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thestarsarecool · 1 year

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Paul McCartney: Run Devil Run

Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1999

THE LURE had been the chance of a lengthy one-on-one with Paul McCartney discussing all his solo albums. "You could turn it into a book," said his publicist, graciously.

All I had to agree to was to begin with his latest recording, Run Devil Run, which wasn't a problem, as it was a really very decent collection of rock and roll covers, with a few new songs, recorded in a week, a year after the death of Paul's beloved wife Linda. After we'd talked about that, said the publicist, I could go on and talk about the rest, "once Paul is relaxed".

I smell a rat when I arrive, shake hands with Paul – who's looking fit and youthful, with only his suspiciously chestnut-coloured hair looking like it had received any cosmetic help – and pull out the CD sleeves of his complete works as an aide memoire for us both.

"I'm not signing that lot," he snaps.

"Erm, I didn't want you to, it's for the interview," I say.

"Oh, right."

It was odd being in the room with a Beatle after a lifelong relationship with his music, and Paul's demeanour showed that he gets that a lot, in fact he must get nothing else when he meets someone for the first time: an uneasy mix of nerves, warmth, respect and the kind of uncomfortable intimacy that comes with a meeting where one person knows everything about the other and the other knows nothing. Because he is used to this situation, Paul looks slightly bored by it. He knows it's easier, in the long run, to be friendly and cooperative with the press, and he wheels out a few well-worn techniques to put me at my ease. He is gracious and easy-going during our conversation, but there is always something steely in his countenance, you feel he could take offence easily. You can't forget he's Paul McCartney and neither can he.

Needless to say, after chatting about the new album, Paul seems surprised when I start to ask about his debut, the "bowl of cherries" album. I begin to suspect he hasn't been briefed about the supposed purpose of this interview. Some kind of signal is given, because as we get onto Ram, Paul looking increasingly restless, an assistant appears and announces there's someone in reception Paul has to see urgently. McCartney makes his excuses and leaves. The grinning publicist apologises and insists that we will reschedule for the rest of the chat, but I know it'll never happen. Strangely, I feel slightly relieved.

The interview that follows is just the material concerning Run Devil Run which, I realise later, is surprisingly rich in information about how the Beatles worked and how Paul recalls that period.

The cry of 'C'mon lads, we're going back to basics!' seems to be a bit of a refrain in your career. You like to do it every now and then.

Yeah.

What brought it on this time?

Linda was very keen. I'd said for years, "I'd love to make a rock'n'roll record." I'd talked of other things – an old standards, Fred Astaire, Cole Porter album – but this one was more than a whim. I thought, I've got to do it before the 20th century ends, so it was the next thing I was gonna do. Then Lin died, she was really keen that I do it, so that was enough motivation: I'd better get this done. No pissing around.

So how did you approach it?

I remembered early Beatle recording techniques. Because we weren't a famous act we were given a schedule of exactly how to make a record: You come in at 10 am, you set up your amp and your guitar or drums, you have a ciggie, cup of tea, get in tune, then by 10.30 you've got to be ready to go. You just had to be ready or the grown-ups would get annoyed.

We worked from 10.30 to 1.30, and we were expected to do two songs. We took an hour's lunch exactly, then [worked from] 2.30 to 5.30. Then you went home, went out to the pictures or the pub or something. So the next day, when you came in, you'd had a life. If you'd seen a great film it kind of informed you.

So I thought I'd do exactly that, book Abbey Road for one week only, get a bunch of guys together and go and do this thing exactly as we used to.

No rehearsals?

This really surprised me. I realised that on the Monday at 10.30 George Martin would say, "Okay chaps, what are we going to do?" and the only two people in the room who knew were me and John. George and Ringo didn't even know. And I thought, Shit, that's wild! None of this "demos up front, the producer's been working on it, he's got ideas." He didn't know what we were going to do. We could just throw anything at George Martin and we did: "It goes like this: Gir-ir-irl (intake of breath), wanna get a breathy thing going there." Engineer would start to work out how to get the breathy thing, put some compression on or something... bang, bang. Everyone thinking on their feet . Then we were off and running, the match would start.

So, no homework allowed. The other thing we outlawed during the week was thinking. If someone went, "I wonder if I did this..." We'd say, "You're thinking!" It became the joke of the week. "This is rock'n'roll, you're not allowed to think, just do."

So how did you select the songs?

I just kind of dredged my memory and came up with a very arbitrary list, coz I've got millions of rock'n'roll songs that I love. I got most of them on tape and did what I used to do. Got a bit of paper and a pencil and [transcribed the lyrics]. That was a great buzz because I literally hadn't done that particular exercise since I was a kid, felt like I was 15 again sitting there copping the lyrics to Chuck Berry songs, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino.

So I got this bunch of lyrics, there's actually still one deliberate mistake on the record – find it – there's one line I never could find out, I wrote it down phonetically, "yer be livin' in spe...", turned out to be something quite different "If you do it again" and I thought I'd fill that in before the session but I forgot to do it. It was all like that, kind of spontaneous and instant. I got nostalgic for that way of working. [The Beatles] really did some good stuff like that, Revolver and Rubber Soul, all those early ones...

That way of working went right up to Revolver did it?

Way past Revolver, Rubber Soul. (I raise an eyebrow. Pause.) That's past Revolver isn't it?

Er no. Revolver's the one before Pepper.

Was it? Okay. (Pause) I was in the Beatles was I?

Yeah. Bass, I think.

(Chuckles) Basically I was. Yeah. So I thought, I'll sing and play bass at the same time, if there's anyone in the world who's had practice at that it's me. It's a bit like that (patting his head and rubbing his stomach) you've learnt how to do that, so do that. Don't get too precious. I had a bit of a funny moment on the Sunday night [before the session] because I hadn't sung for a year since Linda died, I didn't actually know if I could. I'd been writing stuff, but it had been little introspective stuff (he mimes singing softly). I was nervous [but once we started] I realised it was gonna work and I was singing good. The other thing, because I hadn't done any of these songs before either, I had no idea what the bass parts were. Then I thought, if it was good enough for George and Ringo not to know how the songs went, it's good enough for you. A little dangerous, this is good, getting dangerous. So I went in on the Monday morning with this big manila envelope full of all me words, scrappily on the back of envelopes, and flicked through them – 'Searchin'' by the Coasters, nah, didn't fancy that, 'Hippy Hippy Shake', nearly... 'Fabulous', Charlie Gracie? Yeah!"

I don't know that one.

It actually didn't end up on the album, but I remember it from the fairground. It reminded me of the Waltzer and us trying to pick up birds – which we could never do – me and me mate in our drape jackets with the flap pockets and the fleck, which was 'It.'! Whenever I got a buzz off a number I'd pull it out and say to all the guys – Dave Gilmour, Mick Green on guitars, Pete Wingfield piano and Ian Paice on drums – "Anyone know 'Fabulous'? No?" So I'd get me acoustic guitar, in five or ten minutes these guys had picked it up, get on me bass, okay, 1,2,3,4, do a take, go up and listen to it, quickly organise it, do another two takes, say, and Chris (Thomas) the producer would go "That sounds good." Great, next song. And we just did that all week. Most of the songs they didn't know. They'd know 'All Shook Up' or 'Ready Teddy' – which didn't make the album – or 'Rip It Up', but 'No Other Baby', 'Shake A Hand' and 'Coquette', nobody knew.

How did you get to know them, then?

Those songs were like where The Beatles would show up in the early days at the Aintree Institute, say, and there'd be three or four bands on the bill. We'd be due on third and the band who was second would go on and do our entire act! 'Blue Suede Shoes', 'Long Tall Sally', 'What'd I Say', there's the act gone. There was this terrible moment, "Fuckin' hell, what do we do?" "Well we'd better play them better." But [to avoid that] we started to look for B-sides – things like Bo Diddley's 'The Old Grandpappy' and 'If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody', which was off a James Ray record that George had – we started to find these lesser-known songs that the other bands wouldn't have. And that's the reason John and I started writing, a surefire way [other bands] couldn't access our songs. For a while we didn't really write anything much good – at The Cavern I used to do something called 'The Pinwheel Twist', which was dreadful but worked for the time, some terrible lyrics about fireworks, probably, but it's lost in the mists of time.

'No Other Baby' is fantastic.

That's probably the most obscure. I knew the song but we couldn't find out who did it, Alan here (at mpl) did a bit of research and it turned out it was by the Vipers Skiffle Group. I was talking to George Martin about this album and said "We did some really remote things, one called 'No Other Baby' by The Vipers." Then I said, "Wait a minute George, you produced them didn't you?" I sang it to him and he goes "Oh yes, I remember that now." So talk about full circle.

I didn't even have the record of that but it just embedded itself in my memory. I used to do it in soundchecks on tour. That came out nice. One of the guys said that if these songs were film stars 'No Other Baby' would be Dennis Hopper. It has a chilly, Blue Velvet feel about it which I like.

You sound very angry in places.

That's just me singing. I don't know if I was angry or not, can't remember. When you've got to stand up and play bass live and sing too, there's no time to think of anything else, apart from, How does the bass part go? It was just the spirit of the week. As I said, we outlawed thinking.

A lot of great rock'n'roll records are great "records" rather being great songs. It's often down to the atmosphere of the recordings, isn't it?

Yeah. One or two of the songs when I looked at them I thought, Bloody hell this isn't much of a song, but I love it from the Waltzer or whatever so it doesn't matter. What I tried to communicate is my love of them, this joy at doing these numbers, and anyone who loves rock'n'roll loves doing these songs.

Fair enough on something like 'No Other Baby' that's not so well known, but it must be really hard trying to make 'All Shook Up' your own. It'd be like someone trying to do 'Day In the Life'.

Yeah, those were the challenges. What I decided was not to do 'All Shook Up' like Elvis, then it would be a pale imitation. I decided to bring it up more towards my Little Richard range, scream it more, give it a meanness, put a new interpretation on the words.

'Lonesome Town' too. I'd always liked Ricky Nelson's version, but on the way to the studio I suddenly thought, I can't do it the way Ricky did it, because I'll like his version better – I loved that, that was my teenage years – it'll just be an impression of him, so again, I thought if I take it higher I could put a more intense feel behind the words, a bit more bluesy. So I did it in C an octave above Ricky, which was fine until the middle when it became too Mickey Mouse so I said to Dave Gilmour, "Hey Dave, you do the melody and I'll go above you and do a harmony" very much like what John and I would have done, and that allowed me stay in that persona.

Did you try to make it authentic sonically, use vintage gear?

No, we decided to make it like a modern record. If your ears have become attuned to modern radio, an old rock song can sound a bit woolly and fluffy. We didn't put any old-fashioned echo on anything except 'Blue Jean Bop', Gene Vincent, that I had to do with echo because that was my memory. Again, I learnt something making this: These guys wrote for echo. (singing with tight staccato) "Be bop a lu-la she ma ba-by." That kicks the echo into a rhythm. When we had the two guitars in, it was too jangly and it didn't swing, so I was talking to Ian and singing it to him with the echo on, just me on bass and him on drums. Wait a minute, this is the way to do it, this sounds enough.

Tell me something about the three new songs.

I had one already called 'What It Is' that was sort of bluesy that I thought might be good to try. It was actually one I'd written for Linda so there was a sentimental attachment to that. I thought I'd throw it at them and try a version. Chris Thomas thought it was a good idea to try some new ones but thought it would be tricky to make them fit. While we were making the album, as we were playing 'Run Devil Run' back one of the guys said, "Who's record was this, man?" so that was a good sign, proof that it fitted.

What made you write that one?

I was in Atlanta recently with one of my kids and we went down to the funky area of town and found this shop that sold various kind of potions to stop evil, "Put this in your bath and it'll chase the devil out" seemed a bit voodoo to me, sprinkling powder for your floors...

Shake and vac the devil away...

Yeah! It actually said that on there, "Stop troublesome neighbours, evil relatives, get rid of bad people from your life, put some of this in your bath and then carry a piece of white cloth anointed in this oil and repeat the Lord's Prayer." All a bit superstitious, and one of these products was called Run Devil Run and I thought that was good rock'n'roll title. The album cover is the shop where I found the stuff.

You said you discussed this album with Linda. Why was she into the idea?

She was surprised when we met that I liked to sit at home and play loud guitar. I'd have the AC30 in the living room and crank it up with me Epiphone and just (makes rockin' noise) and she'd say "Oh, I love that. You should do that." She wanted me to play guitar solos like Neil Young does now, living the dream, doesn't give a shit and he's rocking. Linda knew I could do that and was always encouraging me to. And when she died I thought Right, can't put it off, gotta do it.

