was so…

Blood, coppery and brilliant, flooded his mouth, and Tony spat,and spat again; his stomach roiling and he was struggling, harder than he’dever fought before, God, no, he did not want--

“Sorry,” Barnes said, and then rocked against Tony’s thigha few more times, grunted and--

“Sorry about-- oh, god, gross,” Tony hissed as Barnes shothis load over Tony’s stomach and leg.

#winteriron #tony x bucky #tony stark #bucky barnes #pre-slash #dub-con #reference to past hydra trash party #torture #starvation #this is dark y'all #mind the tags #dead dove fic #what it says on the tin #prompts #tisfan #Anonymous

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coolseanobuseng · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://legitlover.com/how-to-become-an-irresistible-woman/

The Shortcut to How to Become An Irresistible Woman

Everybody has sticking points. Whether it’s work, relationships or life in general. And it’s fine to want to learn the shortcut to how to become an irresistible woman to any man. But that’s fine and dandy because the learning process is what makes us better women.

Perhaps you’re struggling with certain behaviors or fears that might be keeping you from making the most out of your love life. Not to worry though; author Mirabelle Summers has created the ultimate game-free guide on how to do just THAT:

Get A Great Guy Guide

The “Get A Great Guy Guide” is the thing you need to achieve the breakthrough that you’ve been waiting for. With its sensible, no-nonsense and down-to-earth advice. For the sassy, modern girl, finding AND holding on to a quality man will be a cinch!

Now then – one of the most common stumbling blocks to more romance in a woman’s life is a simple lack of conversational know-now. The good news is that this can be LEARNED and immediately applied in your everyday life!

Especially while you’re face-to-face with a potential lover!

Oftentimes the problem is that some well-meaning girls overlook the importance of having the right communication style. It’s not that they WANT to be boring; they’re merely unaware of how to hold a conversation.

No sensible gal is going to get up in the morning and tell herself, “I wonder how I’m gonna BORE the socks off of that cute stranger I’m going run into at the coffee shop today?”

If you want to become a better conversationalist, it’s important to consider if you’ve grown accustomed to certain patterns of speech that are actually counterproductive. Sometimes, you need to step back and ask if you’ve fallen into certain habits which you’ve numbed yourself to over time.

So the first step towards any form of improvement is SELF-AWARENESS. Think about the way you normally carry a conversation with a guy and ask yourself if your style could use some polishing.

Of course, I don’t want you to start beating yourself up if you feel that the way you talk to men isn’t as attractive as you might want it to be. Like I said earlier, there’s always room for improvement, and it’s definitely a good thing to know EXACTLY which areas can be improved.

With that said, I want you to go over the following tip you can use to enhance your communication style :

The Shortcut to How to Become An Irresistible Woman

# 1: Rapport is Key

It may sound like the simplest thing in the world to say, but the fact is lots of perfectly adorable women have a hard time doing this. It’s mainly because they only have a VAGUE idea of what rapport is, so naturally you can’t create something you can’t really put a pin on!

So let’s clear up the fog surrounding this topic and identify what it is exactly. In a nutshell, having rapport is about having a CONNECTION with someone.

You know how you hook up your iPod or mobile phone to your computer, and they suddenly have this mutual understanding? It’s kind of like that, but on a DEEPER level.

Let me give you a clearer picture: if you were at a party packed with all manner of gorgeous, articulate and friendly men, which one of them are you likely to REALLY fall for?

Since they’re all visually and mentally appealing, you might have a hard time figuring out which guy suits you. Chances are the one who naturally understands you will be the man you’d want to date.

Why is that? Well, doesn’t it feel just GREAT when a person instinctively senses where you’re coming from?

I’m sure you’ve met at least one person in your life who you inexplicably feel drawn to. That’s because that person seems to perfectly understand and echo back your own opinions or feelings.

That sense of being connected is what rapport is all about. Fortunately, it’s actually not hard at all to do this in your daily conversations.

The first thing to keep in mind is that you need to be on the ‘same page’ as the person you’re talking to. There are easy ways to do this.

For example, keep an ear out for specific concepts or values that are personally close to the person you’re in a conversation with. If he brings up that it’s important to him to have some quiet time everyday, store that away for future reference.

