#His friends and sister found the piece of his core and released what happened

[jeonqkooks]

yoongi + 40 (fluff) + 49 (smut) (ONCE AGAIN CONGRATS ON YOUR MILESTONE AND HAPPY ALMOST BLOGIVERSARY LOVE 🫶)

personal space | myg (m.)

pairing: yoongi x f!reader prompts: "are you blushing?" + "shut up and pin me down." rating: 18+ (minors dni) genre/warnings: fwb au, brother’s best friend au - jimin's the bro, a lil fluff, a lil angst, definitely smut; the only warning i could think of for the smut is fingering lol it's pretty mild, unedited bc that's how we do <3, smut right under the cut word count: 1.2k note: hi nary !! thank yuuuuuuu for the request heheheh i know i'm SO SO LATE to this one but better late than never right :D this yoongi has been on my mind since last august but i'm so glad to release him into the world. hope you like this lil piece <3

as always, i’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you may have, and please drop a like and/or reblog if you enjoy reading ♡

"Did you miss me?" Yoongi pushes your panties aside, his slender fingers stroking your bare core as a cocky grin graces his face. Your arousal practically drips down his fingers. "Oh, you did miss me."

When you decided to come to his welcome home party tonight, you hadn't counted on this happening, though part of you was secretly hoping for it. It’s not necessarily a bad idea to be in such close proximity with Min Yoongi again, just a dangerous one.

Old habits die hard, you suppose.

"Shut up," you groan when the pad of his middle finger circles your entrance, dipping into your heat but only allowing the digit to sink up to the first knuckle before he pulls out. The fucker, always such a tease. "Shut up and pin me down."

"When did you get so bossy?" he tuts, but he complies anyway. Yoongi carries you to the bed with your legs around his waist while his palms busy themselves with your ass, kneading your skin like it's the first time he's touching you. He doesn't throw you on the mattress roughly like you expect, but instead, he lays you down gently, like you're porcelain and he's got slippery hands. When he hovers above you, the guitar pick of his necklace dangles to rest on your bra-clad chest, and the coolness of the metal makes you shiver. It stings a bit, you have to admit.

"Since you left," you say, like it's all so casual. In a way, it is. That's how it used to be between the two of you - hiding another layer of honesty in the truths you exchange and knowing full well that the other person understands it. A secret language that only you and Yoongi speak, like hiding in plain sight. Although, that was the one part you were never particularly fond of - the hiding - but you knew it had to be this way. Jimin would've killed you both if he ever found out one of his best friends was railing his sister on the DL. "You subjected me to a lifetime of mediocre sex with mediocre men."

"It wasn't a lifetime," Yoongi disagrees, but the smirk on his face tells you that he's pleased with what you're insinuating. That he was the best. He was the only one who knew how to make you feel good. The man nudges his nose against yours, prying your thighs open as his hand settles on the warmth between your legs again. "It was three years."

"Which was a long time."

He kisses you then, and it makes your head spin from how soft it all feels. He kisses you like he has all the time in the world, like Jimin isn’t completely shit-faced in the next room, like kissing you is everything that he’s been thinking about for the past years, and now he finally has the chance to do it again.

After a moment, he breaks away to drag his mouth along your jawline to your ear, whispering things that the old Yoongi never would.

He plunges two digits inside you without any warning, but it doesn't take your breath away nearly as much as his words do. "I missed you," he says. "Missed you a lot. There were days, maybe even weeks, where I think I did nothing but miss you."

Your cheeks burn easily until they turn a shade that could compete with the rose bushes in your back garden. You grab fistfuls of Yoongi's t-shirt as his fingers fuck you slowly.

"Are you blushing?" he chuckles. "I'm knuckles deep inside of you and you're blushing?"

"Shut up," you repeat, because he didn't seem to listen the first time. "Don't say shit like that if you can't see it through."

"Who says I won't see it through?" he asks. His beautiful fingers that you've missed don't ease up for even a second, scissoring you open and forcing a whiny moan out of you, despite the sudden somberness of the moment. You clench around him when his thumb meets your clit, making you impossibly wetter.

"You never did."

"Neither did you, sweetheart."

"Because I'm a coward." You buck your hips to meet his hand as it thrusts into you, delicate fingertips brushing your g-spot on every stroke. "But you're not a coward, are you, Yoongi?"

It's strange how you're close to coming even though the conversation is making you sad, but that's Min Yoongi for you. He's got you wrapped around his finger - figuratively speaking, but of course, you suppose it takes on a literal meaning this very second - ever since day one.

It started out as just sex. It was supposed to be just sex.

He was supposed to just be one of Park Jimin's goofy friends.

You were supposed to just be Park Jimin's sister.

You were, until you became someone that Yoongi could love. Someone he did love.

And he still does, there's no doubt about that.

He stays quiet just long enough to make you come undone. His thumb rubs your clit expertly, just the way you like, as if you two never spent any time apart. You give him a broken moan, and he gives you a wave of bliss that washes over your body and swallows you entirely when he curls his fingers, fucking you with determination as you gush into his hand. Your legs start to close but Yoongi props them open, prolonging your high until you're shaking from the sensitivity.

"Yoongi..." you whimper, and only then does he pull his fingers out, soaked in your essence, only to shove them into his mouth. You watch as he hums in delight, eyes falling shut like he's trying to savor the taste. You say his name again, softer this time.

Yoongi looks at you then, propping his forearms on either side of your head to hold himself up. He rests his hips on yours, and you feel him even through his jeans, hard and pressed against your bare thigh.

"I was a coward," he admits. "But I'd like to think I'm not one anymore."

Then you both just stare at each other for what feels like hours but in reality, it's probably mere minutes. You want to believe him, you really do, but there are too many things that you don't know if you should risk. It takes a leap, but unfortunately, you're scared of heights.

You pull on his shirt, silently telling him you want it off. "We can talk about this tomorrow."

"I'm finally talking about it and you don't want to listen?" he chuckles but takes off the tee anyway, tugging it over his head and throwing it somewhere across the room.

"I do, just not right now. Now I only want you."

"You've got me."

"Not like that."

"Yes," he says. "Yes, like that."

You give Yoongi a look that makes him sigh. You just want to have him, without thinking of any of the things that make you feel like it's impossible to truly have him. Just one night, that's all you're asking for.

He touches your face, tracing your cheekbone, trailing down to caress your jawline. "I'll see it through," he tells you.

You wrap your arms around his neck, urging him closer until your lips brush. You give him a chaste kiss, letting your eyes flutter closed momentarily before you whisper, "Tomorrow."

all rights reserved © jeonqkooks. reposting, translating and/or modifying is not permitted by any means. [posted 10.06.23]

#yoongi x reader #yoongi fluff #yoongi smut #yoongi angst #yoongi x you #yoongi fanfic #yoongi imagines #bts x reader #bts x you #bts fluff #bts smut #bts angst #bts scenarios #bangtanbathhouse #bangtantheatrenet #btshoneyhive #52hertz #fic: personal space #yoongi #bts

[alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer]

the ghost of unbroken love pt 1

Summary: Thomas pays the Carstairs home a visit once the dust has settled (COI spoilers!)

Read it on AO3 | Fanfiction Masterlist

CW: PTSD, implied child abuse, bullying

thanks to @littlx-songbxrd for the title :) (it’s a line from “silhouettes” by sleeping at last)

Alastair’s eyes widened in surprise when he opened the front door to see Thomas Lightwood standing before him. “What are you doing here?” 

“Hello to you, too,” he replied, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Alastair’s hands. “Why do you have a hedgehog?” 

He turned away slightly, gently stroking the hedgehog in his palm. “Excuse you, don’t be rude to Alfred.” 

Thomas gave a slight smile. “My apologies, Alfred. Wait- Isn’t that Christopher’s hedgehog?” 

Alastair’s eyes flared, clearly offended. “He is not! He was merely watching him for a few days.” 

“Ah, I do think he mentioned that. My mistake.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.” 

“Since when do you have a pet hedgehog, though?” 

He tried to focus on the feeling of Alfred squirming in his palms and not on the tall, handsome masterpiece of a man standing before him, or on the memory of what his lips and skin tasted like. “If you’re here to try to change my mind-” 

“I’m not, don’t worry. I just… I thought that perhaps we could talk, now that some of the excitement has passed.” 

Alastair sighed. “Fine, come in, then, before you freeze.” 

Thomas followed him in, shaking some of the melting ice and snow from his hair and hanging up his coat. His nose and ears were red from the cold. 

“It truly would not kill you to wear a hat, you know,” Alastair commented. 

Thomas raised an eyebrow. ���Well, I’ve a reputation to uphold, don’t I? What would my friends and I be known for if not our aversion to hats?” 

“Besides being a nuisance, you mean?” 

Thomas smirked. “Kit did look after Alfred for you.” 

“Believe me, any time I mention you and your Merry boys, I never mean Christopher.” 

He chuckled. “That’s fair.” Thomas’ eyes drifted to the piano. Alastair cursed silently to himself, realizing that he’d left the fallboard open earlier. “You play?” 

“I…” Alastair hesitated. He certainly used to. He wanted to, again. He could play music from a sheet without much effort, though he was still rusty, but playing written music was never what Alastair had enjoyed about playing. He’d always found his joy in creating, in taking written words and crafting it into a beautiful melody. That had been what he was attempting earlier, before he’d gotten overwhelmed and abandoned the project to fetch Alfred to calm him down, before Thomas had arrived at his doorstep. But it was a lost cause, for the part of Alastair that created, the part that dreamed, had died long ago. “Sometimes. Sometimes I do.” 