And the nice thing now is, people are expecting a certain kind of record from me after Linda's died, I've heard it from a few sources, "I wonder what he'll do now, it'll be very introspective, sad songs for Linda," and it's quite nice to go against the current. Though I've not done that on purpose, it's like when 'Give Ireland Back To The Irish' was banned and I happened to do 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' as the next record and people said, "Oh that's two fingers up to the people who banned that, they can't ban this one." and that wasn't true. I didn't do it for that reason but it was perceived like that.

Somebody said about Run Devil Run that it's as if Linda's on it – there are a couple of tracks that sound like she's there. I don't know what that's about.

It does sound like there's a female voice at some points.

There isn't.

On 'Run Devil Run's' chorus...

Yeah, that's what she would have done. She's found her way on. She's a clever girl. I got a post card from her 14 days after she died, from Arizona. Funny postcard, very cute. She was always thinking ahead. I got a birthday present last year from her in June and she died in April. She was that kind of girl, "I know, I'll get that made for his birthday." The kids gave it to me all rather (pulls apprehensive face) "I'm not sure you'll want this, but this is from mum." Do I want it? Not half.

People are going to read stuff into 'Try Not To Cry' aren't they?

Yeah, I hadn't realised that that was 'appropriate'. You don't always realise the meaning of things as you write them, you're just throwing stuff out and sometimes it's only when it lands that you're able to get objective. There are some little references in there inevitably. But I'm writing some other stuff currently and that probably is more to do with it, to do with her.

What were you searching for in the old songs as you went through the manila envelope?

Just heart, passion, something that actually made me go warm when I thought about it. 'She Said Yeah', I remember how I turned Mick Jagger on to that in the '60s. I'd always been meaning to do it and I never got around to it. I was up in the music room one day and Mick came round and I was playing some records to him and I remember Larry Williams' 'She Said Yeah' – and dancing around to it – and 'Aint Too Proud To Beg', The Tempations, he loved 'em. He actually [covered] both of them.

There was this one particular bar in Hamburg that had a jukebox and [The Beatles] used to go there and play pool with Derry and the Seniors, that was their hang-out. This jukebox had two great tunes on it, 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' by The Platters and 'Shake A Hand' by Little Richard and any time I was there I'd get a beer, play a bit of pool and listen to those two records. I could never find 'Shake A Hand' though, I never got the record. It's a gospel song, in America they know it by somebody else.

'Honey Hush' was a great memory for me. John and Stuart had an art student flat in Gambia Terrace, a big old-fashioned terrace with high-ceilinged rooms and the view out of the window was the Liverpool Cathedral. The first time George and I stayed out all night was there when I was about 15. And there was nothing there, we were used to beds and there was a mattress and John and Stuart were sleeping there and we were having to kip in chairs, undoing these Benzedrine inhalers because we'd read somewhere that if you undid them and chewed them they had an upper in them and we ended up talking all night. It was very frugal. It remembers better than it was, actually, no sleep, eyes burning, all that. But I remember in the morning John leaning out of this mattress, reaching over, yawning, you know, in his vest and underpants, and just putting this little Dansette on that was beside the bed and it was 'Honey Hush': "Come into this house, stop all of that yakety yak."

So it wasn't always the song or how good the singer was, it was how good my memory of it was, whether it was a really glowing hot ember of a memory.

Was it therapeutic for you to go back to this stuff?

Yeah, it was actually. Brilliant. I really felt great at the end of the week.

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zukkaoru · 2 years

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🌼 always there to brush your hair

“My dad will have to cut off all my hair.” It’s a silly thing to worry about when two days ago, Jinora’s dad and his siblings and Korra all nearly died. But it’s always been a lingering fear in the back of her mind. She wants the tattoos, and she’s ready for them - she knows she is. But that doesn’t erase the uneasy twist in her stomach at the idea of her hair being gone. “He will,” Kai acknowledges, “but it’ll totally be worth it when you see how awesome you look with those tattoos!” He pushes himself off the wall and walks over to Jinora, coming to a stop behind her. “Besides,” he says, “it’s just hair. It’ll grow back, if you want it to.”

or: the intersection of hair & growth

🌼 a late fic for @kainora-week day 7: hair 🌼 3.7k words || rated g

#kainoraweek2022 #i didn't see a cut off date for late submissions so hopefully this is still okay sdkhksjg #i wanted to finish it regardless though bc nonbinary jinora!!! and also trans kai showed up #i didn't even try. partway through the fic he was just like btw i'm trans and i was like. alright cool #ANYWAY i hope you all enjoy #kainora #tlok #kai #jinora #jinora x kai #the legend of korra #avatar: the legend of korra #atlok #a:tlok #ikki #grace's writing tag #also i am now one (1) tlok fic away from having the same number of tlok & 0uat fics posted on ao3 #and two tlok fics away from it overtaking 0uat 🥳#we are getting closer and closer to the day when 0uat is no longer in my top five.....

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raelle-writing · 2 years

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Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: KinnPorsche: The Series (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Pete Phongsakorn Saengtham/Vegas Kornwit Theerapanyakun

Epilogue Preview:

Pete nestled his cheek on Vegas’ shoulder, one hand coming to press against his stomach, away from any of his injuries. The contact felt nice and Vegas let himself relax further, letting out a low breath.

The two laid in silence for a while, the air quiet between them. Eventually, Vegas traced his fingers up to brush through Pete’s hair. “Are you okay, baby?” he asked, voice low.

“Mm.” Pete’s hum was somewhere in the range of noncommittal. “Better when I’m here with you.”

That made warmth curl in Vegas’ chest and he pressed a kiss into Pete’s hair. “I’m better when you’re here in my arms too,” he murmured softly and felt Pete shift closer to him, fingers tightening to grip his shirt.

“I get anxious when you’re out of my sight,” he admitted quietly.

“Me too.”

Pete was silent for a moment. “We’re a bit pathetic, aren’t we?”

That made Vegas let out a dry laugh, side once again burning. He ignored it. “Perhaps we are.” He brushed his fingers through Pete’s hair again. “Why don’t we just stay in bed today?”

Pete let out a low laugh. “A bit lazy, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But we both went through it yesterday.”

“That’s true.” Pete’s fingers loosened around Vegas’ shirt slowly and he let out a sigh. “What should we do?”

Vegas considered for a brief moment. “Watch a movie?

Pete considered for a moment, then glanced up into his face. “Okay. That sounds nice. I’ll grab the laptop.”

#NOTE THE NEW RATING #vegas and pete weren't going to let me write another chapter without them fucking sooooo here we are #i really like this chapter #Vegas finds out about the torture #anyway I hope you all enjoy #vegaspete #kinnporshe the series #vegas theerapanyakul #pete saengtham #kinnporsche fanfic #vegaspete fanfic

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johnsbleu · 2 years

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Hold My Hand: John Wick x Reader Chapter 141

warnings: a nsfw moment ;) hmh masterlist

Laying on the bed, you stare up at the ceiling and wait for John. You put the sheet over your face and exhale loudly, then you pull it down when you hear his shoes on the stairs as he comes up your room to help you get new sheets on the bed.

“Sorry,” he laughs when you lean up on your elbows and look at him, “Sometimes it’s hard to leave her, okay?”

You laugh as he pulls you up, “I’m aware. She is very cute.”

“She’s been a little…clingy.” John says as he takes the edge of the sheet from you and puts it on the mattress, “I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

You scoff, “I had to bring her into the bathroom with me when I…ya know.”

“Yeah,” he laughs, “Well, she loves her mom.”

“And her mom loves her, but her mom also wants a little bit of privacy when she’s doing her business in the bathroom.” you laugh, then you stand up to put your pillow into a fresh pillow case. “I’m worried that maybe we shouldn’t go out tonight.”

John shakes his head as he looks at you, “No, we have to. We haven’t had a real date night in a long time.”

“I know, but she--”

“Peach…” John sighs and walks over to you, “We need this. We need a date night.”

Your eyes grow sad as you look at him, “Need?”

“Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have phrased it like that.” he looks down, shaking his head as he sighs before he looks at you, “Nothing has changed between us. Not a single thing has changed between you and I since becoming parents. I’m still crazy about you. You know that.”

“I know, I just…kinda get insecure sometimes, especially now that we’re parents.” you whisper, then you shake your head, “It’s fine. I’m just being stupid.”

John cups your face and smiles at you, “I am crazy about you.”

“I’m sorry I’m being annoying.”

“You’re not annoying!” he laughs as he leans down to kiss you. “We’re going out tonight, okay?”

You inhale deeply and nod, “Okay.”

“And we’re going to have fun.”

“Right.” you nod again, and John cocks up his eyebrow when you don’t seem excited. You wrap your arms around his waist and laugh, “Right!”

John chuckles, “I need a little more enthusiasm.”

“We’re gonna have fun!” you say, then you tilt your head back and smile at him. “We are. I always have fun with you.”

“We’re going to have fun, and you’re going to get all dolled up and wear a pretty dress,” he says, playing with your hair, “And you’re going to look so beautiful and happy.”

You smile, “I’m always happy when I’m with you.”

John leans down and presses a kiss to your lips, “Good.”

Ronan won’t be going to your mom’s house until later this evening, so you’re spending the afternoon just tidying up the house with John’s help. He’s currently mopping the floor while Ronan does some tummy time on her play-mat in the living room. She can see both you and John, so she’s not fussing but every time you’re out of her sight, she starts to cry.

You noticed that in these past few days that she gets very upset when you leave the room, even if John is with her. It’s really hard to hear her cry and you don’t know what to do. Part of you wants to just hold her and never put her down, but there’s another part that wants to just hide in the pantry closet and cry yourself.

You bend over to tie the trash bag closed, then you exhale and look up at John, “Gonna take this out.”

“Okay. Might wanna go through the garage. The floor is wet over there,” he says, pointing to the front door.

You put your shoes on and grab the garbage, then you head through the kitchen and outside. The moment you’re out of her sight, you hear Ronan crying loudly, so you quickly rush over to put the bag in the garbage can before you head back inside.

“It’s okay, bug. Momma is coming back,” John says softly as he soothes her, then he looks up, “Look, there she is.”

“Hi, baby.” you sit down on the couch next to them and lean over to kiss her but she just reaches for you as she cries, “No, daddy can hold you right now.”

John lets out a small laugh, then he hands her off to you, “It’s okay. She just wants mom.”

You sigh a little as you take her from him, then you watch as he gets up to finish mopping the floor. You bounce Ronan in your arms and reach down for one of her toys, then you look at John again.

He was a little hurt. He’d never admit it but he was.

“Ro, you know who my favorite person in the world is? Well, I mean, aside from you, of course.” you say, and you see a smile spread across John’s face before he looks at you, “Daddy is my favorite person. He’s so sweet and considerate, and he’s always putting other people before himself even when he doesn’t need to. He’s patient, kind, and smart. He’s the best man I think you and I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. I’m pretty crazy about him. He’s also like, ridiculously handsome, which is a lovely bonus, but his heart is definitely the best thing about him.”

John laughs as he walks over to kiss you, “Thanks.”

You hold Ronan up so John can kiss her too, then he takes her when she reaches for him. He kisses her cheek several times and hugs her tight in his arms, then he closes his eyes and smiles.

“You’ve completely exceeded any expectations I had about you as a dad, you know that?” you say, and John sits down next to you. “There was no doubt you’d be an amazing dad, but damn, you’re so good at this. She is so comfortable with you too, so I know she trusts you so much, which I mean, why wouldn’t she? But still! You’re such a good dad.”

John chuckles, “Thanks, baby.”

“I love seeing you as a dad.” you whisper to him, and he smiles softly, “It looks so good on you.”

“Motherhood looks good on you too.” he smiles, leaning over to kiss you. “You’re a great mom, which is evident since she screams when you leave the room.”

You sigh a little, “I don’t want her to scream when I leave the room though.”

John laughs, “Well, of course not.”

You lean forward to grab your phone, then you look up to see what it says about separation anxiety in babies--you had it when you were younger. You nod your head as you read through it, then you reach over and hold Ronan’s hand when she gets a bit fussy.

“It starts around eight months but you may start seeing indications as early as four months.” you say, then you look over at Ronan and smile when she grunts like she knows you’re talking about her.

John bounces her a little, “Why are they saying it’s happening?”