Later on you can echo back that same concept by telling him about how YOU like to spend your alone time: ‘At the end of the day I like to spend an hour or so curling up with a good book and a nice warm cup of chamomile tea. It really helps decompress after a crazy day, you know what I mean?’

Step back and watch his eyes light up like a Christmas tree! By taking something close to his heart and giving it back to him in a genuine way, your words will make quite the IMPACT on him.

So, rapport really has to do a lot with speaking the same ‘language’. Now of course, I don’t mean you have to start mimicking everything he’s saying like a little parrot, but rather do it in an EMOTIONAL sense.

Discovering and talking about the values that resonate with you BOTH is a way to speak the same language. When you think about it, we often adapt our modes of speech depending on the context we’re in.

For example, you wouldn’t talk to your friends, family, colleagues, or elders in the same EXACT way would you?

So don’t think that you’re being a phony by making an effort to speak in the same way that he does. You’re simply getting into the practice of communicating in a way that’s APPROPRIATE to the situation.

And when it comes to chatting up gorgeous guys, a meeting of the minds is best done through rapport-building speech patterns!

# 2: Switch Off Your Brain

Don’t get me wrong, the kinds of guys who are worth your time are into women of SUBSTANCE. And certainly, this next conversational tip is not about acting air-headed or ditzy.

All I’m advising you do is keep your sexy brain from going into overdrive! A common mistake that intelligent women often commit is to think too much about certain things.

They get so caught up in their own world of thoughts that they’ll come off as aloof or distracted, when in reality they’re just petrified from FEAR of not knowing what to say next.

If you don’t want your brain from stalling on you, then you have to quiet your thoughts and shut out the nagging distractions in your pretty little noggin.

The attraction-killing thoughts I’m talking about are those coming from the inner critic trying to sabotage your conversation. Sometimes, we make the mistake of mentally scolding ourselves after saying something that felt out of place or unfunny.

Other times, we’re lost in a maze of thoughts on what to say next or get bogged down in a swamp of self-consciousness.

When you feel your brain going in this direction, acknowledge what’s going on and DROP these mental distractions.

There’s a handy little trick you can do in case your attention is drifting off to la-la land: instead of obsessing about how you look in his eyes or what he might be thinking, simply divert your attention to HIM.

It’s a girl’s best defense against looking aloof or detached from the conversation (or from this plane of reality for that matter!). So remember to shut off this part of your brain, and you’ll do just fine.

On another note however, sometimes it’s the guy you’re talking to that’s feeling self-conscious. If that’s the case, then don’t act or talk in any way that might give away you’re AWARE of it.

Just play it cool and don’t dwell on the vibe he’s giving off. It’ll only make things more awkward if you let his state affect your own.

# 3: Humor is Your Best Friend

Maybe you’re still feeling each other out. And you’re trying to get a handle on how to connect to this hunk of a guy. But the awkward flow of your conversation is creating a major interference in your connection. So you’re having a hard time ‘broadcasting’ your signal.

Fear not, friend! The quickest way to clear up all that ‘static’ is by creating a private joke. Which you can share with him. When you both have some knee-slapping ground to start on, this accelerates the rapport-building process.

My long-time friend Marcus has a great story to illustrate my point. He says:

“One of my first jobs was a freelance product writer for all sorts of health merchandise. During one assignment I was talking with this guy who was telling me about the benefits of a sports bracelet that supposedly reduces muscular fatigue. I had to put on the bracelet and pretended how less tense my arm felt as I was stretching it. Monique, his pretty sales assistant, was visibly chuckling at how funny I looked during the product demo’. Though she tried her best to hide it.

Marcus was then able to use this funny incident as an inside joke when he started chatting up Monqiue. To her delight, he referred to the silly arm-stretching debacle several times during their conversation.

To his benefit, Monique was game enough to tease him about it when they eventually started dating. The moral of the story here is that when used properly, humor serves as a great bridge between two people.

Heck, any doctor knows about the therapeutic effect of laughter. One way to bring on the charm is to put your man on a natural high. By cracking a joke or making a witty comment!

Making people laugh makes people (cute guys included) want to be around you to get a dose of your feel-good charisma.