Thomas pulled something out of his coat. “I, uh, I brought you something. I thought… Well, I’m not sure what I thought. I’m certainly not an expert in dealing with grief. But this is one of the books I read after Barbara died, and I thought it was a helpful distraction, and I figured at the very least you could amuse yourself with my trying to make sense of it all in the margins.” 

Alastair gave him a small smile while placing Alfred down on the sofa and accepted the book. It was a volume of Sufi poetry, written in Farsi and Arabic. “Thank you, this… it means a lot.” 

The conversation stumbled awkwardly for the next few minutes until finally Thomas made a pensive noise. “May I… May I ask you something?” 

Alastair paused. “You may.” 

“Why are you still friends with them?” 

Alastair cast a dark gaze away from him. “I already told you, I-” 

“You have no friends, I know. But you certainly pretend to be friendly with them, at the very least. You certainly don’t treat them anything like the way we’ve treated you.” 

You don’t treat them anything like the way you’ve treated me, he wanted to say, but he knew that he would be deflecting to bring it up now. The truth was that Alastair asked himself the same questions. Why was he civil with them, friendly even? Why did he placate his father knowing how he would still treat him? He was sure he could see the wheels turning in Thomas’ brain, though his face betrayed none of it, wondering how badly they could have truly treated him if he was able to stay so amicable with them. Alastair, too, often worried if his own memories were lying to him, tricking him. “I can hardly blame them, can I? When I myself have done horrible things?” 

Thomas hesitated. “That- That’s not really fair, is it?” 

“I’m not sure what you mean.” 

“Well, it sounded like, at the time, you hadn’t done anything yet. At least, not to them.” 

“What’s it matter? What goes around comes around.” 

“More like what comes around goes around. Life isn’t just some twisted justice system, paying for crimes you hadn’t yet committed. What reasons did they have for treating you the way they did? Have they apologized?” Alastair’s brain stalled as Thomas added, “Do you think they owe you one?” 

Alastair could feel his heart beating, blood rushing to his head, his chest constricting. “Why are you doing this?” he demanded a little too forcefully. “I told you to leave me alone!” 

Thomas took a daring step towards him. “I think you think you deserved it. You think that you’re a monster, that you’re dangerous, a terrible person. You think that means they were justified in hurting you. That’s bullshit, Alastair. No one deserves to go through what you did, even someone who is terrible, and you are not. You’ve done bad things, certainly, but you’ve had reasons for doing each of them, and not one was that you are a terrible person. You are none of the things that you call yourself. You are strong and resilient and compassionate, and you love with your whole heart even those who do not deserve it.” 

Alastair took a step back. “You’re wrong.” He wasn’t. Alastair hated feeling so seen, so vulnerable. He wanted to scream. Why wasn’t it enough, then? His love was never enough to make his father want to change, to get better. It was not even enough to get him to stop throwing things at him whenever the night quit going his way. His love was not enough to make Charles love him back. Even the boys at the Academy, Augustus and the rest, he’d spent so much time and energy trying desperately for them to genuinely like him, but it was never enough. He was fairly certain that it never would be. Thomas was wrong, Alastair was none of the things Thomas believed him to be, he was weak and pathetic and whatever love he held inside of him was broken at its core. “You ask me why I treat the boys from school better than you treated me, but why do you? You and your friends have never given them a fraction of the grief you’ve given me, even Augustus after he hurt your sister so terribly. Why?” 

Alastair could see the defenses light behind Thomas’ eyes. “Don’t talk about Eugenia as if you know what happened!” 

Alastair looked him in the eyes without a hint of expression on his face. “I do, and I know because she told me.” 

Thomas stumbled on his words, unsure of how to respond. 

“I told you why I was cruel to you lot at school, but I did not tell you why I spread that rumor. The truth is that I was hurting and I was scared and all I wanted was for you to leave me alone, but you wouldn’t. And then Matthew came, running his mouth with his endless nonsense, poking fun at the way I looked and reminding me yet again that there is not a single person on this Earth who sees me as anything more than an afterthought. And so I repeated that rumor to him. And I repeated it again, and again, because I was angry, because when Matthew blew up my belongings, my father decided that the cost to replace them was more than simply the coinage at the shops.” Alastair inhaled, pushing away the memory of the fury in his father’s eyes when he came home that semester. 

Releasing a shaky breath, Alastair continued, “And I know. I know that wasn’t fair to him, or to you, or to your parents. But I have been trying to apologize for five months, only you decided without even hearing my apology that I did not deserve forgiveness. What now, Thomas? Now that you know my secrets, you’ve seen my scars? Do I deserve forgiveness? Do I deserve to be hated? Because truly I cannot keep track.” He gestured to the door, his voice now angry. “Who are you to decide what is deserved and undeserved? You do not get to come here and pretend like you understand me or my life. You and your friends think that you’re better than everyone else, but I have a secret for you: you are not morally superior simply because you are less broken than the rest of us. Get out of my house.” 

“Alastair-” Thomas tried, but he was cut off. 

“Leave, Thomas. And put me out of your mind. I left Charles because I did not wish to be his secret, and I will not be yours, either.” 

Thomas looked like he was about to speak, but stopped himself. He looked hurt and confused, something like a wounded puppy. Alastair would not flinch. Finally, he obliged, though he turned at the last moment. “I’m sorry,” he said in a small voice, though not ingenuine. Alastair shut and bolted the door without responding. 

Once the door was secure, Alastair sank to his knees, a million thoughts and feelings flooding his brain, from relief to anger to utter despair. Shaky breath after shaky breath, he attempted to piece the world back together again.

taglist (lmk if you want to be added and, if so, whether for every TLH fic I write or just for this series or something else): @littlx-songbxrd @dianasarrow @doitforthecarstairs 

#alastair carstairs #thomas lightwood #thomastair #chain of iron #coi spoilers #chain of iron spoilers #coi #the last hours #tlh #fanfiction #fanfic #cw ptsd #cw child abuse #cw bullying

[let-the-dream-begin]

A Family of Our Own: Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Read on AO3

By the time Claire and Jamie pulled themselves together and made themselves presentable, the sun was nearly gone, and Jenny was nowhere to be found in the house. Claire was grateful for that; Jamie said he didn’t want to talk to her about anything until he spoke to John first, made sure he was alright. Claire had offered to give them time to talk alone before she joined them, though she secretly thanked the Lord when Jamie turned this down.

“Anything said between John and I is also between you and I. And him, I suppose,” he’d said. “I want ye by my side.”

So they crept silently through the house and up the stairs, lest they alert anyone of their presence. Claire made a note to check in with Brianna later, and she prayed she didn’t have any questions.

They paused outside of the room John had been put up in, and Jamie squeezed Claire’s hand, subconsciously, she thought, as if he needed the strength. She squeezed back and smiled reassuringly, nodding. Breathing deeply, Jamie lifted his free hand, and knocked.

The door opened slowly to reveal a shockingly put together John; not a hair out of place from where it was tied at the nape of his neck, not a wrinkle in his clothing. His red coat was gone, and he wore a finely trimmed waistcoat. The only evidence of anything wrong was his eyes: red rimmed and slightly puffy, like he’d only recently stopped crying.

“Good evening,” he said formally, stiffly. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Can we come in, John?” Jamie said. “I believe there is much to be said.”

John grimaced, as if that was the last thing he was hoping for. “Quite.”

He stepped aside, opening the door wider for the Frasers to step through, then shut it behind him. John moved to the window, sitting on the sill. “I’d been admiring the view before you knocked,” he said. “Such beautiful land.”

Claire sat slowly on the trunk at the foot of the bed, gently pulling on Jamie’s hand to get him to join her.

“I’m...very sorry for my sister’s behavior,” Jamie began. “She was unforgivably rude. Ye dinna deserve that treatment. I welcomed ye into my home, and ye were abused. I’m sorry, a charaid.”

John finally turned his body away from the window and looked at Jamie. “It’s quite alright.”

“It isn’t,” Claire cut in. “I can see how hurt you are. The things she said were deeply hurtful. And she will not be easily forgiven by either of us.”

John pursed his lips. “I...appreciate your caring for my honor.”

“Of course,” Claire said fervently. “We’re friends.”

“Are we?” John challenged gently. “Have you not come here to interrogate my intentions with your husband?”

Claire stiffened a bit and blinked rapidly. “No. Not at all.”

“Claire kens yer intentions,” Jamie cut in.

“I told you that nothing happened,” John said, ignoring Jamie. “I thought you understood.”

“I do,” Claire said quickly. “I believed you. I still do.”

“Then why couldn’t you wipe that disgust off your face the entire time Jamie’s sister made those accusations?”

Claire fought the urge to recoil; this was the first time all day she had seen Lord John anywhere close to angry. His jaw was hard, his mouth a thin line, his blue eyes sharp and piercing. She felt that anger to her core, like a pricking needle.

“I...I didn’t mean…”

“No, of course you didn’t,” he said forgivingly, but his defensive stance remained. “You could hardly be expected to school your features when your suspicions were validated by another person.”

Claire opened her mouth to protest, to insist she’d had no such suspicions...but she’d have been lying. She truly hadn’t noticed her face had changed in the slightest. All she remembered feeling was horror at the scene playing out before her.

“Any...suspicions Claire may have had were borne out of concern for me,” Jamie said. “She doesna think ill of ye, truly.”

“She thinks ill enough of me to think I ever meant you harm.”

Claire swallowed thickly. “That’s...not what I thought.”

John’s eyes darted to her, and she wanted to run away and hide from them.

“I’d only ever thought of you abstractly,” Claire began. “You were just this...idea of a hero who saved my husband and brought a family together. I hadn’t had to confront the reality of you being a real man...with real feelings.” Jamie squeezed her hand, urging her to continue. “Then you were here, looking at my husband like that, speaking fondly of your time together when he was locked away from me...and it was very...difficult to come to terms with.”