“Between four and seven months babies begin to realize that people and objects exist even when they can’t see them. It’s called object permanence.” you read, then you look at him, “So, she’s just realizing that we exist, essentially.”

“Well, she’s almost five months, so I suppose that makes sense.”

You bite your cheek and nod, then you read, “Oh, here’s some tips to help with it. Time your leaves, don’t make a big deal out of leaving, practice separation at home, create an exit ritual, and keep your promises.”

John nods, “That’s helpful.”

“Yeah,” you show John your phone, “There’s little descriptions for each tip too. I think that timing when we leave and not making a big deal about it are good ones. There won’t be much that we can do for her tonight since we’ll be dropping her off before she goes to bed, but we just won’t make a huge deal about it and we’ll promise that we’ll be back to get her in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me,” John nods, then he looks down at Ronan and kisses the top of her head.

You put your phone down on the table, then you look at Ronan as she kicks her legs, “I need to go water all the plants. I just have to fill up the watering can in the kitchen first. I’ll be right back, I promise!”

Ronan blows raspberries and looks at you, then she waves her arms around and kicks her legs, making John laugh a little. You get up from the couch and head into the kitchen, but you keep your ears open just in case she starts to cry. You get some water for the plants, then you walk out and smile when you see Ronan playing with the TV remote as John holds her. He smiles at you and watches as you water several plants near the window and the one on the fireplace.

“We’ll have to figure out what to do with those plants when she starts crawling.”

You laugh as you look through your plants and pull off any dead leaves, “Yeah, definitely. A few of these probably need to be hung up. I always wanted a really cool bathroom with a big window so it had enough light for plants, but we don’t have that in our bathroom.”

“I can--”

“No! I’m not suggesting you do anything to our bathroom upstairs. It’s fine the way it is.” you say, then you point to the bathroom next to the kitchen, “Maybe we could redo the bathroom this summer or something though.”

John nods, “Sounds good. It would be nice to open it up in there. Maybe even expand the laundry room into the guest bedroom, then the guest bedroom into the den. We never use it, so maybe we could do that.”

You set the watering can down on the table and walk over to Ronan when you see her sweet little brown eyes just locked onto you. You smile when she reaches for you, and you take her and sit down in John’s lap.

“Mom and dad really need a date night, so can we please be good?”

John chuckles, “She’s gonna be great.”

You smooth her little wispy brown hair away from her face, then you kiss her cheek, “Best girl.”

You lean back in John’s arms as he kisses your cheek, then you wrap your right arm around his neck and smile at him before resting your forehead against his and closing your eyes.

Thankfully you were able to get away for an hour or so to shower and do your hair for tonight since Ronan went down for a nap. John hopped in on the tail end of your shower so that while you were doing your makeup, he could get Ronan fed.

You’re still a little hesitant about going out tonight, but John keeps reassuring you that everything will be okay. He’s really looking forward to going out tonight, so you want to do this. You two really do need a date night.

Taking a deep breath, you unbuckle yourself and get out of the car while John reaches into the back and gets Ronan from her car seat. You get her bag, then you head up to the front door where your dad is standing and waiting to hold Ronan.

“Hi, sweetheart.” he smiles at you, then he smiles wider when he sees Ronan all bundled up to keep her warm, “Hi, Ronan!”

Ronan sticks her tongue out and looks around as John holds her, then she squeals and tries her best to move in her big snowsuit. You smile when John kneels down and gets her out of it, then you look over your shoulder when you hear your mom.

“She’s having some separation anxiety, so if she gets too fussy, just call me. I’ll have my phone with me the whole time.” you say, and your mom puts her hand on your shoulder to calm you down. “I’m just worried.”

“You were the same way around this age. Once we get some toys in front of her, she’ll be fine.”

You nod as you look over at Ronan as she’s handed off to your dad. You hold your breath and wait for her to fuss but she doesn’t, which makes you relax a little.

“Hey,” John touches your lower back, “We better head out so we can make those reservations. Remember, not a big deal.”

“Right.” you nod your head, then you walk over to kiss Ronan’s cheek, “We’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning. We promise!”

John kisses Ronan’s cheek, then he reaches for your hand, waving at Ronan with his free hand, “I love you.”

Your mom holds up a toy to distract Ronan, “She’s going to be fine, honey.”

“I know,” you sigh, then you smile at Ronan and wave, “I love you, bug.”

John tugs your hand a little and nods his head, then he holds the door open for you. You look over your shoulder and watch as your dad walks with Ronan into the living room, and you don’t hear a peep from her.

You finally let out a big breath as you walk to the car and get in, then you look over at John as he turns the heat up and places his hand on your thigh. You sigh and look up at the house until John squeezes your leg.

“We’re going to have fun.” he whispers, and you nod and pick at your nails.

“Do I look okay?”

John moves his hand a little higher up under your skirt, “You look fantastic. Hey…”

“What?”

“I love you.” he whispers, and you laugh as you lean over to kiss him. “Let’s go have some fun.”

You nod your head and smile at him, “Yeah.”

John sits back to put on his seat belt, then he places his hand on back on your thigh and keeps a tight grip on it as he backs out of the driveway.

Putting your hand over your mouth, you squeeze your eyes shut, tilt your head back and laugh loudly. You practically gasp for air as you look across the table at John, who is beaming with pride since he’s made you laugh so hard. He genuinely is so damn funny without even realizing it.

You laugh as you shake your head, “You’re so cute.”

John shrugs a little as he blushes, “Thanks.”

After letting out a big breath, you look at him and prop your head up on your hand, “This has been fun.”

“It has been,” he squeezes your hand and smiles, “It’s nice to get out of the house with you.”

“Yeah. I’m obviously always fine with date nights where we just order food and watch a movie at home since I just like spending time with you and we’re both home bodies, but it is nice to get dressed up every now and then.”

John nods, “And you look beautiful. You should bring this dress to Paris.”

“I plan on it.” you smile at him, holding his gaze, “With the way you’re looking at me, hell yeah, I’m bringing it.”

You reach up to move your hair away from your face as you hold John’s gaze, and he sits up to lean across the table to kiss you. You cup his face in your hands and press your lips to his a few times, then you smile when he sits back down and reaches for your hand.

“I was thinking…” you play with his fingers and look at him, “When we get home…”

“Yeah…” John laughs as he nods his head, then he looks over your shoulder and furrows his brow, “Hey, isn’t that…”

You look over your shoulder and smile when April and Jen walk over to your table hand in hand, and you get up to hug them both.

“Crazy running into you two here.” you say, hugging April a little tighter since you miss her so much. “I see you called her…”

Jen laughs, “She did. I was planning on calling her first but she texted me the next day--the weekend after we met.”

John hugs them both, ��It’s nice to see you two.”

“Date night for mom and dad?” Jen asks, reaching for April’s hand again.

“Yeah,” you nod and look over at John, “Ro has been having a bit of separation anxiety these past few days, but she seems to be doing okay tonight with my parents.”

April nods as she smiles, “Well, I’m still completely fine with taking her if you want to go away for the weekend.”

“Hey, we’ll take you up on that sometime.” John says, and you laugh.

Jen nods, “We’d love to take her.”

“She’d love to see more of you two. We’d love to see more of you two,” you say, gesturing to you and John. “Last summer, John and Jimmy went in together and got a lake house, so we definitely want to have a weekend up there with our family this spring or summer. You two are always welcome, you know that.”

April nods her head, then she laughs as she puts her hand over her face, “Every time I see you, I get emotional! Ugh!”

You walk over and hug her, “I hope you’re okay out there in big ol’ New York City.”

“I am,” she nods, holding you tight, “I just miss you and Tess so much.”

“We miss you.” you whisper, then you lean back and look at her with tears in your eyes, “I wish we were closer to you.”

April nods, “We always said when we’d have kids, we’d all be close.”

“Hey,” you cup her face, “You got a great job! I don’t blame you for moving. Also I’ve seen your apartment, I do not blame you for moving.”

April laughs as she wipes away the tear on her face, “Well, if things go well with her, maybe we’ll move closer. She lives in Oyster Bay and her family lives here in Brighton.”

You look over at Jen as she talks with John, then you smile at April, “Then let’s hope things go well. Are they so far?”

“Yeah,” she blushes as she looks down, “I really like her. It sucks that I live there and she’s in Oyster Bay, but we’re making it work.”

“I absolutely adore her.” you say, then you nudge Jen’s shoulder, “Can’t believe how jealous I was when I first met her. I totally thought she was like…John’s ex or something.”

Jen laughs, shaking her head, “Handsome but…not my type. I just hadn’t realized that yet.”

April reaches over and squeezes John’s arm, “So good to see you making her so happy.”

“Yeah, kinda crazy about him or whatever,” you say, playfully rolling your eyes.

John wraps his arm around your shoulder and pulls you closer, “She’s nuts for me.”

“Yeah, true.”

“I am for her too though.” he smiles, and you let out a small laugh when April puts her hand over her heart.

Jen reaches for your hand and squeezes it, “We’ll let you two get back to dinner. We all need to hang out sometime soon. We’ll have to check our schedules.”

“We’re pretty much always free, sometimes we just have a baby that tags along. Same goes for Tess and Jimmy.”

“I don’t mind!” April smiles wide, “And I want to see my niece and nephew more! I miss those babies!”

You laugh as you hug them both and say goodbye, then you sit down at the table and look across it at John as he reaches for your hand again. You put your finger up and reach over to get your phone from your purse, then you furrow your brow when you see two missed calls from your mom.

“My mom’s called twice,” you say, pressing the phone to your ear as you grow more anxious, “Why would she have called me?”

John shrugs, “I’m not sure.”

“Hello? Mom?”

“Hi, sweetheart.” she says, and your stomach drops when you hear Ronan crying in the background, “I’m so sorry to call but she hasn’t stopped crying for nearly an hour. I didn’t want to call but…I think it’s best if you come back.”

You nod, “No, it’s fine. We’ll leave right now.”

John sits up and gets his wallet out, then he throws some cash down and grabs his jacket to put on. He helps you up from your chair while you stay on the phone with your mom, then he puts your jacket over your shoulders and walks to the front of the restaurant.

“Nothing is working though?”

“I got her to stop for a little bit when I showed her a new toy, but it didn’t last long. I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

You shake your head, “No, it’s fine. It’s my fault for thinking it was a good idea to leave when she was like this anyway. We’re just getting in the car now, we’ll hurry as fast as we can.”

“No, take your time. No sense on driving recklessly when all she’s doing is crying. She’s okay. She just wants her mom and dad.”

“Okay. We’ll be there as soon as we can be then.” you say, then you get in the car with John’s help. “Bye, mom.”

John quickly hops in and starts the car, then he pulls out of the parking spot without saying anything. You sit back in your seat and sigh as you look out the window while John takes shortcuts to get back to Oyster Bay quicker.

“So stupid,” you say under your breath.

“You’re not.” John says, and you look over at him. “You’re not stupid, peach. We wanted to have a nice night out together. It just got cut a little short. That’s okay. And she’s fine, baby. She’s just starting to miss us. She’s fine. She’s a perfectly healthy baby.”

You prop your head up on your fist and rest your elbow on the center console, then you start to cry, “What if she never gets over this phase? What if she’s traumatized for life now?”

“She will get over this, sweetheart.” John reaches over and pats your thigh, “She’s just growing up and learning that we’re real! We didn’t traumatize her either. It’s one night.”

You laugh tearfully, “I know, I just feel bad. The poor thing probably thinks we’re never coming back for her.”

John squeezes your thigh, “And she’ll forget all about it by tomorrow. We’ll just have to really figure out a schedule and keep to the tips. We can always call Doctor Marlene as well.”

“That’s true.” you nod, looking at him, “Maybe I’ll call her tomorrow morning and ask her what we should do.”

“Good idea.” he says, then he exhales softly and puts the blinker on to turn onto the highway back to Oyster Bay.

The car is silent as John gets on the highway until he leans forward and turns the radio up a little, filling the car with some music. He places his hand back on your thigh, then he reaches up for your hand and holds it.

“Hey,” he looks over at you and smiles, “You look beautiful tonight.”

You let out a small laugh, “Thank you. You look very handsome.”

John brings your hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it, “It was nice to see you laughing and smiling.”

“You too,” you smile as he kisses your hand again. You sigh as you look at him, “Once we get her home and settled down, I promise to not be so stressed out.”

“I don’t blame you for worrying. I’m worrying too. She’s our baby. We worry.”

You nod, then you lean over to kiss his cheek, “Our date night isn’t over yet.”

“It isn’t?”

“Uh, you promised me dessert earlier!”