Of course, there’s a big difference between laughing at a joke and MAKING one. However, appearing to be effortless at humor isn’t as hard as you might think.

Don’t assume you need to transform yourself into a standup comic at the drop of a hat.

Generally, a good punch line is the result of properly setting up the joke beforehand. If you need to explain the punch line after delivering it, it means you didn’t build enough suspense first.

(Think about how some characters on TV bumble a perfectly good joke by explaining too much and adding a “get it, get it?” at the end.)

A good way to build up a joke is by keeping a relatively straight face and suppressing any snickers before dropping the punch line on him. Otherwise there won’t be any escalation.

That’s what comedic timing is all about: buttering up the audience and then BAM, you get the drop on them with a well-placed punch line!

Notice how comedians like Conan O’Brien or Tina Fey churn out the funnies. They like to talk about a mundane news item (the set-up) and then making a zany comment about it (the payoff).

As an aside, avoid making any pop culture references that might alienate or confuse the person you’re talking to. It’s good to be mindful of the particular person in front of you so he can better relate to your “material”.

However, don’t worry about making leaps and bounds in this particular area of conversation. Try adapting these habits of humor little by little into your speech.

Once you hit your stride and finally struck a guy’s funny bone, you’ll notice how easier it is to keep him laughing with a follow-up joke!

One last way to be funny without overdoing it is by doing the “pretend seriousness” routine. A little lighthearted irony goes a long way with certain folks!

Let’s pretend that your friend introduced you to this incredibly cute guy who happens to be just into music as you are. So halfway through the conversation he confesses to not having heard about a certain band you absolutely adore.

Take advantage of this opportunity by *playfully* retorting, “Tell me you’re kidding. Otherwise, I’m gonna have to drag you to my place and make you listen to my (name of band) records until you see the light. Seriously!”

Admittedly, this approach might not work on everyone, but if he seems like the guy who’s game enough to go along with the fun, then give it a shot!

#4: Converse With an OPEN Ear

Some women might think that listening is just a simple matter of hearing what the other person is telling them. Truth is, this basic skill we’ve been taught to use over the years is often taken for granted.

Sometimes, we find ourselves zoning out a bit (refer to tip # 2) when we should PAY ATTENTION in the full sense of the verb. A typical mistake is to listen on a superficial level. And merely use the time the guy is talking to think of something to say.

This might sound like common sense, but I have this to share. You’d have a better chance of saying something worthwhile if you truly listened to what the other person just said.

I’ve told countless friends and colleagues that your genuine attention is a very powerful tool for conversational success! Really listening to his jokes and stories is a simple but effective way to make him feel good about himself.

And what red-blooded man wouldn’t want to be around a sassy girl that he can associate his GOOD FEELINGS with?

The gift of showing real interest is the direct path to greater rapport in ANY sort of conversation you’re in. Although our general interest here is to attract men through a good chat, we also have to consider the big picture here.

An attractive woman is someone who can have a great conversation with just about anybody. When you have a POSITIVE attitude towards the rest of humankind, it’s an indication of how you’d be on a date.

…or as a girlfriend.

If you’re there to talk with ANYONE purely for the pleasure of their company… and NOT because you want their approval… then that sincerity will naturally show.

People (hunks included) just tend you like more when you want to hang out with them with NO strings attached.

So what I’m saying here is that you shouldn’t just limit your awesome conversational skills to men alone. Find an opportunity to flex your social muscles and chat up a storm with the next person you run into!

It doesn’t matter if it’s the nice old lady at the library, the friendly cashier at your favorite coffee place, or your fellow students at yoga class. Every person out there offers a chance for you to become a more sociable person.

Trust me, this mindset is the sure-fire path to becoming drop-dead gorgeous in the long run! What have you got to lose after all?

And part of developing the right mindset is by expanding your knowledge and beliefs about dating. Courtesy of Meet Your Sweet’s “Get a Great Guy Guide.” The Shortcut to How to Become An Irresistible Woman

Get A Great Guy Guide

When you think about it, the cost of failure is pretty much ZERO, so get out there and work it!