John seemed to reign in some of his rage as he nodded. “I understand.”

“It seems...absurd to be jealous of my husband’s jailer…” She rolled her eyes self consciously. “But I suppose that’s what I am. And everything Jenny said about seeing Jamie...return those affections just...had me spiraling.”

“There’s nothing to fear there, my dear,” John said darkly, but not without humor. “He does not return anything but friendship.”

Claire glanced sidelong at Jamie, who was staring at the floor between his feet. John jerked in shock.

“What?” he demanded.

Claire bit her tongue. She would not speak for Jamie on this matter, could not.

But the truth screamed at her, even if Jamie himself hadn’t admitted it to even her.

“You don’t. Do you?”

Jamie clenched his teeth.

“Answer me, damn it. I have asked so little of you. All I am asking is an answer. A true answer.”

Claire was frozen, could not even bring herself to squeeze Jamie’s hand to snap him out of it.

“I can’t,” Jamie finally said. “I’m a married man.”

“That’s not what I asked.” John sat up straighter, palms on his knees. “I said do you. Not can you.”

He didn’t answer.

“Jamie,” Claire whispered hoarsely.

“I’m sorry,” John said tightly. “Forget it. Please.”

“Jamie.”

“No, Claire.” John’s voice went up in pitch, as if in panic. “I don’t…” He shook his head, then ran a hand over his hair. “I don’t want to know.”

A single tear rolled down Claire’s cheek. She supposed that John knew the truth, then, as well.

How wrong was it for Claire to be grateful? She thought perhaps the only reason that Jamie wouldn’t admit the truth to himself was because of his trauma. He’d not do it to spare her; he would at least be truthful to her even if he never acted on his feelings or urges out of fidelity. But, God, what would she do if Jamie had no misgivings about men like John? What would she do if Jamie was staring at him like he wanted to devour him whole?

What would she do if Jamie walked right to the windowsill and kissed him, granted himself something he had long denied himself?

She knew enough to know that this would not affect his love for her. Not at all. But Claire did not think she was capable of sharing Jamie’s heart.

But it felt wrong to be grateful to his trauma.

And either way...perhaps she was already sharing it.

She’d never know.

After a long, terrible silence, John cleared his throat and stood up. “Whisky, anyone?”

Without any answer, he poured three glasses and walked over with two, holding them out to Jamie and Claire.

“We haven’t yet played chess,” John said when neither of them took the glasses right away. “There’s a board right in this room. I admit I’ve never had an audience, but one as lovely as your wife would be most welcome.” Claire allowed a tiny smile, unable to resist his genuine, sweet attempts at returning to normalcy. “What do you say, my friend?”

Only then did Jamie look up, smiling, to Claire’s surprise. He took the glass and stood, taking Claire with him.

“Aye,” Jamie spoke for the first time in a long while, a playful smirk on his face. “Allow me to remind ye how it’s done, Grey.”

——

After a great many games of chess, a great deal of whisky, and a great amount of laughter, Claire sitting on the arm of Jamie’s chair all the while, the Frasers bid John goodnight and stumbled rather drunkenly to their own bedrooms. Jenny and Ian were forgotten for the moment.

“Brianna…” Claire said breathlessly as Jamie kissed her neck against their bedroom door. “I should...check on her…”

“It’s late,” Jamie reasoned, grazing his teeth on her skin. “She’ll be asleep. Mary’ll have seen to it.”

“But she’s...probably frightened…”

“Something we can deal with tomorrow.” He bodily picked her up, and she squeaked, fighting against him until he chucked her onto the bed like a ragdoll.

“You bloody oaf!”

Jamie undressed himself piece by piece, and Claire just lay there, staring at him.

“Care to join me?”

“You threw me here. You can undress me.”

Jamie grunted in annoyed acquiescence, but Claire knew he relished in the act. Though it was probably easier when she was standing, she refused to get up. So he rolled her around like she would a patient in a sick bed until she was naked as he was. Jamie wasted no time; he checked between her legs to be sure she was ready, and she always was, and then he forcefully lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and drove home.

Claire cried out hoarsely, feeling him pierce her deeply in this position. He had her rough and posessively, much opposed to the tender hesitance in the stable earlier in the day. And she met him head on.

“You’re mine,” she panted, clawing at the skin of his arse. “Mine, Jamie Fraser. Do you hear me?”

“Aye,” he choked, kissing his way down her calf until he released her leg and bent over, allowing her to wrap her legs around him, pulling him ever closer. “Yours. Now and forever.”

“Mine.” She twisted her fingers in his hair and tugged roughly, bringing her lips to his for a searing kiss.

Perhaps it was petty of her, perhaps ridiculously insecure. But when Jamie came with no one’s name on his lips but hers, and she with his, she felt an almost primal glow of satisfaction. Jamie panted over her, pressing her into the mattress, barely holding himself up on his elbows. Claire’s chest heaved as well, and she picked up a trembling hand, placing it in the center of his chest, right over his heart.

“Mine,” she whispered, pointedly.

“Aye,” he said hoarsely, closing his hand over hers and bringing it to his lips. “All yours, mo nighean donn.”

——

Jenny was not at breakfast the next morning, whether out of pettiness or shame was anyone’s guess. Ian was, however, and Claire could see his attempt to make normal conversation, to be polite. The children were less uncomfortable than the previous night; they had no idea what had occurred after they’d left the dining room. Brianna was none the wiser, even chatting to John about some of her tools she’d invented for the crop. Claire’s heart warmed to see him smile at her and nod, encourage her gently, his eyes twinkling.

He really was a good man, and she hoped that the horrible mess that last night had been would not prevent any friendship from blooming. Especially, she had to admit, if he meant so much to Jamie.

As Mary MacNab arrived to take the plates and Maggie dutifully stood to help, John rose. “I believe it’s time I take my leave.”

“No time for one final game of chess?” Jamie stood as well.

“Unfortunately not. I’ll be expected.”

“Are ye sure?” A third voice chimed in, and Claire looked over at Ian with shock. “I havena yet seen any proof of yer expertise.”

John’s face slightly resembled that of a codfish, mouth gaping just slightly. He blinked dumbly back and forth at Claire and Jamie, and then Jamie nodded, smiling encouragingly.

“Well, alright,” John said finally. “Perhaps one game.”

And that was how Jenny found her husband, crouched over a chess board with a redcoat, Jamie standing behind John, Claire behind Ian, all the children gathered around the game on the floor as if to listen to their tutor. She hung back, watching quietly in the doorway of the parlor, only Ian and Claire able to see her. She couldn’t meet Claire’s eye.

When Ian conceded, the children groaned in defeat.

“Och, none o’ that,'' Ian waved them off. “He won fair and square. And a damn good game he played.”

“I wanted to see ye beat a redcoat, Da.”

“Jamie.”

“Sorry...Sir.”

“Quite alright,” John said genially, standing up and holding his hand out for Ian to shake. “You put up quite the fight.”

Ian got to his feet and eyed John’s hand like a beaten dog wary of being offered a perfectly good steak. After narrowing his eyes only briefly, he took John’s hand and shook firmly. “I thank ye.”

“Alright, now I really must be going,” John said, and Claire’s heart lightened to see his mood had improved significantly since breakfast. She made a note to thank Ian profusely later. It couldn’t have been easy to put himself out there like that, but it made all the difference, to both John and Jamie.

And to her, she supposed. Only when John turned to leave did John notice Jenny, and he stiffened immediately. Jamie did as well, his countenance darkening.

“I...thank ye fer visiting, My Lord,” Jenny said, her voice smaller than perhaps Claire had ever heard it. “And I...apologize fer my behavior. It was...untoward.”

“The understatement of the century,” Claire said wryly, crossing her arms.

And then, the most unbelievable sight occurred right before her eyes: Jenny Fraser Murray blushed. Deep and crimson and full of shame.

“Aye. Indeed.” She sniffed, staring at the floor. “Ye’re always welcome in this home as a friend to my brother. And my gratitude to ye for bringing him home knows no bounds.”

God, she was practically choking trying to get the words out. But, out they were coming.

“I apologize again, My Lord, for being a puir host.” Jenny curtsied, sniffing again. 

She sounded like a child reciting lines from a poem required of them to memorize, and as she flicked her eyes to Ian, and he nodded in approval, Claire knew this was indeed a script he had given her to memorize.

God bless Ian, truly.

“Thank you, Madam.” John was uncomfortable, that was clear. But he nodded nonetheless “It is appreciated.”

One glance at the children told Claire they were all positively gobsmacked to see their mother so reticent, or her aunt, in Brianna’s case. They’d probably never seen such a thing, and they likely never would again.

“I thank you all for your hospitality.” John bowed genially at Ian, Jenny, and the little ones. “Children. It was most lovely to meet you all. Brianna.” He winked at her, and she bit her lip, smiling down at her feet.

“Claire and I will see you out,” Jamie cut in.

“Farewell.”

“Safe travels, My Lord,” Ian called.

The children all remained silent, as did Jenny, as the three crossed the room to leave, but then one tiny voice piped up:

“Goodbye, Lord John!”

Claire, Jamie, and John turned to see Brianna grinning up at them, the other children glaring at her with popping eyes.

Claire glanced up at John, who looked fit to burst. “Goodbye, Miss Fraser.”

They walked down the hall to the sound of awed whispers from all the children, and then they were outside, and Rabbie was fetching John’s horse from the stables.

“I...hope yer stay wasna altogether unpleasant,” Jamie said sorrowfully. “I truly didna mean fer things to get so...ugly.”