John laughs as he nods, “I did. You settled on a piece of chocolate cake, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, well, the bakery isn’t open now.”

“I’ll stop by the grocery store and get you a piece of cake.”

You smile as you look over at him, “The best husband ever!”

John chuckles, then he takes a deep breath, “I was kind of hoping you’d say you wanted me for dessert, but that’s okay.”

“Who says I can’t have chocolate cake and you?” you look at him and smile, and he moves his hand up your thigh a little more.

It doesn’t take long for the worry to settle back into the pit of your stomach though.

Ronan is shrieking loudly as you walk into the living room and spot your mom trying her best to soothe her and your dad showing her every toy they have, and you walk over and take her from your mom.

“I know, baby.” you whisper to her as you bounce her in your arms, “I know. We’re here now. I’m so sorry that we left you but we were always coming back, bug. We’d never leave you.”

Your mom smiles softly before she sits down and exhales, “She’s probably tired on top of it all.”

“It’s past your bedtime, bug.” John laughs as he leans down to kiss Ronan’s cheek.

Patting Ronan’s bottom, you bounce on your knees and watch as John grabs her snowsuit. You take her blanket from her bag and wrap her up in it, then you shake your head when John offers her snowsuit to you.

“She’s fine. The car is warm. She’ll just fight me when I try to put that on her.” you say, then you look at your mom, “Sorry that she was a handful.”

Your mom waves it off, “She’s never a handful. She’s just having some anxiety. She’ll need some good snuggles from mom and dad.”

“Yeah, definitely.” John nods, looking over at you.

“Was your date night good though?”

You nod, “It was. We ran into April and Jen, so it was nice to catch up with them for a moment.”

Ronan has stopped crying and has started to fall asleep in your arms, so you hoist her up a little, which prompts your mom and dad to get up and walk to the door with you.

You smile as you turn around to look at them, “I’m sorry--”

“Stop apologizing, kiddo. We love having her, whether she’s crying or not.” your dad says, and you nod your head. He walks over and kisses your cheek, then he kisses the top of Ronan’s head. “We’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“Love you. Bye.”

John shakes hands with your dad as your mom kisses your cheek, then she kisses Ronan and puts the blanket up to shield Ronan’s face from the cold. You smile at them as John opens the door and reaches out for you, then you walk out to the car with him.

You carefully get Ronan into her car seat without waking her up, then you make sure her blanket is on her before you close the door. The car was running while you were in the house, so it’s still nice and warm. You get in and pull on your seat belt, then you look back to make sure Ronan is still sleeping.

Instead of turning left like he would if he was heading to Mill Neck, John turns right. You scrunch your brows together as you look over at him, and he starts to laugh.

“I promised my girl some chocolate cake.” he press a kiss to your hand and smiles, “And I always keep my promises.”

Closing your eyes, you sway back and forth with Ronan in your arms for a few moments until you know she’s asleep again. She woke up for a moment when you brought her inside but she fell back asleep while you were changing her diaper. You lean your head against hers and rub her back, then you kiss her cheek and poke your head out to see John coming upstairs so he can say goodnight to her.

John comes around the corner and smiles at you, then he leans down to kiss her a few times before you put her in her bed. He rubs your back as you both look down at her, then he presses his fingers into your back a little to get you to leave the room.

“She’s okay. She’s always been a good sleeper,” he whispers, then he closes the door a little as you lean back against the railing. “Let’s go eat some cake.”

You laugh as you take John’s hand and head downstairs to the kitchen, then you sit at the kitchen counter and watch as he cuts into the cake.

“I said I wanted a piece, not a whole cake.” you say as he laughs.

John looks at you and smiles, “You deserve a whole cake. Today has been rough.”

“Yeah, it has.” you nod, then you take the plate when John pushes it across the counter to you. You take a bite of it and hum as you close your eyes, “So good.”

After cutting a piece for himself, John sits down next to you and eats in silence with you for a few moments. You get up and grab two glasses from the cupboard, then you pour some milk into them and hand one to John.

“It was nice to see Jen and April.”

You nod, “Yeah, it was. I don’t know if you heard, but April said that if things go well and they get more serious, she’s thinking about moving to Oyster Bay to be closer to Jen.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” you nod, then you take the empty dishes and put them in the dishwasher, “I mean, if she’s thinking about it, then she must think that things are going to get more serious. Oyster Bay hospital is great, and they’d probably love to have her there.”

John laughs, “Already planning her new career for her, aren’t you?”

“Seeing her tonight made me realize how much I miss her. You weren’t around for long before she moved to the city, so you didn’t get to know her very well, but she really was my best friend too. Her, Tess, and I were inseparable.” you shrug as John gets up and walks over to you, “You obviously don’t know her as well as you know Tess, but if you did, she’d be teasing you just like Tess does.”

John scoffs before he laughs, “I don’t believe that.”

“Yeah…” you laugh as you walk with him to the living room, “True. No one teases you like Tess does.”

“Do you think Jen and her will get more serious?”

You reach under your shirt to unhook your bra, then you pull it through your sleeve as John watches with a smile on his face, “I’ve been dying to take it off since I put it on earlier. Anyway, I’d like to think they will. They’re a great couple, and I think they compliment each other well. April is pretty reserved but Jen isn’t too out there for her, you know?”

“Yeah, I get what you mean.”

“I know it’s selfish on my part but I’d love for them to get more serious and move to Oyster Bay. I miss seeing April. When we were in high school, we made a promise that when we had kids, we’d all keep close so our babies could grow up together. Obviously my babies and Tess’ will always grow up together.”

John reaches for your hand and holds it, “Well, maybe they’ll get more serious and move out here.”

“I hope so.” you say, then you exhale as you look over at John, “Do you think Ronan is going to be okay?”

“I do,” he nods, then he turns over your hand and presses a kiss to your palm, “It’ll be a little bit of an adjustment these next few weeks to figure out what the right things are that we need to do, but we’ll figure it out. We always do.”

You sit up and put your head in your hands as you cry, and you feel the couch dip a little as John sits up and wraps his left arm around your waist. He rubs your back and kisses your shoulder, then he tilts your chin up so you’ll look at him.

“What if it’s all too much for you? What if this thing never passes with Ronan?”

“What?” John furrows his brow and shakes his head, “Why do you do that? Why do you always think I’m going to take off?”

You wipe away the tears on your face and shrug as you look down at the mascara on your finger, “I don’t know.”

“I never question whether you’d take off and leave, so why do you do it with me? I love you and Ronan. I love being your husband. I love being her dad. I fucking love the life we have, and I fought like hell to have it. I don’t understand why you think I’d take off after all of that. I have the same obligations to this family as you.”

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, shaking your head, “It’s just a lot sometimes.”

John nods, “I know it is, but that’s why it’s important for you and I to stay strong. She won’t be like this forever, baby.”

You look at John and nod your head, “I’m sorry. I know you love Ro and I. I know you love being here and being a family. It’s just…my dad. I need to learn to let it go and remember that you’re nothing like him. You’re the most amazing man that I know. You wouldn’t hurt me. I know that. I love you, John, I really do. I’m sorry.”

“I know.” he pulls you closer to him, then he sits back on the couch with you in his arms, “13 years from now, we’ll be sitting on the couch trying our hardest to get her to just sit and watch a movie with us.”

You laugh as you look up at him, “We’ll just beg her to at least watch one movie.”

“Probably have to bribe her to hang out with us.” he says, and you laugh quietly, “We’ll have to sit through whatever teeny-bopper movie she’s into.”

You let go of him and laugh, “Did you just say teeny-bopper?”

“Yeah,” he laughs, watching you laugh harder. “She’s probably gonna have a huge crush on the main character, her room will be covered in posters of them. She’ll bring it up in every conversation.”

“Can you imagine?” you sit up and look at him, “Like, one day she might go to prom…”

John widens his eyes and shakes his head, “Hate that thought.”

“What? Our daughter going to a dance with a date?”

“Going to prom means she’s getting older.” he says, and you jut out your bottom lip when he looks so sad. “I hate the thought of her getting older.”

You nod as you reach for his hand, “I always say it: we have a long way to go. And we’ll have other babies too!”

John inhales deeply and looks over at you, “The idea of more babies right now…”

“Well, yeah,” you laugh as he shakes his head, “Not right now, of course.”

You sit up and look down as you rotate your wedding ring, then you look around the living room and glance at John to see him with his eyes closed. You smile a little as you get up from the couch, then you head upstairs to your room so you can get ready for bed.

After changing into your pajamas, you head into the bathroom to take off your makeup, wash your face, and brush your teeth. You expect John to be in bed by the time you’re done, but the bed is empty. You walk out and see him still on the couch, so you lean over the railing and softly call out to him.

“John…”

John sits up a little and looks around the living room, then he looks over his shoulder at you.

“You coming up to bed?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be right up.” he says, and you walk back to the bedroom and get in bed.

A few minutes pass before John comes around the corner as he yawns, then he pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it into the hamper. He sits down on the edge of the bed after he’s taken off his pants, then he looks over his shoulder.

“Mrs. Wick…” he says in a singsong manner, “I’m waiting.”

You laugh as you get up and crawl over to him, then you kiss his back like you do just about every time he sits down on the foot of the bed. You wrap your arms around him and lean your cheek against his back as you close your eyes but you still press a kiss to his back every few seconds.

“Are you tired?”

“No,” you shake your head and lean up to rest your chin on his shoulder, “Are you?”

John inhales deeply and pulls your arms around him, “Nope.”

You hold his gaze as he turns around to look at you, then you smile when he reaches up to cup your face. You close your eyes as he gently runs his finger along your jawline and to your bottom lip, and you open your mouth to suck on his thumb as he leans over to kiss your neck.

“Let me help take your mind off things,” he whispers softly in your ear, and you nearly moan over his warm and delicious voice.

Reaching over, you place your hand on the crotch of his boxers, then you pull them back and slide your hand in, immediately taking him into your hand and stroking him as he grows hard. You kneel on the bed as he kisses you, then you both move back on the bed and wrap your arms around each other as your kisses become frantic.

You gasp when you feel him sneak his hand into your underwear, then you hold his gaze as you spread your legs apart. He slides his finger in deep before he inserts another one, and he smirks when you bite your bottom lip.

“I’m so in love with you.” you whisper to him, and he smiles. “I love the way you touch me.”

John sits up to pull your underwear off, then he lays down on top of you and kisses you hard on the lips. He reaches under your shirt and places his hand on your breast, and you moan as you roll your hips against his erection. You push his boxers down a little to give him the idea that you’re ready for him, but he just moves down and buries his face between your legs.

“Fuck,” you let out a small laugh as you tilt your head back, then you look down at him sucking and kissing on you. You bite your bottom lip and hold his gaze as he eats you out, then you tilt your head back and kiss him when he lays down on top of you again. “You should…you should go shut the door.”

“Shit…” John gets up and quickly walks over to shut the door, then he stands in front of the bed and pulls his boxers off, holding your gaze. You rest back on your hands and spread your legs open to give him a glimpse of what he so badly wants, then you raise your eyebrows at him. “I want you so bad.”

You smile as you beckon him to you with the curl of your finger, and he quickly crawls on the bed and buries you underneath his body as you laugh.

This afternoon, you were able to get in a quick phone call with Ronan’s doctor to talk about her separation anxiety. She basically told you everything that you already read yesterday afternoon, but it was nice to have it confirmed by her actual doctor. You told her that Ronan is still sleeping pretty well at night, but she warned you that it might change and to just be prepared for it, which is why you’re drinking another cup of coffee right now.

Ronan is having her big afternoon nap but she should be up in the next 30 minutes. You’ve just taken Bleu for a walk alone since you just needed some time away for a bit, and John is in the office tending to some work things.

“Hey…” you knock softly on the door and smile at John, “You busy?”

“No, just returning some emails from some clients.” he says, waving you over, “Come in. How was the walk with Bleu?”

You walk over and sit down in the chair next to him, then you exhale, “Much colder than expected.”

John chuckles as he touches your cheek, “Cheeks are all pink and cold. Did you get a hold of the doctor?”

“I did,” you sigh as you set your coffee on the desk, “Which is why I’m not feeling too great right now.”

John reaches for your hand as he grows concerned, “Why?”

“Uh, well, she told me that Ro could have this anxiety for a long time…” you say, and he nods his head, “Like until she’s three and starts to really understand that we will come back.”

“Did she say what we should do?”

You nod, “Everything we read yesterday. She suggested that we don’t leave her with strangers, but we obviously don’t do that. We don’t really let anyone but family watch her.”