—————————————————————————

This article comes to you courtesy of Expert Dating and Relationships Advice for Men and Women

If you are serious about changing your love life success. This is your first step on your journey of self discovery. And it needs to be with Meet Your Sweet’s “Get a Great Guy Guide.” The Shortcut to How to Become An Irresistible Woman

If you want genuine men, not just any man, let Mirabelle Summers and the team challenge your beliefs. Yes, about love and attraction, and show you the way to become a seduction success story.

Get A Great Guy Guide

The Shortcut to How to Become An Irresistible Woman has No games. No scripted lines. Just Real life dating advice for real women! Click here to download this Free PDF with exact texts to send to him to make him yours. Just try them out to see the magic of the type of responses you’ll get from him.

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funkymeihem-fiction · 7 years

Text

Hot Headed, Cold Hearted (Chapter 1)

(This is my new sequel to the now-completed A-Mei-Zing Outback Adventures, found here

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8457571/chapters/19376416

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re ready for more MEIHEM!)

“Agent 20151107, Mei-Ling Zhou, please report to the briefing room.”

Athena’s soothing voice chimed from her communicator, just as Mei had stuffed an overly large mouthful of egg tart into her jaws. Of course. She coughed and sputtered as she tried to swallow, patting her chest roughly to try and force it all down. “Hhfk!”

Athena’s icon blinked before speaking again, “Miss Zhou, you appear to be choking. Mercy is nearby, if you require-”

“No!” She rasped, clearing her throat before speaking more clearly. “No, I’m fine. Sorry about that. Is it an emergency?”

“It was not specified as such and Winston has indicated that you will be very pleased with the news, as it is regarding your science division. Please report to briefing when you are able, but I believe you have time to finish your egg tart in a less vigorous manner.”

Mei was already pushing her tray away from her, said egg tart still mostly uneaten along with the rest of the meal she had barely just started. “Thank you, Athena, but this can wait! Oh, could you message Jamison and let him know I can’t meet him for lunch because of my meeting, he’s probably already on his way here? Tell him I’m sorry, too!”

“I will contact Agent Junkrat now and let Winston know you are on your way. Good day, Miss Zhou.”

The icon went dark, and Mei dumped her meal into the bin on her way out the door, her snowflake pin swaying cheerfully as she bustled out of the cafeteria and started to make her way through the main base. If it was any sort of news regarding the science team, she wanted to hear it right away. True, her science team only consisted of herself, Winston, Bastion, and a rotating handful of lower-ranking agents, but she was still willing to do whatever it took to get things started off the right way. After her disastrous mission into the Outback, Winston was finally starting to grant her the time and resources to get their division off the ground, but Overwatch business had kept getting in the way. But if he finally had good news for her…maybe today would be the day!

“Miss Zhou, there is a reply message from Agent Junkrat.” Athena’s icon lit up again. “He…wishes to relay his understanding of the delayed lunch date, as well as good tidings and good luck to you, but his phrasing is littered with curses and very colorful language. Would you like me to relay the exact message to you?”

“Oh. No thanks, the nice thought is enough.” She pushed open the door to the briefing room, where Winston was already waiting for her. He sat in the main command chair, the only one that had been tailored for a genetically-altered gorilla, and his features were lit up by the only source of light in the room, the enormous main monitor where a soft pulsing ray of light in the center meant Athena was listening. With a little polite bow of her head, she hurried over towards the seat next to him, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Ni hao, Winston! I came as soon as I could.”

He nodded to her, glasses glinting vivid white-blue in the light of the monitor. “Good afternoon, Mei. I know you’d hate to be kept waiting, so we’ll just jump into things. Although to start…it’s happened again.”

“Is it Bastion?” she sighed.

“Indeed. Athena’s been keeping track of things ever since I first noticed it, but it hasn’t stopped. For several months now, every time it’s presented with a map, it keeps marking that one location over and over again.” He nodded up to the main screen, which flashed up a world map before zooming in to North America, then to Canada, then to a northern quadrant of Canada, and then zoomed in a final time to show a satellite picture of the mountain forests. “I sent it a map of Numbani, it sent me back the coordinates in Canada. I ask it to review its last maneuvers from the battle in Annecy, it sent me the reviews, but also that same location. Over and over. The first few times I thought it was an error, but it’s far too consistent. Athena’s even been able to isolate it to almost a direct latitude and longitude.”