“No,” John said fondly, that twinkle in his eye returning. “Not altogether at all.”

“You are welcome, you know,” Claire said. “I mean, I know you have to come as an agent of the Crown. But just know...we want you here.”

“We?” John cocked a brow.

“Yes. We. At least, Jamie and I.” “And Brianna as well, I think,” Jamie added, smiling crookedly.

“Yes...I think she’s come around.” Claire couldn’t help her own smile.

“Have you come around, Claire?”

Claire blinked back her shock and chuckled nervously. “Well...yes. I think I have. And I’m...sorry I even had to. I didn’t...think I’d have to.”

“It’s alright.” He reached for her hand and squeezed. “Truly.”

Before she could stop herself, Claire closed the distance between them and embraced him tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered fervently. “For everything you’ve done for us.”

“You’re...welcome, my dear.”

Without thinking, Claire kissed his cheek as she pulled away.

Jamie took John’s hand and shook it firmly, and their hands lingered together.

“You shall always have my friendship, John,” Jamie promised. “If that has any value to ye.”

“A very great value, indeed.”

Their hands lingered for just a moment longer, and then John was mounting his horse, and Jamie tucked Claire into his side.

“Until next quarter, my friend,” Claire called, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Yes, until then.”

And he was gone.

Jenny was helping Mary finish with the breakfast dishes in the kitchen when Jamie and Claire went back inside, and she did not look up from her scrubbing as she entered.

“I ken how much it took for ye to do that,” Jamie said, close enough so Mary did not hear. “And I appreciate it.”

“I did my duty as Mistress of the house,” Jenny said, still scrubbing.

“The least you could do,” Claire said, crossing her arms.

Jenny hummed in agreement, still keeping her eyes down.

“It’s clear enough ye’re ashamed,” Jamie said, less genial now. “But I’ve yet to hear it from yer lips to my ears.”

“Aye, I’m ashamed.” She slammed her current dish into the soapy water, finally looking at them. Her eyes were red-rimmed and sunken in. She must have hardly slept the night before. “I’m mostly ashamed because I meant every word. And I dinna ken how to be sorry for something I meant so much.”

Jamie pursed his lips, nodding. “I see.”

“But,” she went on, sniffling. “It was wrong to treat him that way. And to say such terrible things about my own brother.”

“Aye, it was.”

“I was...scared. Of what I didna understand.” She met Claire’s eye, and Claire fought the urge to nod her agreement. “But...as yer wife said...it’s none of my business.”

“Aye. That’s right.”

“But ye’ve been faithful to Claire, aye?”

“Christ…”

“Because I swear, brother, I’ll serve yer balls for breakfast if ye’ve lain wi’ anyone but yer wife, woman or man.”

“I’m one word away from slapping ye silly again.”

“That’s enough,” Claire cut in. “If you must know, Jamie has sworn to me that he’s been faithful, and I trust his word like I trust my own mind. So that’s that, and you can drop it.”

Jenny nodded curtly, returning to her scrubbing. “Good.”

An awkward silence passed during which Mary MacNab sneezed, and Claire jumped, having forgotten she was even there.

“Is that all?”

Jamie rolled his eyes heavenward, and Claire made a note to praise him on his patience. “Aye.”

“To work wi’ ye then.”

So Jamie left, and Claire stayed behind to help with clean-up.

“D’ye think he’ll truly forgive me?” Jenny stopped scrubbing, looking into Claire’s eyes with genuine desperation that almost made Claire feel sorry for her.

“Eventually,” Claire said. “And so will I. Eventually.”

Jenny averted her eyes shamefully, biting her lip. She nodded, sniffling again, and Claire reached into the soapy water for another rag and began scrubbing another dish

[beggingwolf]

hi so I've just eaten too much ice cream, feel vaguely ill, and I'm here to tell you All About How I Failed At Outlining for SGKF this year!

that's partially just a fun tagline, but it's also a bit true. I told my friends I'd be trying to use several different outlining methods to try and knock out a plotty piece for the fest, and things did not go to plan!

important to begin with: I am what is referred to as a "pantser." I tend to just start writing. this is strangely contradictory to my personality, which deeply loves plans. unfortunately, what often happens is plans and outlines ruin my excitement and drive while working on a project (it tricks me into thinking I've done all the work and resolved the plot), leading me to abandon it.

and though I can throw together pretty words and made a decent fic, my fics never turned out as good as they could have been. I kept telling myself that if I planned in advanced and worked out what I was doing BEFORE I did it, I'd be able to craft a fic with such care and attention as to make it really SHINE.

so, uh, kinkfest rolls around, and since I was a mod I could see all the prompts before they even got released to the public, so I basically had a WHOLE EXTRA two-ish weeks to start planning and writing.

did I? NO.

so, despite the fact that I collect writing advice like a magpie , I'm not the greatest at implementing it. if you go into my SGKF google folder, you'll find a few instances of me TRYING to implement writing advice like metawriting:

(and you'll see some fics that didn't get finished/make it into the fest!)

my issue was (and still is) that I think I value every little word too much. this is a bad thing: I'm an overwriter by nature. when I get words down, I want to keep them because I feel like I worked hard for them, even if they're not great or don't actually serve the story in the way they should. that's not to say all my metawriting was bad; it wasn't. I tried it out for A Drowning in California as well [which will henceforth just be referred to as "California").

I had a whole subfolder for California. what kind of amazed me is how different my initial notes for the prompt are from what the story actually ended up being. here, take a look:

literally almost none of this is in california. the WWE and UFC stuff made it in, and so did sid wrestling with horny, but that was it. I was going to start this fic in the locker room, with sid wrestling someone, and it was seriously going to be a story about sex—about sid wanting to hold geno down in bed. that was the premise.

and instead, we got a really emotional story about familial rejection and the isolation it can make people feel. SO! something happened along the way, right?

when I started getting into the plot that would support this supposed sexfest, this is where I went at first:

geno wants the relationship to get serious, sid is like mentally still a 12 year old who just wants to wrestle people and doesn't want to talk about his emotions, and prefers to use physicality to communicate. this doesn't work for geno, who wants ... more

we can start to see the actual emotions come through, the things I was interested in: sid using touch to talk, and geno desperately wanting more

what did the most good for me, in the end, was "doing" the metawriting by talking with my friends.

I told them what i thought this story was about ("I'm thinking about making this a story about relationship-defining, maybe? and the communication needed for a lasting adult relationship? I think I'm going to set it in california/LA, where Sid has invited Geno along for the first time for his California Summer Fun/Training/Escape, whatever, and Geno's going to be emotionally preoccupied with Defining The Relationship—maybe they've been on-again-off-again? maybe they're just new to this, like almost a year deep, and they're not getting younger—and thinking this trip is about that [or hoping this trip is about that, and realizing it isn't, and being disappointed].") and they told me what jumped out at them.

Jes told me what would ramp up the tension would be a deadline of some sort; "Geno’s going to break up with Sid or make some decision or something, or there’s something approaching where they have to make a will they or won’t they decision of some kind related to the core ‘defining the relationship’ issue. Geno’s going back to russia and in previous summers they’ve always slept with other people while apart? or Sid has a wedding coming up and he’s offhandedly mentioned taking someone else as his plus one?"

I liked her thoughts. it made sense to add an external pressure to all this, and that wedding idea stuck out to me the most.

Lis said I should add a jealousy angle, so you can largely credit her for the club scene: "one thing i like to sort of headcanon/imply about sid's california trips is he uses them to hook up anonymously. so you could have, like, sid and geno seeing sid's friends, but also accidentally running into some of sid's friends. and geno's like oh, great, so here i am doing this horrible summertime training that i hate because i don't need to train in the offseason actually, and i'm learning what exactly sid gets up to when we're apart."

My magical solution these days is GOING FOR WALKS. do it if you're able. it clears out your brain. so on my walks I ended up deciding that I wanted a taylor crosby wedding. I like taylor as a character, and as a person with sisters I just like writing her in. best of all, she and sid are close and I like writing "I'd do anything for my family" sid.

and then I was like. oh. what if it's not that sid is afraid/nervous to bring geno, it's that he can't.

I... wasn't as conflicted as I thought I'd be about writing sid's parents as homophobic. I prefer to write them as supportive; I think troy crosby's been eviscerated more than he should have been in older fanworks, and though I respect their right to make fictional!troy whatever they want, I've been a little skeptical of outlandish takes on him ("he doesn't say I love you to his son because a camera caught them mid-interaction once!") ever since I read how the media has found him a convenient narrative villain while he tried to keep his underage son safe from the media as a child and while they needed to cook up Spicy Stories about squeaky-clean sid.

uh, tangent aside, I always thought I'd never write a "parents are the villains" story, but I did here. it felt right. it was easier, too, because they're not PRESENT in the story. I didn't have to write trina actually being horrible to her son. I just had to skirt the edges of the wound.

which works well on two fronts: I don't have to actively write the crosbys being horrible to sid, and I also leave more to the imagination of the reader, and that almost never fails to make the work better. whatever the reader imagines them saying to sid, it's going to be 10x more hurtful than anything I'd write.

I dug really deep on some personal emotions and fears I experience as a gay person for a lot of sid's arc here. sid is deeply imperfect in this story, and he's internalizing his pain and the horrible thing that's happened to him, which is making him pull away from his partner, and sid is not responding how geno wants, nor is he responding well, period, though he's trying in his own wounded, stilted way.

and beloved geno, whose tender heart is so hidden away for fear of someone hurting it. I really like writing geno; he's huffy and emotional and sometimes bitchy and feels things SO deeply.

once I had more of an idea, I was already working on a more detailed outline. this is where I seriously took Jes's advice and WROTE EVERYTHING OUT! it made it so much less daunting, because I didn't have to be figuring out my next steps AND crafting sentences at the same time. also this is where I tell you that the title of this post is mostly a lie, it was metawriting I failed at.