“Right,” John nods, then he tilts your chin up, “She’s done better today. She didn’t cry when you took a shower. We’ll just take it one day at a time, stick to schedule, and not make a big deal about goodbyes. We can handle this, mouse.”

“I feel so bad for her. She can’t understand that we’re not leaving her.”

John chuckles, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“She definitely gets it from me.” you say, nodding your head, “She does. I had it when I was little. I mean, my dad literally walked out and got a whole new family because I wasn’t good enough for him.”

“Hey,” John furrows his brow and shakes his head, “That is not true. You are way too good for him.”

You smile as John leans over to kiss your cheek, then you sigh, “I know that it won’t last forever and that it’ll ease up in a month or so, but it just breaks my heart and stresses me out.”

“I know,” he nods, “Me too, but we’ll get it figured out. Team Wick.”

“Team Wick,” you nod, then you get up to sit in his lap, “I guess that brings me to my next talking point.”

John chuckles, “Yeah, what’s that?”

“Our trip to Paris.” you say, and he pats your thigh a little, “We’re leaving in two weeks. She won’t be all that much better in two weeks, so I think we need to postpone it until we’ve seen improvement. Maybe for later this spring or something.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

You cup his face and look at him, “Are you mad?”

“No, of course not. Just…a little bummed, but it’ll be nice to go this spring.” he says, and you lean over to kiss him, “Just wanted you to myself for a week.”

You laugh as you sit up, “I know.”

“But Ronan is our first priority.”

“And I’m not going anywhere.” you say, rubbing your thumb over his cheek, “I’m sticking right by your side through all this, so we might not be alone until we’re in our room at night, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have me. You sure had me last night.”

A smug smile spreads across John’s face, “I sure did.”

“My thighs still hurt.” you whisper as he leans up to kiss your cheek, then you smile at him, “We’ll get some alone time to just hang out with each other. It’s nice that you still just want to hang out with me.”

John laughs, “Because I like you. I like spending time with you and watching whatever horrible movie you’ve chosen.”

You gasp as you get off his lap, “I picked a great movie for us tonight!”

“I’m sure,” he laughs as he walks with you to the living room, then he grabs your waist and pulls you back into his arms, “I love you. We got this.”

You put your hand in his and spin around to face him, then you nod, “We do. I love you so much.”

John leans down to kiss you a few times, then he looks up at Ronan’s room when he hears her babbling. You take a deep breath and hold his gaze when he looks at you, then he kisses you again and heads up to get Ronan from her nap.

You walk over to the couch and fold up the throw blanket, then you drape it over the chair and pick up a few other things while John changes Ronan and brings her down.

“Look, she’s right there. Look. We’re not leaving you.”

You smile when you hear Ronan babbling, then you wave at her as she kicks her legs, “Hi, sweet baby.”

John laughs when Ronan leans over for you to take her, “She wasn’t crying when she saw it was me. Progress.”

“Very true,” you hug her close to your chest and close your eyes, then you look at John and hold his gaze, “We got this.”

“We got this.” he nods, wrapping his arms around you and Ronan. He reaches down and tickles Ronan’s foot and elicits a little laugh from her, then he leans down and nibbles on her fingers. “Nom, nom, nom.”

You hoist her up in your arms a little and gasp when she leans over for John to take her. John smiles as he takes her, then he bounces her and walks around the living room as he sings to her all about how she’s going to have some dinner soon and watch a movie with mom and dad.

It won’t be an overnight thing when it comes to Ronan’s separation anxiety, you know that, but even the smallest thing like her not crying when John went to get her or even her not crying right now as you walk into the kitchen is a big deal. It’s progress! Slowly but surely she’ll realize that you and John aren’t going anywhere. You’re in it for life with your little bug. You’re not going anywhere, and neither is John.

Now if only you could get that through your head.

You poke your head out to see John putting Ronan into her bouncer, which she loves, then you open the fridge and go through it to find something for dinner tonight. You might need to run to the store in a bit. John walks over to you and smiles, then he looks over his shoulder at Ronan as she jumps in her bouncer and smacks her hands against his as Bleu sits by her.

“Progress,” he whispers, and you laugh as you reach over for his hand.

You both wait a few minutes in the kitchen to see what she’ll do when she realizes that you’re not in the living room with her, then you look back in the living room to see her reaching out to tug Bleu’s ear.

“That was good so far,” you whisper, and John nods. “We don’t want to push it though.”

“Yeah,” John nods, then he follows you.

You smile and wave at Ronan, “Hi, bug!”

Ronan begins to hop in her bouncer when she sees you, then she babbles loudly. Bleu pounces at the floor playfully, then he wags his tail and pounces again at Ronan, just waiting for her to play with him.

“You got a few more months to go, Bleu.” you laugh as you sit down on the couch, “Once she can walk, these two are going to be like a tornado.”

John laughs, “Yeah, no doubt.”

“But don’t grow up too fast!” you say to Ronan as she looks at you, “Stay our baby forever.”

“She’ll always be our baby.” John says as he picks her up and sits on the couch next to you, “Won’t you?”

Ronan leans against John’s chest as she looks at you and chews on her fingers, and you lean closer and laugh when she offers them up to you. You playfully nibble on them, then you cup her face.

“My sweet baby,” you whisper, rubbing your thumb over her plump cheek, “I love you so much.”

John presses a kiss to the top of her head, then he pats your thigh, “I’ll run to the store and get us something. You stay here.”

“I’m fine with whatever you decide to get.” you say, leaning over to kiss him, “Whatever you want, I’m cool with.”

“Lobster, got it.” he says, smirking when you laugh. “Nah, I’ll probably just get some deli chicken or something.”

You nod, kissing him again, “Sounds good. Drive safe. It’s slippery out.”

“I will, I love you.” he kisses Ronan’s cheek and pats your thigh.

“We love you, daddy! Bye!” you say, and Ronan juts her bottom lip out and looks up at John.

John lets out a small laugh as he leans down, “I’m coming right back, baby.”

Ronan juts her bottom lip out further, then she opens her mouth and after a few silent seconds, she starts to cry. John looks at you and smiles a little as he kneels in front of the two of you.

“I’ll be right back. You can stay here with momma.” he says, and you smile when Ronan reaches out for him. John takes her and stands up, bouncing on his knees to calm her down, “You’re okay. Daddy is right here.”

You stand up and let out a small laugh as you rub her back, “See, babe? She loves you too.”

John lets out a small sigh, then he looks at you, “Wanna--”

“I’ll go get my bag.” you whisper, then you press a kiss to his lips.

You come back out to see John holding tight to Ronan, and her clinging to his shirt. She reaches out for you when you get closer, then you take her and hoist her up on your hip.

“Jonathan, I think you’re going to have two pretty girls following you around. Is that cool with you?”

John turns around after he grabs your coat and Ronan’s, “It’s very cool with me.”

It’s almost like Ronan realizes that you’re all going to the store together because she lets out a little giggle before kicking her legs, absolutely pleased with herself.

“I think she just wants us to always be together,” John says, and you smile at him as he walks over and kisses Ronan’s cheek, “I like that idea, Ro.”

You tilt your head back and smile at him as he leans down to kiss you, “Me too.”

taglist: @sakurachan-9 | @beingnerdyissupercool | @ruby-octo | @aragornswife | @angie-20000

#john wick x you #john wick x reader #john wick x y/n #john wick imagine #so now it makes sense as to why paris is postponed right?#they're still gonna go don't worry!!#anyway i hope you all enjoy #let me know what u think #okay love you byeeeee #<333333

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the-phantom-peach · 7 months

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Little Big Changes ✂️~

———

CONTEXT~~

A long forgotten short comic I did for pre-totk/post-botw domestic zelink

I love Zel’s hair symbolism especially after altering her status as a “princess”and becoming a Hateno grade school teacher. She’d most likely still maintain some insecurities but that’s what our lovely knight was made for <3

Semi-connected to my previous Signing Link headcanon, Link speaks here for the first time post-Calamity and gets super self-conscious. But of course Zelda doesn’t mind and is happy that Link growing more comfortable after the events of breath of the wild

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hailsatanacab · 5 months

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Family Dinners - dpxdc

"Holy shit, you're Bruce Wayne!" Danny gaped, jabbing a finger at the man sitting at the head of the table.

The bustling dining room goes silent as everyone turns to look at him.

"Danny, who did you think was going to be here?" Tim asks, disbelief plain in his voice and Danny feels his face flush red.

"Sorry, I, uh, I guess I just never put it together. Tim Drake-Wayne. Wayne Manor. It, uh, makes sense now." He laughs sheepishly and scrubs at his neck before slumping back down into his chair.

"Well," Tim says with an indulgent sigh, "at least I know you're not just friends with me for my connections."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, I just never thought about it, I guess."

Danny sinks lower as everyone around him laughs. Come to dinner, he said, the food is the best, he said, ignore the family, he said. Danny really wishes he'd listened to Tim and just ignored them—almost as much as he's regretting accepting the offer in the first place—but... he's having dinner with Batman.

Ancients, that's so weird!

The last time he saw Batman was in the future and, suffice it to say, it was not going well. There hadn't really been time for family dinners there.

Wait. Family dinners?

He peers around the table, openly gawking at everyone as it all clicks into place.

"Everything alright, Danny? Now realising who everyone else is?" Tim asks with a roll of his eyes.

"Uh... something like that..." Danny mumbles as everyone laughs again.

From further down the table, the smallest Wayne scoffs and clicks his tongue.

"I thought you said he was smart, Drake?"

"So, you all do it, too, then?" he asks, ignoring the jibe. Danny's only a little bit jealous as he thinks of how much easier they must have it, how much easier it'd be if his family had been on his side, too. "You all work together?"

"Nah," Dick says from across the table with a brilliant grin. "Tim's the only one that works with Bruce, we all have different jobs. I'm a police officer in Bludhaven."

"Disgusting." Danny blurts out without thinking—because seriously, what kind of self-respecting vigilante would also be a police officer?—before clapping a hand over his mouth. "Sorry."

The whole table laughs again, the loudest being the blonde girl a few spaces down from Dick. Look, Danny wasn't really paying attention to names when they were all paraded in front of him. Dick only gets remembered because his name is a joke.

Come on, Danny, recover!

"That's, uh, not what I meant, though."

"Oh?" Dick asks, cocking his head slightly to the side. Is it Danny's imagination or does his smile tense slightly?

"Yeah, I mean like, you know, in costume. It must make it so much easier to have everyone together like this."

"Costume? What do you mean?"

Yeah, Danny's not imagining it, everyone tenses up at that. It's really only now that he's realising that this probably isn't how he should bring up that he knows about their... night time activities. In fact, he probably shouldn't be bringing it up at all.

"Uuhhh..." Danny looks wildly around the table as he continues making his stupid noise. Think, think, think! There must be a way out of this!

"Danny?" Tim asks, looking concerned.

"Oh, Ancients, this isn't how I wanted it to go at all," he mutters, slipping even further into his chair. He's almost on the floor now and he so, so wishes it could just swallow him up.

His real first meeting with Batman was meant to be cool! He had planned to be Phantom, maybe save them from a tight spot, prove his worth as a mysterious and powerful ally as thanks for the help Batman gave him in the future.

"Danny, what are you talking about?" Tim starts tugging on his sleeve in an attempt to pull him back up from his pit of despair.

Eventually, Danny relents and sits up straighter, hiding his face in his hands and whining all the while.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect him to be here and it threw me off so now I look stupid and it's so embarrassing!" he wails, flailing his arms wide. "Why wouldn't you warn me that Batman was your adopted dad, Tim? Couldn't you have let me know?"

"I'm sorry, what? Danny are you alright? There's no way Bruce can be Batman, look at him!"

"Yeah," the blonde girl laughs from the bottom of the table, "look at him! That's a wet noodle of a man! Batman can actually do things, B is incapable of pretty much everything."

"Thank you, Stephanie," Bruce sighs, massaging his forehead.

It's... Those are the first words Danny's heard Batman say since everything went down and it's enough to knock him out of his embarrassment.

It's really good to hear his voice again. Especially now, when it's strong and healthy and full of personality—even if that personality is little more than a tired father right now—far better than how it had been, at the end.

Danny sits up, back straight, and grins. He's got this. He remembers it perfectly. Some people count sheep to fall asleep, Danny repeats his mantra to be certain that he'll never forget it.

"Gamma alpha upsilon tau iota mu epsilon, 42, 63, 28, 1 colon 65 dash 9."