She nodded, writing this down in her tablet. “Whenever I pulled up a topical map, it was always trying to point to Canada as well. But I’ll admit I didn’t think much of it until you pointed it out. So, what does it mean? Is that why you called me in?”

“So far it doesn’t seem to be directing us to…anything? Just a patch of Canadian wilderness. The closest civilization is a town called Tentpeg, but that’s hundreds of miles away. It’s still possible all this is some sort of mistake or error but…I’ve got a feeling we need to check things out, just to be sure.”

“That makes sense,” she agreed.

“I don’t want this information spread amongst the team, I can’t stress that enough. Torbjorn, Zarya, Junkrat, and a number of other agents already do not have the most positive view of our omnic relations inclusion act. And I don’t want to deal with any fallout if they suspect one of our robotic allies might be…er, questionable. But I haven’t made any headway at all into E-54 unit’s motives. All translation programs I’ve run have been inconclusive or denied.” He drummed at another collection of buttons on the control board, and both scientists adjusted their glasses at the same time as lines upon lines of indecipherable numbers and letters scrolled across the monitors. “Nothing makes sense here. Either it doesn’t know its own reasoning, or it’s not telling us something.”

Mei frowned, brows furrowing. “That can’t be right? Is Bastion even capable of subterfuge? I don’t like that idea at all, it seems so friendly…”

“I’m not certain subterfuge would be the right word. According to Torbjorn, our particular E-54 is already something of an anomaly. He designed its original blueprints and even he can’t figure out why this one seems so keen on this target location, any more than he can figure out why it restarted itself after being shut down, its reluctance towards aggression, or why it befriends birds and random wildlife. Physical diagnostics are all fine despite its age, but in short, we have no idea why it is the way it is.”

“Have you tried just asking it what it wants there?”

“On multiple occasions. Usually I’ll get a tilted head or a series of tones that don’t seem to mean anything. I’ve asked Zenyatta and our other omnic colleagues for their opinions on the matter, but none of them have anything in their program archives about this location, or any idea as to why such an old mobile defense unit would want to go there. And their questioning their fellow omnic yielded no new results.” Winston leaned back in his chair, folding both his hands and feet and drumming their digits thoughtfully. “I’ll admit I’m baffled.”

She rummaged about in her bag, pulling out her tablet and setting it on the table between them. With a few quick motions of her fingertips, she pulled up a view of the area once more. Just like before, it was a featureless sea of white, gray, and green, no different from any tract of the northern forests that stretched for miles upon miles across the Canadian wilderness. She couldn’t see anything suspicious at all no matter how she looked at it, not even a lewdly shaped boulder for Junkrat to pick out and giggle at later. There was nothing but trees, rocks, and snow. “I don’t suppose you have any different satellites that might have picked up anything?”

“I was actually hoping you might notice something I didn’t,” he admitted. “I would wait for the weather to clear up and send in a few search drones but after looking into the matter a little more…this is something of a developing emergency.” The screen flashed, and pictures began opening one after the other, staying on screen for only a few moments before another replaced it. For several long moments it continued, and he watched as the climatologist’s expression became more and more grim. “Those are all missing persons reports from the last thirty-odd years, from the various towns nearest the location, hundreds of miles away. I’m sure you notice the connection.”

She continued watching the pictures scroll past; serial numbers and figures with metal features, some with ocular lights, some without, mostly humanoid shaped, others not resembling humans at all, but all with the ‘MISSING’ text stamped across them. With a strange little noise that wasn’t quite a sigh, she breathed out, steepling her fingers in front of her as the number of victims grew. “…They’re all omnics.”

The gorilla nodded his shaggy head slowly. “All omnics, for over thirty years. I looked into the ongoing investigations but their only guesses were an anti-omnic terrorist still at large, or some form of virus, though that seems unlikely. Local law enforcement seems to know even less than we do…And with our Bastion unit seeming to have a connection to this, and its location being in the frozen north, it seemed almost eerily well-tailored for our new science team’s first official mission. I’m sending you both there on a scouting assignment to find whatever is at this location and report back when and if you find anything. I’ve already put in the orders for your supplies and cleared your schedules. You’ll move out tomorrow.”