This outline also meant I avoided writing large swaths of things that should've been cut. Another beta told me I should delete three scenes and condense a bunch of emotions into the club scene, and she was SO right. Cutting events out of an outline is WAY easier than cutting out pages of text.

Ironically my outline kind of deteriorated after the club scene, but that's alright: after I wrote the club scene, I actually had a clear vision of what I wanted the end to be. I just had to trust myself. I CAN do this, I CAN still just write intuitively sometimes!

I think California did what I wanted it to do. I'd love to try something out that's longer and has more story arcs in it (jes has a post for that too!) but I think that's best saved for another, longer project, though 18k isn't short.

next up is maggie stief's writing seminar that I bought a month back. I'm going to start working on that this month and see how I like it. I have a few halloween fic ideas, plus spookfest, so these next two months we should be cooking in the kitchen!

#on writing

[astringofmadhousefloozies]

Birthday Sequence

Three friends have their birthday in a month of each other, and the parties get progressively more interesting. Content warnings for coarse language, offscreen sexuality, underage drinking and the consequences thereof.

As always, check my Twisted Wonderland Fanfiction tag for more, let me know if you enjoyed reading, and if you want to chat or ask a question, my askbox is open.

~*~*~*~

"You look great."

Idia made a whine you were certain they could hear in Savannahclaw and put his face in his hands. "Why did no one tell me about the birthday event?"

"I dunno, because we'd all assumed you'd seen everyone else put on the prissy little birthday boy suit and dance around like an idiot while I did an interview, and realized you weren't exempt."

"But why didn't you make Crowley skip me?" He looked ready to cry, so you you got up on tiptoes to kiss his nose and dry his tears, which simply had the opposite effect.

"Because maybe I wanted to see you dressed up pretty for a change?"

He just groaned. "Wasn't the festival enough?"

"Never enough; not with you. I'll make sure me and Ortho are your bodyguards, okay? Now, get out there and pretend they're all in their underwear. I got a present on the table for you. And..."

"And?"

"If you're truly overwhelmed, I'll bring you back here to hide, and get you out of the monkey suit myself."

It took him three seconds to turn a truly absurd shade of pink, and flee out the door of his room. The only thing scarier than a crowd where you're the center of attention is a lover who's relentless in voicing her attraction, if you're a neurotic dweeb with a molten core of self-hatred.

~*~*~*~

He'd relaxed somewhat as the presents went on. After checking with each person if they'd rather he open it now or in private (shuddering every time someone said now, in fear of bad reactions), he'd so far wound up with a super mega deluxe vinyl release of the Moirai's most recent album (despite not owning a record player, but it came with the digital album and lots of feelers so he still liked it very much), piles of sweets, and wouldn't have to pay for the subscriptions on most of his game for at least two years. And, he still had a pile to go through.

"Who's this one?"

"That's me. Go ahead."

He lifted the lid off the box, and took out a little creature, a sofubi toy of transluscent grey plastic painted with pearly stripes and shiny green eyes. "I've never seen this Nyarochi before." He turned it this way and that, a small smile on his lips. "Where'd you get this?"

"I got it blank at that second hand shop you showed me."

"... Blank." You could see the gears turning.

"Why do you think I asked to borrow your airbrush?"

Turning, turning... there we go. "You did this?"

"Yeah, dude. One of a kind, just for you."

He looked back and forth between you and the toy, smile growing. Once finally settled on you, he lit up - literally; his hair let out a bright, sparking burst that left spots in your eyes. You think he might have said thank you, you were too busy reeling from the sweetness of his expression, all directed at you, and little Nyarochi was tucked in his jacket pocket until he finally left for his room, you in tow.

~*~*~*~

"Hey Sam."

"Hey, Yuu. What can I get for you this fine day?"

"I got a list. I'm making something for Lilia. Did you know he's a new year's baby?"

"I did!" Sam scanned the list, only to set it down and raise an eyebrow at you. "I have much of this, and can order almost all the rest. You do know I'm not allowed to sell alcohol to a minor."

"It ain't for me, though. Do you know where I can get it?"

He shuffled around in a drawer before sliding a card across the table. "In Stock Now! The solution to your problem."

It was your turn to raise an eyebrow. "Sam. Does Crowley know you're selling fake IDs?" Your turned it over. "Really, really good fake IDs?"

"Crowley lets me do what I want, because I might stop doing what he wants."

You laughed. "Gross. Alright, I don't know the price, but can I get a discount if I help you stock a few weekends?"

"I'll do layaway just for you, if you come in next week."

~*~*~*~

"Yuu!" Lilia leapt at you, and you swung him around in a hug. "It's so great to have you here! Where's my loot?"

"I got to finish it, let me go a minute."

He did, and watched with interest as you set up from your cooler. You ran a lime around the rim of a glass, and crust it with red salt before filling it with ice.

"Yuuuuuuu. My little darling. You know I'm too young to drink."

"No you're not, dude. it's an open secret, like what happens in that shed behind the gym stays there and you don't get admitted to NRC if you're completely heterosexual." You added the mix to the glass, before tossing in a celery stick and sliding it over to him.

He barked out a laugh and took the glass. "That's true all right." He sipped at it and smiled. "What is it?"

"At home they call it a Caesar. I made up a shitton and I'm leaving you with the recipe, which you have to follow. I figure you liked your tomato juice, so..."

"It is just my taste. Thank you." You'd only blinked, and he'd already finished it and slid the glass back. "More, please."

~*~*~*~

You'd learned two things tonight, of which you'd only dimly suspected one. The first was that Lilia could probably drink the entire school under the table, staff and ghosts included. The second, far more interesting thing, was that when tipsy, Lil talked about his past, and in his past, he truly redefined the meaning of "absolute slut".

Looking like a particularly cute teenybopper had not stopped him from fucking his way through most of the Court of Thorns, and a great deal of the places he'd visited, in ways both inventive and more than occasionally disturbing. You really, really ought to stop him; poor Mal was standing out on the balcony with his fingers in his ears, singing very loudly to drown out the noise, but you were too busy taking notes. Kalim was listening to his fellow Light Music Club member in awe, and Cater had been recording for the past forty five minutes, though you were pretty sure if he uploaded any of this his Magicam account would get permabanned for pornographic content.

"And that's when his sister - fabulous woman, cunt like a ripe fig and she'd start giggling every time you..." he stopped and swirled his empty glass. "Where'd my drink go?"

"You drank it all, dear. There's none left."

"Aww. Why'd I have to share it all." He set his glass down and plucked the half-full one from in front of Silver's sleeping form. "Hey, did I ever tell you what I got up to with his," nodding out towards Malleus,"his grandmother?"

You never found out, as Mal simply bodied him clean across the room before any more could be said.

~*~*~*~

"Vil."

"What."

"Can I borrow your lab equipment?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Why."

"I wanna make perfume."

He brightened. "Finally decided to stop smelling like a haunted house?"

"Vil, I actually pay real money for perfume that smells like a haunted house. I have multiple. Sometimes I layer them, to mix with the natural scent of the haunted house I already live in. And it's not for me, though if this works I might try to make stuff for myself."

He wrinkled his nose at you, somehow not creasing his makeup. "Why should I help you?"

You thought about it, and then shrugged. "Well. Why not?"

"... I hate that I can't argue with that. Come on."

~*~*~*~

You have no idea if the party was sedate because of the relatively few people outside of Diasomnia, or because everyone was scared of potential etiquette breaches. You could not complain either way; parties wore on you as they went on and Idia hadn't tried to leave in fear. Either way, Mal was starting to go from blandly cheerful host to fretful.

"What if there is too much cake? I don't wan't to have to finish it."

"You don't have to, dude. Cake's for sharing."

"When I was young, I was the only person at my party who wasn't a servant. So I would end up eating the entire cake by myself, every time." He stared off into the middle distance. "I don't really like cake."

"That's the single saddest thing I have ever heard in my entire life, holy shit dude."

"Why have a cake then, if you don't like it?" Idia was halfway through his piece. Third piece, actually. You envied his capacity to eat what seemed like his weight in buttercreme and not get nauseous, even if you worried for his pancreas.

"Tradition," Mal said, as if he was explaining the most obvious thing in the world.

"You should have done an ice cream cake, then. You actually like that."

"That is an option?" He paused, eyes full of wonder. "What else can be ice cream?"

You cut in before Malleus could continue down a road of ice-cream-everything. "You know, if you're that worried about leftovers, why not send a wrapped slice with the thank you cards for the gifts? Gets rid of it all so you won't be compelled to eat it ‘til you're sick."

Mal instantly grabbed you. "You are a brilliant, amazing, genius of a person. I'm glad you're my Son of Man and I like you very much."

Idia gave the tinest of coughs, looking towards the poison-coloured flames in the fireplace.

"You are mine too. I like the special case for my Dragon-Kun very much."

"Thought you would." He smiled down at his plate.

"Oh, shit, yeah. Here's mine." You brought the bag out from behind your seat and handed it over; Mal shredding it in his excitement.

"... What is this?" the box inside revealed a set of five amber bottles with screw-on tops.

"Your own special perfume blend. Rose petals from the Heartslabyul garden, blackberries, and the fruit of a blackthorn tree." You leaned back in your seat and struggled not to laugh at your own hideous pun. "I call it Feeling Thorny."