Once again, the whole table falls into silence.

"Holy shit..." breathes the other D name (Duke? Danny's pretty sure he's Signal) from opposite Stephanie. "Isn't that...?"

"The time travelling code." The littlest Wayne says stiffly. "We have met in the future?"

"That's not just the time travelling code, Dami." Dick says, looking between Danny and Bruce. "That's the family time travelling code."

Danny's grin freezes in place.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"1 colon 65 dash 9." Dick explains, still flicking between him and Bruce. "It means you've been adopted into the family and we should all treat you as such, no questions asked."

"Tell you what, I'm about to ask a question." Danny says, dumbstruck. "You just told me it was a code to identify time travellers, not anything about being adopted! What the hell, B?"

Bruce looks about as shellshocked as Danny feels.

"We must have been close," he says finally, after opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water a few times.

"No! Not that close!" Danny reels back, taking a deep breath ready to refute it all, but... "Well, I mean, you found me when I first got stuck, and you helped me get better despite being... And then we fought together against the, uh, bad guy, before he, um, he... before you couldn't."

An uncomfortable beat passes while they all pick up on what Danny tried so hard not to say.

"So, you're not from the future, then, you travelled there and came back?" Tim asks, breaking the tension and leaning forward with a glint in his eye.

"Yeah, it was a whole end of the world thing, but don't worry about it," Danny says with a hand wave, "It's all kosher now, won't ever happen."

"What did happen?"

"Seriously, don't worry about it, we cool."

"How long in the future was it?"

"About ten years? You were pretty spry for an old man, B," Danny laughs, wishing they'd get off the topic of what happened and get back to the adoption bit.

Everyone shares degrees of a cautious smile as they relax out of the shock, and Dick—whose grin is the biggest—says, "No wonder you got the family code, you're already riffing on him like one of us. How long were you there for?"

"A week, before I managed to get back to my present and stop him then."

"A week? Jeez, B, that has to set some kind of record, seriously."

"Oh!" Danny says, sitting bolt upright and blinking in surprise before pointing at Dick and bouncing in his seat. "You're Nightwing!"

"What?"

"That's exactly what Nightwing said when Batman told me the code! Makes so much more sense now."

Dick laughs and claps his hands, delighted.

"You were not formally adopted?" The grumpy small one—Dami?—asks, his face pinched.

"I didn't even know I was informally adopted."

"And your parents? Are they alive or dead?"

"Damian, stop—"

"They were dead in the future, but they're alive now." Danny says, looking down. He fiddles with the tablecloth, twisting the fabric around his fingers as he fights down the pang of sadness that he always feels when he thinks of them now. He forces a bright smile on his face and hopes it doesn’t look too strained. "I just, uh, can't talk to them much, anymore."

"Damian," Dick warns, "1 colon 65 dash 9. Treat them as family, no questions asked."

"This is Damian treating him as family, the little turd has no manners." Tim scoffs, rolling his eyes, but he gently bumps shoulders with Danny to knock him out of his funk. Danny can't help but send him a watery smile.

"I have the most exemplary manners, Drake, unlike some people." Damian spits, crossing his arms with a pout. "I was merely ascertaining his status to see how he could possibly fit into the family."

"I know this is all a bit sudden, Danny," Bruce smiles, ignoring Damian and reaching out to lay a warm hand on his arm, "for all of us. But if I felt strongly enough to give you that code after spending a week with you in the future, then you are more than welcome in this family, if you so choose it. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we'd like to get to know you a bit more."

"I know a threat when I hear it, Bruce." Danny snorts. "But, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry this is all so weird, it really wasn't how I wanted to find you again, but... I'm glad I did."

"So are we, Danny." Dick says, with a warm smile. "And formally or not, 1 colon 65 dash 9 means you're family. Welcome to the fun house! No take backs or refunds, sorry. You're stuck with us."

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #batpham #hailsatanacrab🦀🦀writes #look. this has been in my mind for so long guys so long - and idk if its canon that the batfam have codes for time travel situations or what #but i feel like ive seen it before and if its not canon it should be #so here - how i think that would be funny to go down #i have so many thoughts about TUE and its place in a dpxdc crossover like holy shit there's so many ways it can go!!#i have another wip in the works thats kinda similar to this but with superman and i cannot wait to work on it again #there are so many ways i wanted this to go but i just couldnt get there - i wanted to keep it on the shorter side but like #perhaps ill have to expand #i just love the idea that like. theres a stranger at your table who knows you and knows you well. who knows the secret that youd die to keep #there's a stranger at your table and he says something and you know he's family. you know you're strangers but now...#now you have to be something more #oh man theres so many juicy ways it can go and I KNOW I DID NONE OF THEM #i want to write this whole plot again and make it angstier #(me with everything)#anyway! sorry love you all hope you enjoy it!!

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humming-fly · 4 months

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I only just now realized what a shame it is we never got to see Al and Greedling really interacting

#nocturnal hangout buddies #so much to talk about like 'why did you kidnap me if you're already immortal you dumb asshole'#and games like 'try to guess the stupid song ling is hollering in the mindspace for the 10 millionth time'#it woulda been good #fma #fmab #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #greed #greedling #alphonse elric #comic #my art #doodles #always so fun to come back to this style and remember it's far and away the painting style i'm best at #in terms of efficiency and final look #and yet i basically never use it at all lma o #anyways hope you enjoy this comic that doesn't really have a punchline a;lsdkfj #those are few and far between for me so gotta enjoy em when they pop up!

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themisterhip · 1 year

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I get brat vibes from 1998 Vash (≧∇≦)/

#TRIGUN #TRIGUN1998 #TRIGUNイラコン #TRIGUNSTAMPEDE #TRIGUN STAMPEDE #Vash the Stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #wolfwood #trigun fanart #i saw a few images and memes on pinterest and HASHASHAS #MF IS FERAL ASHSAH #AAAA i love their dinamic #i can see him doing this at some point #also i can finally see the show now that is over!!#finally can enjoy the babygirl and his harem xD #and you can't convince me that man ain't carrying a bible everywhere he goes #anyway hope you all like this #thanks and bye #<3

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coreytaylr · 2 months

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100% legit totally real facts about the historical stede bonnet

no the title is not a lie these are really REAL bc believe it or not, somehow the show made our stede MORE competent than the real one

sources: Real Pirates podcast (ep1, ep2, ep3, ep4, ep5), Dirty Sexy History podcast (with jeremy moss, bonnet's biographer, who LOVES the show, and said it changed his perspective on bonnet's and blackbeard's relationship PLUS he has the stedesrevenge handle on twt)

the library on the revenge was a real thing. the man really did that.

running away from his family to be a pirate

paying a salary to his crew

SHOWING UP IN NASSAU IN FRILLY GENTLEMANLY CLOTHES AND A POWDERED WIG

before bonnet's capture, he ran his ship aground and that's how the english caught up with him BUT the two english ships also ran aground (😭), so they fought each other with their flintlock pistols from behind their ships (until the tides turned and dislodged the english ships first. rip)

adopted an alias when he started pirating so people wouldn't know it was him but he raided ships near Barbados (where he's from), so that didnt turn out well. his solution? burning every ship from Barbados

he only succeeded in his early days bc merchant ships knew they would get off easier if they surrendered

ATTACKED A WARSHIP that whooped his ass so bad he almost died. the remaining crew steered the ship to Nassau where he met blackbeard

blackbeard stole the revenge from him but "allowed" him to stay on BB's ship (either as a guest or as a prisoner, it's not clear, but he def wasn't a crew member bc he didn't have any chores)

he was seen on deck running around in his gowns 😭😭

BB eventually reinstated him as the captain of the revenge and they sailed together for a while

"there is a 4 month period where stede and blackbeard kind of disappeared and no one really knows what they were doing" 👀

BB allowed bonnet to raid on his own which lead to him getting his ass beat by the Protestant Caesar. BB then proceeded to HUNT DOWN THE PROTESTANT CAESAR while flying the RED FLAG (which meant no mercy to anyone on board)

bonnet would raid ships and take what provisions he needed and give the other ship what he didn't need (essentially the library raiding scene lmaoo)

BB betrayed bonnet by raiding his ship and marooning his crew while bonnet was off getting a pardon

SO BONNET SWORE REVENGE AGAINST BB who was at the time, the most feared pirate

this led to him adopting another alias - "he also changes his name, at the time he goes by captain edward's. which is really interesting, I don't know if that's an homage to, you know, edward teach, but.. captain edward's with an "s", that's as if he's.. a possession of captain edward" ONCE AGAIN 👀👀👀👀

HE ESCAPED PRISON BY DRESSING AS A WOMAN

after escaping, he was promised a sloop by some rando. when the rando didnt deliver, bonnet "WROTE HIM A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER REPRIMANDING THE MAN"

that letter led to him being recaptured 😭😭

he was hanged while holding a bouquet of wilted flowers

#stede bonnet #our flag means death #ofmd #real pirates #dirty sexy history #kriss.exe #I WENT DOWN A RABBITHOLE IM SORRY #all of these are so fucking funny how was this man REAL #btw BB only became the legend AFTER he met bonnet #anyways the twt crew loved these so thats why i decided to compile them in one post #hope you all enjoy it too <3 #blackbeard #edward teach

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horseimagebarn · 10 months

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horse and dog sitting together they are of similar pelt colors and similar spirits that is why they are friends it is miraculous how two different animals domesticated by humans can find friendship in one another

#this also happens to be me with every one of our ONE HUNDRED FOLLOWERS #i am overjoyed you all enjoy this account so much i hope you know its infected my home theres a canvas of horses in my kitchen now #anyway thank you team #horse #horses #horse pics #reaction pics #reaction image #reaction images #friendship #neighhhh #horseposting #horseblr

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sneez · 5 months

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my lord of autism

#discworld #havelock vetinari #artwork #i have read. A Lot of discworld this year #i just finished the watch series so im moving on to moist next. very excited for moist #anyway i love 100% of the characters but vetinari is probably my favourite hes a massive bitch i love him #other characters who are my favourites include sybil angua carrot and constable visit. and vimes but he goes without saying #also vetinari is about as close to canonically acearo and autistic as a character has been since sherlock holmes which means da world 2 me #i was talking about this yesterday but i think him and holmes would get along. steepling their fingers at each other #i have a lot of thoughts about vetinari but i cant really express any of them i just rotate him in my head often #i hope you are all doing well my friends and that you are enjoying the end of the year :D i luv you

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starflungwaddledee · 5 months

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some rather strong first impressions were made.

required reading for the magical "voice" headcanon and another for starstruck's signature in particular. asked by @trainerbob23 !

#did i need to do a 9 page comic for this... well who knows. i had this scene in mind for a long time and wanted to do it justice!#important moment for both of them. you can see starstruck just generating the bandee shaped mental illness in real time.#and bandee resolving to be her point of contact with waddle dees if the others can't handle it #he is after all; the strongest and the bravest and the best of them.#“what is this signature like” it's like meeting something that has a human face but you can tell it is Not Human. think: uncanny valley #it also took her quite some time to pick up her own voice. she could not speak (popstarian) on her own for a while #she does not mimic anymore though if she can help it because it tends to weird others out and she wants to avoid that!!#it's not like a fun or enjoyable impersonation; it's like a perfect recording on a device.#also i guess this is *finally* the reveal of the 'hospital' mentioned previously that folks noticed and also like... her name 😂#anyway.... thank you to everyone who voted for starstruck in that poll and has encouraged this insane self indulgence... wow.#never thought i'd get to draw stuff like this and have others look forward to it. i really hope you'll enjoy this!!!#my art #my comics #starstruck dee #bandana waddle dee

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pastelhooman · 1 year

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[WVW Exchange Event 2023!]

"The kisses on your lash, your ears, on the nose that keeps scrunching. The kisses on your hand, on your cheeks, and the exchanging soft words waiting for the break of day."

----- ID under break -----

A total of 6 pages of comics, starting with a close up shots of vash kissing sleeping wolfwood's nose, eyes, lashes, and he furrows them a bit. an overhead shot of the two of them in a motel room, on the bed with vash leaning over wolfwood from the left, laying soft kisses on him. their legs tangled. their normal outfits are thrown haphazardly on the floor, instead donning comfortable clothes. on the outside, the very first ray of lights are yet to shine.