To his surprise, Mei only smiled at his abrupt orders, cheeks dimpling happily. “Oh, this is going to be so exciting!” She blinked, then coughed a little. “I mean…Not the missing omnics, that’s horrible. But our first science team mission together! I’m certain we can be of help. Are you going to be coming along?”

“Er…I would like to, honestly I would. But Comman- ahem, Soldier 76 is insistent that Talon is planning something with how quiet it’s been lately, and Ana agrees with him. I need to remain here and continue overseeing our teams from the command central, including yours and Bastion’s new mission. In fact, I’d better get back to that. I’ll send the rest of the details to you by the end of the day. Once you reach the target location, I want you to contact us immediately with whatever you find, and then we’ll field more agents if needed. So…” He grinned, revealing a jaw full of large pointed teeth, “Get moving, Agent Zhou. Go get ready to uh, what is it you say? Science the heck out of things?”

She nodded quickly, even offering a comical little salute to her ape friend, before darting in to give him a very brief little hug on one arm. “I’m sorry you can’t come with us, but I’ll look around and see if we can find anything. Maybe Bastion will have more to offer once we’re on-site, too? I still wonder what it wants there?”

A hand that was easily the size of her entire torso very gently patted her back before nudging her gently towards the door. “Time for your science team to find out. Go check over your equipment and I’ll send you time of departure for tomorrow.”

And with that, he turned back to his screen and Mei hurried from the control room to let him return to his duties. When the door was closed, she pumped both gloved fists and hissed a low “Yes!” before breaking into a run towards her dorms, pulling out her tablet and already pulling up her charts and maps. She felt strangely elated, and then also a little guilty about being so elated. She shouldn’t feel happy at all with the ongoing tragedy of so many missing omnics, which may or may not have had ties to this mysterious wilderness locale, or that the once-trusted Bastion unit might be holding secrets from them…but she was going out! She was going out on an actual science mission, specifically for the science team, and one that seemed to have true importance. Winston was giving the science division actual work. No more babysitting the backlines or watching weather reports, this sounded like her team could really do some good if they could make any headway into this mystery, something important, something that might-

She turned a corner, still running, and slammed face-first into a solid wall of massive muscle and fat. With a squeaking noise of startled pain, she bounced back and landed hard on her rear on the floor. Roadhog seemed equally as startled, masked head tilting down at her before slowly offering out one enormous gloved hand.

“Mei! What the hell, Roadie, you’ve caused a bingle again! What’d I tell you about blind corners, mate?” Junkrat appeared behind his larger partner, lifting up one of his arms to get past him before hobbling behind the stunned Mei, lifting her up to her feet and going to wipe at a droplet of blood just below her nose. His attempts ended up scrubbing soot above her lip and giving her a black mustache-looking mark, so he licked his filthy thumb with a slurping noise of his long tongue and went to try and clean it away yet again. “Aw, love, lemme get that for ya!”

She managed to come to her senses just before his thumb touched her, pushing the sticky saliva-covered appendage away just in time, wiping the black mark away on her own. She rubbed at her nose, seeming satisfied that at least it wasn’t broken. It would hardly do to start off a mission with a broken nose, especially in such a silly way. “Sorry! Sorry about that. Are you okay, Roadhog?”

Roadhog hesitated, then looked down at himself as if to inspect for any damage where the much tinier woman had bounced right off him. After a long moment he rumbled a low, “…Mm.”

With an almost suspicious tilt of his head, the tips of his singed hair still burning from an apparent practice session on the fields, Junkrat squinted down at her, leaning down to her level to inspect her once more. “We were just looking for you. What’s the trouble, babe? Not much like you, runnin’ through the halls like your arse is on fire. I mean, usually it’s my arse what’s on fire, but what’s got you dashing?”

“I’m so sorry about that, I should have been more careful. I was just in such a hurry because I have to get ready! Winston’s sending us out on a mission tomorrow and I’ve got a lot to do. Oh, this is so exciting! I’d better get back to it, so-” She gave a quick, polite little bow of her head and then went to edge past Roadhog’s wide form, as the huge junker turned sideways to allow her past him. Squeezing through them both, she slowed her pace to less of a run and more of a jog. But when she heard footsteps behind her, she glanced back. The junkers were following her down the hall.