Good thing the box was well padded, because he dropped it in his laughter. Idia, bless his heart, wound up choking on some of the cake and needed an entire glass of water to stop coughing.

"I got the goods!" Lilia and Sebek had returned, the latter glowering at you over the top of a dusty crate as though he'd assumed you'd simply eat his precious prince alive the second his back was turned.

"What's the goods, Lil."

"Well, he's got friends he made here for this party, so I figured I'd crack something open from my stash." He pried the top of the crate with his bare hands, which would have made you need to sit down if you hadn't been already. "Saving this for a special occasion."

"Lilia, there's no need to bring that out for us."

"Nonsense! You deserve it! And this party's too damned slow. A little wine will be just the thing, and this is very light stuff, you'll all be fine."

You doubted that, but still accepted the glass of liquid gold when offered. It smelled sweet and floral, and to your pleasant surprise, did not taste like fermented misery when sipped.

Wait a minute.

"Lil, if I drink the fairy wine, I don't have to go live in the Valley of Thorns forever, do I?"

Malleus, seizing opportunity, sad "Yes" at the same time Lilia said "No" and Lil elbowed Mal in the ribs for it. "I'm not invoking any of our more traditional rules of hospitality. If I must," he said, elbowing Mal again before he could try to weave anything, "Let this be in return for being such wonderful friends to both me and my boy."

"I'll accept it." You sipped more as Silver wandered over and leaned over Idia for a glass himself. Idia simply drained his own to try and distract himself from the proximity of him before the anxiety kicked into high gear. Maybe it would vanish entirely if you got him profoundly drunk, you thought to yourself, but that wasn't something you wanted to try. He had enough issues without his deciding alcoholism was the solution to his problems.

Time to settle down and enjoy the evening. The wine didn't feel like anything, so what could possibly happen?

~*~*~*~

You woke up with a pounding head, your party clothes in disarray, and new and interesting pains. You examined yourself and your surroundings, and let things come back naturally.

Lilia, being very generous with his bottles, to the point of not letting a glass go empty at any point. Malleus sitting with his legs crossed and head in his hands, gazing warmly and not without hunger at a both very animated and disheveled Idia as he talked. You getting up to leave, and sitting right back down because your legs didn't work, so you'd simply...

Simply wound up here in Mal's bed, instead of home. With both of your boys.

The evidence wasn't the best. No telltale soreness, but you had a number of new and interesting bite marks, including one very high on your inner thigh with the dentition clearly showing fangs. Your underwear was in place, even if the tule of your pannier was shredded, so you didn't think you'd done anything more than very heavy petting. And to tell the truth? The idea of having done anything more didn't bother you - truly, there weren't other people you'd rather have done it with - but the idea that you had? And you couldn't recall all the fun details? Agonizing.

You leaned over, holding your head, to brush the hair off of Mal's face. He looked at ease, and had managed to slot himself into his weird pillows, so at least he wouldn't wake up with a crick in his neck.. You checked your boyfriend, clinging to Mal's far side like a lanky blue limpet. On his collarbone, at the spot where you preferred to leave your own marks, was a bite similar to the one on your leg. You had to turn away at the sight; the images it brought to your mind left your flushed and dizzy with want despite your pain. How fun, to learn new and interesting things about yourself.

Idia stirred and sat up. He looked to you, to Mal, to you again. His face had no expression beyond starting to turn rapidly grey and sweaty.

You pointed. "That door."

He nodded once before stumbling off to bed and through the bathroom door, to puke away his hangover.

Alright, next step. You poked at your sleeping friend. "Mal. You alive?"

He opened both eyes, bloodshot with a hair-thin pupil, and started making a noise akin to a base boosted tea kettle up 'til you placed a pillow over his head to shut him up. Fortunately, it worked immediately, he lay where he was like an idiot until adjusting it so the pillow merely blocked the top of his face.

"Yuu. How are you feeling?"

You thought about it. "Like I got run through a laundry press. You?"

He smacked his lips and ran his tongue over his teeth. "My mouth has grown fur."

"Wonderful."

"Light hurts."

"Par for the course."

"I'm not sure what else yet. Where is Shroud?"

Another bout of heaving from Malleus's bathroom answered that thoroughly.

Mal pouted. "Poor thing. He didn't even have that much."

"We all had enough. I'm still remembering bits and pieces."

He reached towards you and grabbed your arm, squeezing. "You are... you..." As much as he struggled for the words, the anxiety in his voice made the meaning clear enough.

"I'm not upset over any of it. I just hate that I don't recall it clearly yet." You extracted your arm from his grasp, and slid off the bed. "I'm gonna get water from the hall bathroom. You want any?"

He smacked his lips again, and smiled, wider than you'd ever seen him do before, specks of blood still crusted in the grooves of his teeth. "I can still taste you on my tongue. I never want it to fade."

"Hhhhhholy shit you need water. Bye." You left to try and hide the wobbling in your legs that wasn't from the hangover.

~*~*~*~

"You."

You stopped, and stared. It took an entire four seconds to realize that the large, half-dressed green bean glaring at you from the doorway was Sebek before he styled his hair in the morning. "You mean like, my name, or just me in general?"

He pointed a finger, hissing out his words. "You finally did it! You evil little minx."

"I didn't, actually, or at least not what you think."

He kept going, trying to keep his voice down. "You've seduced Lord Malleus! And now you're going to try and steal the crown."

What in the actual fuck. And he wasn't done yet. "You cruel temptress! Leading him on just so that you could become a queen our people would detest! My poor lord, at the whims of some-"

"Hey, you jealous there, Zig? You mad you aren't serving him all ways? If you want his dick so bad-"

"Shhhhhhhhh!" He looked over his shoulder, back inside, before glaring back at you. "I couldn't do that in good conscience! Lord Malleus deserves someone who holds only him in their heart. He's not my whole heart, so I wouldn't try. You, you have damn near everyone here wrapped around your fingers! And it's still not enough for you!"

"Sebek! He is my friend. And I give zero fucks about the whole throne thing, just so you know. Why would I want to be a queen? That shit sounds exhausting. And he isn't going to ascend until my great grandkids are in the dirt, so, yanno, shit planning if I tried."

Sebek was trying to think of a rebuttal when a pair of hands squeezed him from behind. "Stop yelling. I'm going to brush my teeth." Silver let go and circled around, dragging his hand along Sebek's waist as he did. "Be ready when I'm back." With that, he walked past you with his small smirk to the bathroom you'd just exited, wearing nothing but one of Sebek's shirts.

You watched the hemline skirting the back of his thighs with entirely too much interest before looking back at Sebek. "God damn, dude."

"Say anything else and I will throw you out the window."

~*~*~*~

Mal had traded his bed for sitting on the floor, braced against the wall by the bathroom. He'd managed to close the drapes against the garish light of morning, and the sounds from beyond the wall had changed from sickness to a running shower as you gave Mal a cup. "Drink up, asshole."

"How am I an asshole?"

"Because it's your birthday we all got drunk at."

"Please blame Lilia for that. Fairy wine is not something humans should start the evening with." He sipped the water and grimaced.

"Taste bad?"

"I forgot I didn't want to put anything else in my mouth after you."

"Mal, no. There won't be a repeat, even if I don't really regret it."

He looked at you with heart about to break. "Why not?"

"It's not fair to either of you! I love you dearly, but I'm not in love with you. I'm in love with him." You sighed. Even as more of last night came back, you realized you may have broken the whole thing beyond repair. "And how would you like it if you saw me running around with someone else? Don't say you wouldn't be jealous. You've got a five mile streak of it."

Mal was silent, before saying very quietly, "I don't mind so much after having him too."

"Yeah, well." You put your head in your hands. "You're sure he didn't jump out the window to hide in his room forever after that?"

Mal knocked againt the door, wincing at the noise. "Idia? You are present? You're alive in there?"

A few moments before that shaky reply of "I'm not sure, check in five minutes."

Mal smiled. "That's promising, is it not?"

"You know I can hear you out there, right?"

"I didn't."

"I can." More silence. "Also, the window doesn't open."

You quirked your mouth. "Is the shower helping? I might need a turn."

"Some."

"Do you want to talk about last night?"

More silence, before a small, "Not yet," as the shower shut off. "Can I borrow a robe? My clothes are wet."

"Go ahead, Idia."

He exited in a cloud of steam and purple-black terrycloth, and simply laid down on the floor, gripping it as if he would fly off.

"Still bad?"

He noded, cheek pressed against the floor. Fresh from the water, his hair was low enough that you could make out the actual hair on his head, each glowing like the finest fiber optic thread.

"Well. I don't think any of us are going to class today. So stay as long as you need to."

"Thank god, I don't want to try those damned stairs until my head's on right." You thought to yourself for a moment. "Is Ortho okay?"

Idia actually managed a smile. "I told him I was thinking of staying over and trying to activate event flags."

It took you a moment to understand the implications of that. "Noooo. This was not your idea."

"Mal wasn't. But. Ummmmm." He held up a hand and wiggled it. "He was there?"

"Your boyfriend is interestingly pliable when someone puts their mouth on him. A trait you both share, actually."

You felt ready to burst into flames. This could not be happening. "So who's idea was you getting under my skirts, Mal? That bruise is going to last weeks."

"Yours, actually. You wouldn't let go of my horns until you were satisfied."

The memory of that, and more, hit you like a transport truck, and you simply laid down and refused to say anything until Lilia burst in, disgustingly chipper and with a platter of burnt toast to chew on until the worst of the hangover was gone.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland fanfiction #idia shroud #lilia vanrouge #malleus draconia

[capricornsims]

Strangetown Mystery: Mother!