"what a face you're making pfft" - vash says as he grabs both of wolfwood's cheeks, squeezing them a bit. wolfwood mumbles, "There's something that keeps landing on my face, it tickles." he grabs the hand that is on his right cheek. "Well you're letting it happens anyways right?" Vash muses, bringing the hand up to kiss on its knuckles. "Good morning Wolfwood. It's almost dawn"

"… Isn't it way too soon?" - wolfwood asks, but keeps to himself the prayers he's sending to god because the the boy on top of him was such a sight to behold. Vash flops down onto him, leaving the hand hanging and lace his own hand into Wolfwood's hair, peppering kisses to the side of his face. "Yep" - he answers - "But you woke up on your own tho" - facetiously. He giggles, saying that it was a joke after a beat of silence. A sigh, "don't make me upside you first thing in the morning." Wolfwood closes his eyes, hand combing through golden strands. "Heh, how merciful~" "We have a meet up with Milly and Meryl today, remember?" Vash reminds him, which does raise some vague memory. wolfwood hums, the other hand reaching around vash's torso, hugging him. " So, the sooner we arrive, the less likely she'll chew through my head." - Vash adds. "riiiight. And you were SO urgent in waking me up." in wolfwood's hold, both of them slowly turn to the right, towards the edge of the bed.

Well, you were just soooo cute, I couldn't help it! didn't thinkk you'll actually wakE UAA-!"

the bed creaks under the sudden shift in weight as wolfwood tosses vash over and under him, arms firmly hugging him, one at his back and one at his head, hungrily dives down to kiss. "!! Wolf-! Wait-!" Vash yelps, leg instinctively curls around the other's man hip to hang on, trying his damnest to grip on his shirt as HE is now half airborne, barely has any contact with the bed on his upper body. However, wolfwood seems to have another idea as he keeps deepening the kiss, pointedly holding Vash close, hands spread guarding the back of his head as both of them are sliding off the soft fabric.

"THUD!" a resounding fall, possibly enough to wake the room downstairs, followed shortly by laboured breaths amist wet smacks of lips. Heaves and huffs of air exchanging between the two bodies when the need to breath made itself necessary. They press close, cradling each other, and are lost to their own world. After a while they had to part. Metal arm shifts through black locks, caressing down to his nape and they hold eye contacts there, with lidded eyes, strands of saliva thins then breaks.

Wolfwood pushes up on his arms, looking smugly down at his now disheveled partner: "Now this is how it's done, Needlenoggin." he remarks. Vash tries to wrangle his thoughts back in order, but strings of Wolfwood's name and a wonderous question keeps filling his mind, of whether he should risk it all and have fun for a bit more. Regardless, snapping out of his trance, Vash sourly asks, with a wry smile and an aching head: "But did you really need to roll off the bed?" "Wrong side, whoops" - Wolfwood anwers unseriously, laughing as he finds the situation quite amusing.

----- End of ID -----

#sorry if the ID is weird it happens everytime i tried to ID my comics it turned into psuedo-fics-#the cap is the prompt btw #the exchange is basically secret santa except it was in may lol #it was incredibly fun to work on this!!#and originally i drafted this to be like 4 pages and it got longer and l o n g e r and i was like oh no #all is good i made the deadline dont worry #yeah only some ten minutes left before it was overdue lol #oh and the event was last month i just procrastinated and didnt post it on anywhere except fb mb #half the reason was because i do NOT know how to ID and half way through it was feeling like writing a fic and that took. time #didn't help that i started writing when i was very sleepy and basically forgot about it for weeks #wElL aNyWAys #hope you enjoy this <3 #i really really love the prompts that i was given there were 3 in total but i only did one #they were all superb #vashwood #woodvash #wvw #vwv #wv #vw #trimax #trigun #trigun maximum #trigun manga #vash the stampede #vash trimax #wolfwood #nicholas d wolfwood #wolfwood trimax #wvw exchange event 2023

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ironunderstands · 28 days

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Yapping about why I love Aventio and what I feel makes it a great ship

(If you hate it I urge you to read this, because you don’t have to agree with me, but I want you to get where Aventio shippers are coming from at least)

I’ve just really wanted to talk about why I love Aventio because the people do not get it like I do and GODDD ITS SO GOOD WHEN DONE CORRECTLY UGHHHHH

Also this is gonna be VERY stream of consciousness I do not have a plan besides dragging you through my brain so enjoy the ride.

I guess the best place to start is the fact that Aventurine and Ratio are my two favorite characters in the game. Like even if they have no interactions with each other ever and might as well be from different pieces of media I would ship them, because I like seeing characters I like interact and the fun police cannot catch me. That’s a really shallow personal reason though and I feel like the rest I have will be able to be appreciated by others.

GOD THE DYNAMIC IS SO GOOD RAAAAAA

Two emotional constipated dumbasses circling around each other like black holes trying desperately to deny and run from their feelings when they have both fallen hard. The lack of acknowledgement of feelings on both ends is TRAGIC and it makes me want to rip my eyes out in a good way, let’s start with Ratio.

Unfortunately my glorious king Ratio has been mischaracterized to hell and back but we will get to that (and the Incorrect Reasons Why People Hate Aventio) later. Instead I will go over his actual character; a deeply insecure, intelligent man who desperately wants the rest of the galaxy to come to the realizations he has long since stumbled upon, but has been so isolated from his peers from such a young age that he’s doomed to fail in literally every social interaction he has and be misunderstood by both the audience in universe and irl (the autistic coding isn’t helping him either).

Ratio is tragically misunderstood again, both in universe and by the audience, which is why it means so much that Aventurine Gets Him. Aventurine pushes his buttons, tears down that literal cold marble facade masking the deeply silly and caring man beneath (this man bathes with rubber duckies in the privacy of his own home 😭), and that scares the shit out of Ratio. People aren’t meant to see through him, Ratio acts rude not just because he believes it’s the best way to help people, and because he believes he himself is mundane and the conclusions they come to should be their own, not his.

No, it’s also because on some level Ratio is afraid to be vulnerable around people. As much as he pretends like it doesn’t affect him, Nous’s rejection has hurt and haunted Ratio for his entire life. And I do mean his entire life, even in high school he had already set up a strict routine for himself, something commented on by his teacher, Ratio has quite literally always been striving for some sort of perfection and the fact that he cannot achieve it kills him.

Moreover, the guy just grew up way too fast, he didn’t have time to develop social skills. We see it in that afformentioned relationship with his teacher, in which they recommend Ratio (who is again in high school) to be moved up to college level stuff and transferred due to his success. He has quite literally never been able to just relax in a environment of his peers, Ratio for some reason we don’t yet know has always been dedicated to constant improvement and that leaves no room for dealing with failure.

On some level, he knows this too, that he can never be perfect. Ratio is part of the Mundanites in the Intelligenica Guild for a reason, he doesn’t just see himself as mediocre because he believes everyone is and that’s ok, but also because he looks down on himself for being too mediocre for the Genius Society, being too mediocre for Nous’s acknowledgement, being too mediocre for anything.

Which is tragic because Ratio is very accomplished and he is very smart, and his character stories aren’t even told from his pov, but rather in the style of documentaries and letters (his professor) and other works on his well acclaimed life. We don’t ever get to see how Ratio really sees himself, just the tiny cracks in his marble facade that let the real man behind the character shine through.

Because that’s what he’s playing 90% of the time, a character. Whether it be at the Herta Space Station in which his real goal was to uproot the researchers blind worship of the Genius Society, or in Penacony in which he plays up the arrogant, narcissistic scholar both people in universe and irl make him out to be, both to serve a goal bigger than himself.

Sincere moments from Ratio are RARE but god are they beautiful, his conversation from Screwllum in 1.6 and his note to Aventurine in 2.1 will forever haunt me in the best way possible. If you want to understand Ratio as a character, yes read his character stories, but just watch that damn scene with Screwllum it is phenomenal. He cares so much and is so, so bad at expressing it, he drives me nuts, Veritas Ratio the man you are.

And the thing is, it seems like he’s always been playing a character and doesn’t know where the real him ends anymore so he just sticks to the way people perceive him a lot of the time. Like as a kid he was constantly striving to be the best so he missed a lot of necessary developmental shit, and as an adult he’s a celebrity so it’s hard for him to attach himself to others anyways because society and his students will hound him for it.

And then you throw Aventurine into the mix, and oh boy does shit get interesting.

Veritas Ratio, perfect “unfeeling” Veritas Ratio and the one person who gets him well enough to push all his buttons and expose the vulnerable underbelly he thought he hid so well. On a fundamental level, Ratio understands this, which is why he doesn’t bother with the alabaster head, as pretending the real him is just as unfeeling and uncaring is easier.

So he brushes off Aventurine’s jests as if they are an insult to his very existence, he can’t look in Aventurine’s eyes when he “betrays” him because his poker face would break, he leaves as soon as he’s done talking because lingering would allow the weight of their conversations to sink in. Part of it is because for pretty much all of Penacony, up until the note Ratio gives him, Ratio is acting, trying to play up the role of the arrogant, unfeeling scholar to make Sunday buy the betrayal plan, because to Sunday this behavior is signs of a bad relationship between the two (honestly the fact that the audience also interpreted it this way makes me mad like did yall seriously not pay attention, but also happy because if even the players were fooled that means Sunday buying it is believable).

However, even if it feeds into his insecurities, Aventurine knows that false facade and loves tearing it down. It’s very telling that the second time we see Ratio really freak out (the first being at Herta Space Station) is at the suggestion that he came to narrate Aventurine’s demo not because of knowledge or respect for the show or whatever, but because he genuinely likes the guy. What makes it even better is that Aventurine is the one who suggested it, and already figured out the excuses Ratio was going to use to deny it. Ratio can fool everyone else in the galaxy, but he cannot fool Aventurine, and on a fundamental level that is what makes their dynamic work, because Ratio knows Aventurine in the exact same way.

Aventurine can shove away people who care about him, out of distrust and fear that they will leave him like his family did. He can believe he’s unloveable and a person so detestable that even the actions he performs in order to stay alive condemn him to hate himself as much as the rest of the galaxy hates him. But, Ratio doesn’t see him that way.

Aventurine doubts his intelligence, if he has really earned anything he’s done and in his voiceline about Ratio, doubting if Ratio even sees him as smart or worthy. However, Ratios voiceline about Aventurine is about how he believes Aventurine is smart and worthy, and that his doubt will be his downfall if he doesn’t come to the realization that he isn’t worthless.

Ratio knows Aventurine’s one weakness, the one thing that could stop him; himself. That’s why he gives him the note urging him to stay alive and keep on living because ultimately Aventurine will only ever fail if he gives up. And The Note Is Enough, Aventurine walks into the event horizon of a black hole, confident he can return alive on the other side because someone cares about him, BECAUSE RATIO CARES ABOUT HIM, and wants him to live on even if Aventurine doesn’t feel that way towards himself.

In the metaphorical and literal manifestation of the meaningless of the universe, in the face of overwhelming nihility, Aventurine survives because someone loves him, and with that love he’s strong enough to brave even that.

Even if they can’t admit it out loud, these two deeply, deeply care for one another and trust each other perhaps more than anyone else in the narrative. The betrayal plan would have never worked if there was not mutual trust, Ratio wouldn’t have gone to Penacony in the first place if he didn’t trust Aventurine, and Aventurine wouldn’t have asked him to come if he did not trust him. We don’t just see this trust between Aventurine and Ratio either, and Jade and Topaz both trust him with their cornerstones, but ultimately it’s Ratio who’s physically with him the whole time, risking his life alongside him for the sake of their plan.

As much as people like to ignore it, lying to the Family members, to Sunday, is extremely dangerous and puts Ratio’s life in danger as much as it does Aventurine’s. Ratio is not an irrational person, he wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t have faith Aventurine would succeed, he would not have done if he didn’t think he would return. They have absolutely faith in one another and it’s beautiful.

Aventurine’s first constellation is named “Prisoner’s Dilemma” for a reason. A social experiment in which two prisoners are captured and separated, if they sell the other one out and remain silent, they go free but the other remains in jail for 20 years. If they both sell each other out, they get a sentence of 5 years.

But if they both remain silent, trust the other, they even if they physically can’t communicate and don’t know what the other says, they get the best possible outcome, only one year in jail each. It requires a sacrifice on both ends, they both still have to go to jail, but only for a year, and only if they trust each other completely, as if the other sells them out they will be in jail for 20.

The prisoners dilemma relies completely on trust, and it’s the exact situation Aventurine and Ratio face in the Penacony quests. Aventurines doubts if Ratio’s betrayal was real or not, even if he set it up himself, and Ratio worries about Aventurines survival, if continuing this plan will end well. “You can’t expect a featherless bird to take flight” isn’t just Ratio chastising Sunday, he’s genuinely worried that this plan will put Aventurine at too much of a disadvantage to continue on.