“Oh, the big monkey finally got you a mission of your own? I know you’d been wanting one. That’s ace, good on ya. Who’s going? Where you headed?” Junkrat loped after her, peg leg clacking noisily as his huge bodyguard’s boots thudded just behind him.

The question made her pause, giving time for the lanky young man to catch up with her and snake his long arms around her from behind, pulling her against his bare chest with a grin. Winston had told her to keep quiet about Bastion’s involvement or whatever this mission might have been. Trying to keep her voice casual and as non-suspicious as possible, she pretended to dig around for her tablet. “Oh! It’s…just a mission for the science team. It might not even be anything. Another agent and I are going to be flying out tomorrow to looking into a few strange things happening in Canada. It could be very boring, actually. That’s all. I mean, nothing really.” She gave a little nod, trying to make herself stop before it qualified as rambling. That should be a satisfactory answer, nothing was technically a lie.

There was a little answering giggle from his throat just above her, and his grip subtly tightened around her frame. When he spoke, Junkrat’s voice was just a little too soft, indicating he was already onto her. Damn. “Oh! Well, that’s a real shame, ain’t it? I mean, the monkey calling you in for an emergency meeting about a mission for your science team there, and it’s nothing at all? That’s downright rotten of him. Sooo, Canada, huh…Remind me who ya said you were heading out with?”

She winced inwardly. “It’s…just Bastion and me.”

Her words had just about the exact effect she’d been dreading, and he pulled his arms abruptly from around her as she turned to face him. His yellow eyes were wide and dangerously ablaze, and his nostrils flared when he hissed an angry reply. “What! No, no no, what the hell is that about! That hairy fucker better not be even thinking of sending you out alone with just that bot! Oh we are gonna have a chat, we are-”

“Don’t you say that about Winston!” she protested sharply, cutting him off and making him cringe back a bit. “And Bastion is a valued member of the science team and has been a model research assistant out in the field. Winston was going to come along, but he’s not able to so…It’s going to be all right with just the two of us. Like I said, we’re just looking into a few things, then we’ll be back. I know how you feel about…certain topics, but there’s no reason to get worked up.”

“Worked up! This ain’t even half worked up. You think I’m going to let my best girl go waltzing out into who-knows-what, alone with some weird malfunctioning bot and its freaky bird? That’s not even sending you out with a team, that’s just…” He sputtered, waving both arms. “Well that’s just crazy, and I know crazy when I see it!”

Mei sighed, giving an imploring look to Roadhog for some help. To her consternation, he was nodding along with his partner, and shrugged a little at her disappointed look. He shook his masked head, scratching at one side of his giant gut and pulling up his sagging pants with a grunt. “Don’t trust bots,” he said simply.

“Can’t trust ‘em at all, Roadie,” Junkrat agreed, before dropping to one knee and spreading out both long arms in a ta-da sort of display, posing in front of her. “Which is why…you need your favorite bodyguards! Yeah! We’ll protect you! Especially me, I’ll protect that body with my life, you know it. Sign us up, Snowflake. We’re going with you!” He jabbed Roadhog irritably in the side several times with the nearly blade-edge sharp angle of his elbow, before the much larger man grumbled and posed with him, one hand on his hip and the other giving her a thumbs up.

She rolled her eyes briefly, shaking her head at the ridiculous duo. “I appreciate the concern, I really do, but that’s totally unnecessary. This isn’t even a combat mission, it’s scientific recon. We might not find anything there at all, and there’s probably nothing to even protect me from. There’s really no reason for you to feel like you need to come along, I don’t need any bodyguards this time.”

“Well then it sounds like you won’t mind us coming along, if it’s just a pleasure tour and you won’t even need these guns!” Junkrat answered slyly, changing his pose so that he was flexing both skinny arms at her. “If you won’t take us as bodyguards, then we’ll just go along as…uh…scientific observers. Or just take us as your mates, with sparkling, scintillating conversation all for you. Who else are you going to talk to, the omnic only speaks in beep-boops? Come on, we handled everything the Outback had to throw at us, what’s wrong with bringing us with you just in case?”