The Strangetown Syndrome continued to take over the small town and panic spread as quickly as the infection. The only thing that the government could do to ease the tension was to assure the townsfolk that everything was “under control” and that Buzz Grunt heroically contained the culprit within his bunker. Details were vague but enough to ease the chaos around them, though the conspiracy theorists were skeptical about the General’s scripted speech. 

Buzz: Good afternoon, citizens of Strangetown. I know the struggle that everyone is going through right now, my soldiers are right on the front lines fighting the syndrome as best we can. Our scientists are doing their do-diligence to make sure that this cure will protect everyone from this disease and make sure that this never happens again. I swear on my grave that we are closer to destroying this thing, and it is thanks to our government that we have this under control. Remember your duties as citizens of SimNation and look out for each other in these trying times. On a lighter note, I have captured the traitor that has infected our people and he is currently in our custody. The Alien menace, Pollination Technician # 9 can no longer manipulate and harm you good people of Strangetown, Now that he is gone, you will all be saved! 

At first the crowd was invested in his speech but once the General broke his script and discredited PT9 in front of everyone, they started to murmur. They had no idea that the elderly alien was  the cause of all this havoc. Questions were thrown at the general, asking if it was all true and if they were truly safe. “ This town has a bunch of aliens, how could it just be him?” “ Are there more out there working for him!?” “ Can we really trust the government?” 

Buzz glanced at the Dudes in Black hesitantly before he turned back to his microphone.

Buzz: You must trust the government. 

He left the podium, leaving any more questions to the sheriff and the mayor, making his way back to the underground bunker with the Dudes in Black following behind. 

---------

Erwin: Hey I got your hazmat suit assembled, and that filter you got is more than enough to withstand those spores. 

Pascal: You have no Idea how happy I am, I can finally continue this investigation without any dumb plant spores getting in the way! I’ll be invincible in this suit. It is a pleasure to work with you, Erwin, it’s not every day someone listens to my conspiracies. 

Erwin: It’s no big deal, you were the one crazy enough to start this whole investigation.

Pascal brought the handshake into a hug. He was overwhelmed by emotions, unable to contain his excitement over finding out the truth. With this discovery he could save his sister, cure Strangetown and expose the Dudes in Black for being alien conspirators. Erwin, on the other hand, gave Pascal a few awkward pats on the back before shoving himself away from the unwanted contact. 

Erwin: Alright dude, let’s just get your brothers and go! 

Pascal, Erwin and his brothers made their way to the [ Redacted ] lab, memorizing their steps and making sure to avoid detection by the numerous cameras and traps set around the perimeter. The humming of the machinery around them filled the tense silent atmosphere as they stood outside the backdoors, waiting for Pascal to get into his hazmat suit. Lazlo and Vidcund watched on as their brother fumbled with the neon yellow suit, hiding their disapproval with fake enthusiasm. 

Pascal: Alright gang, we are finally going to break this case wide open! 

Vidcund: Like what you did to the lab doors and let all the spores escape? 

Pascal: That is totally not going to happen again! Geez, the spores are out, nothing can get worse than this. As I was saying, if we find out the source of all these plants, we can give this info to Buzz and he can release our sister. 

Lazlo: Are you sure it’s that easy? The Dudes in Black are covering these plants up for a reason. If we aren’t careful we could end up just like Jenny. 

Pascal: What’s important now, is this investigation. Let’s get it over with. 

The sealed doors of the [Redacted] lab swung open, releasing another cloud of spores into the air before the crew could step inside. After a long coughing fit they trekked down to the sublevel of the lab, gazing around for any more cameras that could catch them snooping around. All they could hear was the beating of their own hearts as they approached the shrouded corridor, beckoning Pascal to go inside. Before he could even step foot into the cloud, Erwin grabbed his arm and yanked him away. 

Erwin: O-okay, before you go in, you gotta know that whatever is in there can get you killed if you aren’t careful. If it’s not a monster, the Dudes in Black will come after you. 

Pascal: Move away, Erwin. I know what I am doing. We have come too far to back away now. I Am Not A Coward. 

Pascal pushed passed him, giving his friend a salute as he stepped into the toxic cloud, disappearing into the great unknown.

Vidcund: Good luck, Pascal! See you on the other side! 

Lazlo: You got this bro!

The purple spores engulfed him as he moved further down the corridor, obscuring his vision. His breathing quickened as he continued on, the beating of his heart matching the rapid pulses of the laboratory's ventilation. What was he thinking? This was stupid, he should be home with his alien baby working on his lab reports and talking to his friend Nervous...oh yeah Nervous was missing! Not only that his sister was in danger, his family was torn apart, the town was in chaos! He had to keep going, he could not let his intrusive thoughts get in the way of this investigation. He needed to solve the Strangetown mystery. 

Beneath the sublevel, behind the pair of sealed doors there was another laboratory. How deep the facility went was a complete mystery, but the large hall of computers and contained bizarre plants revealed that this was the main part of the lab. Whatever this lab contained it was never meant to be found, let alone by a curious lab assistant. Upon investigating the computers and machinery, Pascal found a report from one of the scientists: 

Ħ€Ř Ň€ŞT IŞ ĆŁØUЀРIŇ β€ΔUŦ¥ Ŵ€ ĐØ ŇØT Đ€Ş€ŘV€ Ħ€Ř

β€ΔUŦ¥β€ΔUŦ¥β€ΔUŦ¥β€ΔUŦ¥β€ŁŁΔβ€ΔUŦ¥β€ΔUŦ¥β€ΔUŦ¥β€ΔUŦ¥

ĴØIŇ UŞ ĆØŇŞUΜ€ ŦĦ€ FŘUIŦ ØF ŦĦ€ ΜØŦĦ€Ř ΔŇĐ KŇØŴ P€ΔĆ€

ŦĦ€ ΔŘβØŘ€ΔŁ ΜIŇĐ ĐŘ€ΔΜŞ ŦĦŘØUGĦ ØUŘ FŁ€ŞĦ¥ €¥€Ş

ŁØØK ŦØ ŦĦ€ ŞK¥ IŦ Ŵ€ŁĆØΜ€Ş UŞ ΔŁŁ

ŦĦ€ ΜØŦĦ€Ř ĆΔŁŁŞ ΔŇĐ I ΜUŞŦ Ř€ŞPØŇĐ

ØUŘ €¥€Ş ΔŘ€ ØƤ€Ň

Pascal quickly closed the log and backed away from the monitor, a chill ran down his spine as the floor trembled beneath his feet. He held down whatever fear he had left in his body and shuffled towards the last stretch of hallway. The walls were moving, the vines flinched every time he stepped on them, and the leaves rustled loudly around him as he drew closer to the vault doors. Taking a breath, he carefully retrieved his key card and swiped it.

He reeled back as spores burst into his face and a low growl shook him to the core. The animalistic sounds were nothing he had heard before and  he was not prepared to see what lay behind the doors of the vault. The bizarre plants were scary on their own but the creature before him was beyond comprehension. 

Before him was the Mother, in all of her glory, swaying inside of the electrified fence that attempted to contain her god-like figure. His anxiety went away as he approached it, fascinated by the glowing monstrous plant. His eyes widened as the plant looked down to face him and its pedals opened up to reveal its bone crushing maw. The growls grew louder as the building shook around them, pieces of rubble falling from the ceiling and crashing down on the floor. 

Before Pascal could turn around and run, it grabbed him by the ankles and flung him into the air and slammed him down on the platform! He let out a shrill scream as it thrashed him around, and roared out in anger. Was this the end?! 

Pascal: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH 

Erwin: Did you guys hear a lady screaming? What the heck is all that noise?! 

The men stumbled to grasp their footing as the Earth rumbled and quacked around them. The lights flickered as they yelled out and held onto the crumbling walls. The vast roar of the creature echoed across the crater, making them pray for their lives as they held onto each other

 Suddenly the noise stopped and silence hung over them as they struggled to their feet, sniffling. Lazlo and Vidcund looked at each other and back at Erwin, fearing the worst for their fallen brother.

Vidcund + Lazlo: PASCAL!!

The brothers whipped their heads around when they heard footsteps making a mad dash through the corridor! Pascal was alive and frantically running for his life…or limping for his life. 

Pascal: HOLY MOTHER OF WATCHER WEGOTTAGOTHEREISAMONSTERPLANT ANDIT’SSCAry! 

Erwin: CALM DOWN YOU ARE MAKING ME PANIC 

Pascal: * panting* Mother...plant...big monster..almost...killed. We gotta go! 

Lazlo: You did it ! You found the truth! Heck I didn’t think you’d actually live! 

Pascal: Heh hehe yeah..live. 

Vidcund: What was all that noise? Was there an earthquake?

Pascal: No I just really pissed the Mother plant off and it made that whole lab shake.

Lazlo: That is so cool! We are going to team up and kill this thing! Right Vidcund? 

Vidcund: I don’t know about you but killing big monsters isn’t really my thing...anyways I have a meeting to go to. 

Pascal: See you around Vidcund, the gang is headed to the bunker to run some tests if you want to join later. 

Vidcund: Yeah...see you around…

-----

Pascal stood in the town plaza, feasting his eyes on the raging tempest he had created. The town was a husk of what it was, everyone sheltered within their homes fearing each other and the infection as it spread like wildfire. The disappointment was much greater than the pain he felt in his ankles, all the work he and his team had done had just blown up in their faces. Things were escalating too quickly for Pascal to handle, he needed to find the cure for the syndrome fast and a way to defeat the evil he just awakened.

It was all hopeless. 