But they both trust each other, and if just like in the Dilemma neither come out completely unscathed (although it’s much worse on Aventurine’s end), they ultimately achieve their goal.

God is it sweet and corny in the best way possible

I want to kill this fandoms perception of stoic, emotionless Ratio because once people realize he’s actually the corniest mf ever is the day I sleep easy. He makes statues of himself doing Jojo poses, he plays chess versus himself, he named himself Veritas (truth), he loves rubber duckies, he literally sits in a bathtub couch, and Aventurine breaths and he gets flustered.

Ratio so deeply silly, chronically corny, it’s a crime he needs to be locked up someone stop him.

And Aven brings that out of him. His teasing reveals the goofball trying so desperately to disguise himself as a serious scholar. Ratio is very smart of course, but that only makes his silliness better, as you watch this absolute genius of a man behave like a tsundere schoolgirl.

It’s not like Aventurine is some paragon of seriousness either, he’s the one teasing Ratio, fucking around even in a serious mission. Yeah it’s partly because he wants Sunday to think he’s incompetent, but it’s also because Aventurine genuinely is having fun, enjoying himself before the serious part of the plan kicks in, and the meantime he does that by messing with Ratio.

Their dynamic of Aventurine messing with Ratio, and Ratio trying desperately to pretend like it doesn’t affect him is as hilarious and heartwarming as it is tragic, and that dichotomy is why I love them so much. It’s fun and it hurts so so much because their interactions being this flavor of silly leaves almost no room for the sincerity they both desperately need from one another.

AND GOD I NEED IT TO HAPPEN. RATIO MENTAL BREAKDOWN SCENE PLEAASEEE LET HIS WALLS CRUMBLE PLEEEEAASEE PLEASE PELADE PLEASEEEE EPLES DOLS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

They’ve gotten closer and closer and closer and soon something’s gonna snap because they are so close yet so distant and if something doesn’t change the tension is just gonna boil over AND I NEED IT TO HAPPEN. I need more Ratio scenes I need more interactions with him I need him with his guard down I need him to profess out loud that he cares about Aventurine I need him to break please he needs it, it would be so good for him. It doesn’t even have to be from Aventurine, just Ratio snapping and revealing the fucking mess he is under his facade and not being rejected by the people he cares about for it is enough.

I honestly doubt it will happen in the story though, as much as I want it to. Although Aventurine’s character demo somewhat changed my mind against this, I feel like hoyo is like “ok they get the vibe between these two we can move on” and the shippers are left to extrapolate how this relationship would go beyond what it is now. As much as I want a breakdown scene for Ratio in general, it probably wouldn’t happen in a while but devs if you are reading this PLEASEEEE.

The only time Ratio ever gets slightly out of his element is with Aventurine but I need it to go further because god it would be interesting.

Well I’ve deemed that enough yapping about why I love Aventio (for now 😈) so let’s talk about why people hate the ship and why most of the reasons behind it a fucking stupid. (Massive disclaimer of course you can dislike it it’s just a lot of the “oh it’s a horrible ship and anyone who likes it sucks” shit isn’t grounded in reality in the slightest and I’m tired of the slander)

“Ratio was racist to Aventurine”

Now this is a spicy one because if this post was made in 2.0 I would 100% agree with you (during that time I shipped a non canon version of them in which that did not happen because how dare u do my boy like that hoyo). However 2.1 changed a lot and I mean a lot, and basically reframed the 2.0 quests for everyone.

Essentially, Ratio and Aventurine were both acting in that argument scene, making the things Ratio said to Aventurine not how he really sees him, and actively something Aventurine wanted him to say, so you cannot blame him for what he said. I’m not even joking or exaggerating, retrospectively it quite literally does not make sense if you view it in any other way, and honestly even with just the knowledge of 2.0 the scene doesn’t make sense if played straight, so let’s get to why.

a) Ratio and Racism do not mix fundamentally. Ratio is a person who believes that everyone deserves and education regardless of background, that it is a scholars duty to help others achieve that, and no matter who you are, you are capable of intelligence, learning and becoming the best version of yourself, and that those qualities are just limited to geniuses.

THIS AND RACISM DO NOT MIX. “Oh yeah education and improvement is possible for everyone except this specific group of people for some fucking reason!!” Like not only would this scene being serious contradict Ratios entire character, the man who believes people should not be judged for their educational background judging Aventurine for his educational background (that’s actually what the Sigonian upbringing line meant, it was mistranslated in the EN version)??!?!! Make it make sense.

Moreover, half this perception also come from the fact that hoyo made the incredible writing decision of naming Aventurines planet after a slur for Romani people, so unfortunately literally anytime its name, Sigonia, is brought up you’re essentially saying a slur. It’s much worse in the CN version, in EN it’s not obvious at all, because our version of the slur (it starts with a g and ends with a y that’s all the hints you’re getting), doesn’t look like the version of the slur that the name for Sigonia was derived from, which is partly the source of this misconception as I’m pretty certain most people assumed Ratio (and by extension Sparkle) said a slur elsewhere in the conversation when in reality them referring to Avens ethnicity/background/planet IS the slur.

Anyways terrible writing decisions aside, Ratio supposedly being racist doesn’t just contradict his core motivation, it contradicts his job. He’s a scholar, for fucks sake, and racism is inherently illogical. Mmm yes I’m gonna base my identity around finding truth for myself and I will believe government and social propaganda about specific groups of people! Very logical, very scholarly, we all clapped.

So yeah, doesn’t make sense on a character level, to the point that in 2.0 I concluded that they must be using Ratio as a plot device in that scene to deliver some of Aven’s backstory to the audience due to how OOC it was for him 😭. However I wasn’t necessarily wrong, Ratio was delivering some of Aventurines backstory to AN audience (not just us), and he was behaving OOC in the 2.0 scene, but it was on purpose.

b) The betrayal plan

Aventurine forms a plan in which him and Ratio pretend to betray one another in order to sneak the Aventurine cornerstone into the dreamscape by replacing it with the Topaz stone (red herring + black hole scene dialogue implies she and Jade are there for other reasons) and the Jade stone (perfect dupe).

Now this betrayal hinges on Sunday, their main antagonist buying it, actually believing that Ratio would betray Aventurine on a mission as important as Penacony, and it requires Sunday also buying that he is winning the whole time, that the loss of the cornerstones was somehow a fumble on Aventurine’s end rather than something he planned all along.

So, they stage the 2.0 conversation. Ratio yells at Aventurine for losing the cornerstones, something which was part of their plan the whole time. He then insults Aventurine’s background allowing Aventurine to reveal key details of his past that Sunday would not have learned otherwise, which he uses in the trial against Aventurine. Seriously, Aventurine only found out he was the last Avgin when he became a Stoneheart, do y’all think Sunday summoned that info with his mind or something during the trial (like do you guys genuinely think Sunday read his wiki or something)

Moreover, Ratio not only insults him, but portrays Aventurine as useless, disposable to the IPC because he is apparently already sentenced to death. Why does he do this? Well, so Sunday feels confident enough to do the same to Aventurine. Seriously, sentencing an IPC member, especially a high ranking one to death is a risky move, even for someone as convicted as Sunday, he would need the confidence to do so and learning Aven might already die would give him that ability.

Because well, it doesn’t matter that much if he’s already going to get disposed of in the near future. I also think the IPC plans to use Aventurine’s “death” as leverage against the family because they were pleased to hear of his death sentence according to Dr. Ratio, meaning a) he likely did not have one from them at the time, although in the past he was sentenced to death and b) even if Aventurine succeeded in getting the cornerstone his seeming loss in the rest of the conversation wasn’t actually a loss at all, getting sentenced to death/“dying” at the very least was part of the plan all along as the IPC could still use it as leverage if things went south.

Continually, Ratio treating Aventurine in the exact same sh1tty way the rest of the galaxy does perfectly slots him into the arrogant, uncaring scholar role, which Sunday knows are some of the most easily manipulated people in the galaxy, considering he tries to bribe Ratio with knowledge about Stellarons it seems he bought this idea hook line and sinker. Sunday isn’t even subtle about it either “I heard you and your companion haven’t been getting along lately” where did he hear that from? Ratio didn’t tell him, and even though we know Sunday was 100% watching the two of them on their little adventure pre-meeting him (the bird and hound statues) that scene hasn’t happened yet so where did he get that from?

Some other interesting proof for it is that the Final Victor lightcone likely depicts Aventurine trying to convince Ratio of this plan of his, the events of which must occur pre-Penacony for several reasons, the least of which being that we just never see it happen on Penacony which if you think it did we would see it. Moreover lightcones are canonically condensed memories and the Final Victor lightcone released in 2.0, meaning it’s the memory of something that happened before then.

All signs point to the 2.0 scene, the one people use to paint Aventio as toxic being staged. And I have so much more evidence for this, (Ratio would never agree to go without a plan, Aven clearly formed his pre-Penaocny, so much of the plan like Ratio opening the cornerstone box, which he can’t do up until the betrayal as it’s in Sundays possession, rely on him arriving knowing how to do so, the time discrepancies, the complete 180 in personality Ratio would have to do to go from distrusting Aventurine to putting his whole faith in him, etc), but I will reupload one of my old slideshows to elaborate more on it. Basically the one thing that people use to say it’s toxic is not true and is in fact a greater show of the trust between those two.

“The shippers are all weird and racist”

Now this one actually has some truth to it because yes there are some incredibly fucking weird Aventio shippers and I do not blame yall for disliking them.

HOWEVER, most Aventio shippers are normal and hate that shit just as much as you guys do. Like do you realize most shippers also really like these characters and have something insane called morals so they don’t automatically excuse racist fujoshi goobers just because they are making content for their favorite ship. Trust me someone doing that pisses me (and most other Aventio shippers) off significantly more than people who hate the ship. Also free Ratio from this shit man poor guy is getting mischaracterized as a slaveowner by his fans and haters 😭

And like guys, have you ever been in a fandom before, like ever? Weirdos are always gonna be weird and it’s not Aventio’s fault they are this months victims. For a fun little example of how gross other fanbases can be, one of the most popular Overwatch ships on ao3 is Genji Shimada X Hanzo Shimada WHO ARE BLOOD RELATED BROTHERS. THERES LIKE 300+ FICS OF IT, SHIMADACEST IS LITERALLY A TAG ON THERE. I WAS IN THE TRENCHES SEARCHING FOR GENJI HANZO ANGST FICS (Hanzo killed Genji it’s complicated doomed siblings will always get me) AND HAVING TO COMB THROUGH THOSE ABOMINATIONS IN THE PROCESS.

Like please I’m relatively new to fandom culture but yall cannot be acting like this is weird for fans to do, it’s weirdo behavior but it is not unique to the HSR fandom or even Aventio. And even if understandably this makes you not like the ship, don’t paint the people who enjoy it as being the people who do this kinda sh1t. It’s not our fault peak gets tainted by miserable creatures ok, let normal ppl have their harmless fun and stop lumping people together into a monolith.

?????

Well that’s it that’s all the “valid” reasons people have for hating Aventio, at least the ones I can remember. Everything else is just personal opinion and not at all an objective reason.

“They’re so sibling coded!”

Anyways again obviously you can still dislike it not everything is for everyone, I really just wanted to make this post to demonstrate why I and many others like it, and why the reasons people use to say it’s problematic are incorrect. Feel free to call it mid, block it whatever I don’t care, just don’t harass shippers for having some harmless fun, because the characters aren’t real but the people who like them are and in doing so you are really just being a jerk for no reason. If you somehow hate Aventio and read this the whole way through I congratulate you on your ability to actually listen to other people, and regardless of whether you changed your mind or not I respect you for doing so anyways. Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts.

#Hsr #honkai star rail #dr ratio #aventurine #aventio #raturine #ratiorine #golden ratio #tags for reach bc I need ppl to read this sorry #Also apologies to the Genji/Hanzo shippers for catching strays yall tend to mind your business and tag ur shit #So I can’t blame you that much for it even if I find it gross bc if I don’t wanna see it it’s very easy to not see it #I just wanted to give an example of how the hsr fandom is not unique in its weirdness #Ppl are horrible at tagging shit in this fandom #The next time I read an Aventio fic w surprise dubcon I’m gonna die #Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading bc this was sm fun to write #Aventio is peak we all cheered #aventurine hsr #dr ratio hsr

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