Mei just gave him an exasperated look. “It’s just a scouting expedition! And you’d hate it in Canada!”

This was not something she’d expected to happen, and it had lessened her prior emotional high about getting her team’s first official orders. She should have simply given Junkrat a kiss goodbye before being on her way, without him ever knowing she was out on a mission with a bot. But then again…she’d been meaning to subtly try shifting the junkers’ stance on their omnic teammates. Not that she expected them to ever forgive or forget after everything she’d witnessed in the Outback, but if she could improve relations between her friends to at least a stiff formality instead of rabid hatred, it would be a step up. Plus, as much as she loathed to think of it, Bastion’s mysterious behaviors might warrant someone else coming along to keep an eye on things, or if anything related to the missing omnics popped up, or if something unlucky happened…and with her, something unlucky always happened. As insane as it sounded, it was starting to sound like an opportunity for both a better chance of understanding, and a pair of strong allies was always nice to have, just in case.

Well that and…having Junkrat around to keep her warm on a cold night wasn’t something to be entirely ignored, in a very unprofessional way…

“Well we can come along in an unofficial capacity, eh? Oh, I get it, this is about it being an expense thing? Money’s no object when it comes to you, lovey. How about we do this as a favor to you, pro bono? Hehehe, and then you and me, we can uh, we can pro-bone-o? Eeeeeeh?” His grin widened before he parted his teeth just enough to wiggle his tongue lewdly at her. This time both Mei and Roadhog sighed together, looking in opposite directions from the crude younger junker, who simply looked baffled that his smooth-talking hadn’t worked. “What? You get it?”

“I got it. Unfortunately. Listen…if you end up coming along with us- and that’s a big if, I haven’t decided on anything! If you end up coming with us, you’re going to have to accept that Bastion is an official member of my science division and we are going to be working together on this project. That means you’re going to have to be nice to it. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you can’t agree to being civil to your omnic teammates, I’ll have to decline you both. Can you be nice to it?”

Roadhog hummed unsurely through his mask’s filters, and Junkrat scowled as his expression twisted up to one side in a derisive sneer. “Define ‘nice’ when it comes to a bot? It’s not like it’s got feelings.”

Well, he was being extremely rude about it, but the fact that he was even asking meant he might be considering it. She held up a finger to his lips abruptly. “Bastion does have feelings, and I have rules about those feelings. It means being nice, and I know you know how to be nice. No blowing it up, no cursing at it, no insulting it, no trying to eat its bird, no doing anything mean. If you have to ask about it, it’s probably not nice. Before anything, I need a yes or a no. And if you say yes, I’m going to hold you to it in both a professional and personal way.” She placed both hands on her hips sternly. “That goes for both of you. So think it over before you say anything. I am not budging on this one.”

“Well damn, darl, tell us how you really feel,” Junkrat grumbled, scratching at his singed hair. He seemed to be mulling it over, exchanging several glances with Roadhog in their strange, often silent or one-sided communication that she still couldn’t always understand. “Arright, arright, we both promise we won’t hurt the bot.”

“Orrr?” she prompted.

“Or the bird. But if that thing goes berserk-”

“It won’t. It’s our friend,” she said, perhaps a little more firmly than she should have.

He lifted a bushy brow. “…Yeah, whatever you say, love. Look, promise you in a real official capacity that we won’t do any misbehaving unless we really need to. I’ll sign a contract if I gotta, even. But we’re with ya!”

Roadhog nodded above them with a low, “Mm.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, Jamison. You promised me. And you too, Roadhog. No joking. I’ll check things over with Winston and get everything ready. So, you two should go see to everything you want to bring with you. Now, sorry to run, but we’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow morning! Yídòng gèng kuài! Hurry hurry!” She left the junkers in the hallway and broke into another hurried gait, her head down and already tapping at her tablet and forgetting that she had already run into someone once today, doing that exact same thing.

From behind her, she heard a bewildered Junkrat wonder aloud, “Wait a minute, mate…Ain’t Canada really cold?”

#meihem #junkmei #meirat #Junkrat #jamison fawkes #mei #mei-ling zhou #roadhog #mako rutledge #bastion #e54 #overwatch #fanfiction #canada #funkyfluff

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