#strangetown mystery #strangetown #strangerville #pascal curious #vidcund curious #lazlo curious #buzz grunt #dudes in black

[nkp1981]

The Old Guard / Underwold A.U:

When the young vampire Nile is captured by Andromache the leader of the Lycans, Nile is left back with Booker and Nicolo, who gets the task of telling Nile their side of the story of how the war broke out between the Vampires and the Lycans.

Booker: “Did you know that Nicolo and I were the last children to be born into servitude amongst the Lycans with the ungrateful task of being the daylight guardians of the Vampires because we were never asked if that what we wanted to do with our life. It was expected from us that we would follow orders like always without asking questions or else we would be killed. Like so many of us Lycans, I hated the Vampires into the core of my bones, but not Nicolo, who sought another way to coexist side by side and in peace. We used to call him the only idealist left amongst the slaves.”

Nile: “So, according to you, it was slavery, that started the war. Merrick has always said that it was a Lycan, who killed Yusuf Al-Kaysani the greatest General, that has ever lived amongst us Vampires, that started the war.”

As soon Nile said Yusuf's name out loud Nicolo started to shift around in his spot, but a look from Booker made him sit still and Nicolo just turned his head to the side, while looking down on the ground.

Booker: “Slavery was one reason amongst many, but a war also needs a spark to ignite it and it wasn’t the strive for more power, land or money, that ignited this war: it was a forbidden love, and if you ask Nicolo, he will say that Merrick is right about that it was a Lycan, who was the reason to why Yusuf was killed.”

Nile: “I don’t understand. What has Yusuf’s death to do with forbidden love?”

Nicolo: “What Booker means is that it was my life choices, that ignited the spark that started the war, when I took Yusuf as my husband even though we both knew very well, that our love would end up bringing us more grief than joy, which was a correct assumption. Did you know that Yusuf had a smile, that was just as bright as the sun, that killed him for loving me, who is a Lycan?”

It was first there Nile noticed that Nicolo was holding a necklace between his fingers.

Booker: “I won't let you degrade the value of your relationship with Yusuf, because your union was based on a love that I've not seen since then.”

Nicolo: “And look where that love has brought us, Booker. We’re still hiding in places that are no better than the prison cell, we grew up in and it won’t bring Yusuf back to me.”

Booker: “I know that, and I wish that I could relieve you from all the pain, you're feeling, but we’re free men, Nicolo and that is better than being a slave, who daily gets beaten up for looking wrongly at a Vampire.”

Nicolo: “Then enjoy your freedom, because I’m still stuck in a prison cell.”

Nicolo throws angrily the last piece of wood into the fire before standing up, which makes Nile flinch, but Booker makes a sign to her to sit still, because Booker knows very well, that Nicolo prefers not to talk too much about his life before Yusuf’s death.

Booker: “I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

Nicolo: “I'll find some more wood, Booker. Shout, if there is something.”

As Nicolo passes Booker they look at each other briefly before Nicolo leaves the cave.

Nile: “Is it true, what he said about Yusuf’s death?”

Booker: “Yes, they were caught when they tried to escape from the castle. Merrick gave Yusuf the choice between killing Nicolo and prove his loyalty to Merrick or be executed. Yusuf refused to kill Nicolo and live a life with his beloved’s blood on his hands because he was also tired of this meaningless war. Merrick left Keane in charge of the execution, who was very keen on taking over Yusuf’s place as the leading general amongst the Vampires, and to add to Yusuf and Nicolo’s suffering, Keane gave them one last night together in a dark room, where they couldn’t see or touch each other because they were chained to opposite walls. At dawn, Keane returned and asked if Yusuf had come to his senses, but once again Yusuf refused to kill Nicolo, which sealed his fate. Keane then impaled Nicolo with his sword straight through the stomach, before Nicolo was released from his chains and as soon Keane had left the room the sunlight was led into the room killing Yusuf in front of Nicolo, who laid bleeding on the floor helpless to help Yusuf.”

Booker takes a moment to take a deep breath before he continues telling:

Booker: “Did you know, that right after Yusuf was killed, Merrick ordered Keane to kill every slave that was left in the castle? It was a miracle that we only lost so few Lycans that day, which we can thank Andromache for because she ordered an attack on the castle when Yusuf and Nicolo failed to show up at their agreed meeting point. I still remember, when we found Nicolo on his knees in his own pool of blood in front of the wall, where Yusuf had been chained to. I still don’t know how Nicolo survived that day, but I also knew that my best friend had died with Yusuf together with the idealist, who believed in peace. What left the castle was a different man, who is hellbent on making Keane pay for his actions.”

Nile: “But why? What did Merrick hope to gain from Yusuf’s death?”

Booker: “Like Yusuf and Nicolo, Andromache also wanted peace between the Vampires and the Lycans. That’s why she blessed their union because she saw an opportunity that through their love peace might finally happen and that they might show the way for all of us, but Merrick wasn’t interested in peace and he certainly wasn't interested in a blending of the species, because he knew just as well as Andromache, that he could use the union to his own advantage namely to ignite this war between the Vampires and the Lycans by telling every Vampire, that it was a Lycan, who killed Yusuf and not himself, who gave the order for the execution. It’s what Merrick calls ‘The Forbidden History’ because if it ever comes out that it was a Vampire that killed Yusuf, Merrick’s days as a leader is over.”

Nile: “Forbidden history? You’re lying. Merrick is the most esteemed leader amongst the Vampires.”

Booker: “Esteemed leader? You make me laugh.”

Nile finds her dagger threatening Booker, who doesn’t move or break eye contact with her.

Nile: “I won't tolerate you mocking Merrick, a great man who has led the Vampires into the future.”

Booker: “A future that is built on a lie and the blood of my brothers and sisters, Lykon and Quynh to name two of the many, who have died in Merrick’s meaningless war. Merrick is a coward, who hides behind others and makes them carry out his orders. And may I ask you, when was the last time you have seen Merrick with blood on his owns hands after giving the order to kill a Lycan or anyone, who stood in his way? That is a job Keane is more than happy to do because he is still very eager to prove to Merrick, that he is better than Yusuf ever were, but let me tell you this: Keane will never be Yusuf and Keane know it very well.”

They look at each other in silence for a bit before Nile lowers the dagger. Booker can tell by the look on her face, that she is thinking over the last thing he said.

Booker: “You can go. I promise nothing will happen to you.”

Nile looks at Booker to tell if, he is lying this time, but in the end, she starts to walk out of the cave not taking her eyes of Booker, who finds a bottle of whiskey. As she passes Nicolo, they look briefly at each other, before she starts to run towards the city.

Nicolo: “Was that a wise thing to let her go?” And throws the wood on the ground.

Booker: “Trust me on this, Nicolo. She’ll be back again.”

Nicolo: “Good luck explaining your decision to Andromache.”

Booker: “It isn’t the first time I’ve talked us out of troubles. Remember when we stole those apples as children?”

Nicolo doesn't reply but only gives Booker a weak smile, before he lays down on the ground with his back to Booker to get some sleep with the necklace between his fingers.

My creation.

#andromache of scythia #Charlize Theron #yusuf al-kaysani #joe #marwan kenzari #nicolo di genova #yusuf x nicolo #joe x nicky #Booker #sebastian le livre #Matthias Schoenaerts #nile freeman #kiki layne #the old guard

[caxsthetic]

Intoxically Mine

Akaashi Keiji x F!Reader

A relationship starts when you unravel every piece of your lover, and still love them regardless.

Pt. 2 of Be Mine?

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT

The relationship between Akaashi Keiji and Bokuto (Y/n) wasn't actually subtle. The pretty setter would hold your hand when you walk together outside the classroom, and you usually cling into his arm and sometimes peck him on the cheek.

It's no wonder that the two of you become a public secret. The whole school knew about the relationship between you and the setter. Akaashi hates PDA at first, but when he saw another student ogling your figure, he always kissed your lips to show them that you are his.

And since then, he's hooked to show the world that he's the only one who could taste your lips.

It's been a few months after you got together with the pretty setter. And like what you thought, your brother was always so oblivious when it comes to you and his best friend. Akaashi is a dangerous man, and you know that after in a relationship with him.

There's one time when he couldn't help but rage when some students from the other school brought you up on the locker room conversation in the middle of summer camp. How they are lusting over your body and Bokuto oblivious about who they talked about.

That night after dinner, you met him and worried about how his pupils dilated. His breath started to feel heavy. You thought that something happened to him, so you brought your boyfriend to the infirmary. Nothing prepared you for how his calloused hand touch your skin, making you whimper by the end of the night.

Konoha and the others understood what happened when they look at how you walk the morning after. The gaze that their setter gave to a lot of guys who dared to undress you with their eyes convince them. That's when they know, Akaashi usually calm and composed persona will vanish when it comes to your safety.

You didn't hate how jealous he could get. Hell, it could make you melt every time he started to cling into you closer. His kiss would be rougher and more intense. To the point that he needs to grab your waist, so you didn't fall to the ground.

"Congratulation, Keiji!" You immediately jumped to your boyfriend's arm after their match with Nekoma High. Fukurodani is going to Nationals, and you couldn't be more proud. He smiled a little at the fact that you hug him right after a match, didn't feel any kind of disgust because of his sweat.

"Hey! I am your brother~! Why you always come to Akaashi's first?!" Bokuto pouted beside you. Seeing that, you couldn't help but pulled out your embrace from the setter and hugged your brother instead. The other could only share some glances towards each other at how dense your brother could be.

"You are such a baby, Kou!" You chuckled and looked at him, "But you played great today! The best brother that I could ever ask!" Just that outburst was enough to make him teared up happily, "Come on now, everyone! You guys can clean up and then celebrate your victory!"

After the match, you walked side by side with your boyfriend and talked about the aftermatch dinner with the team. He insisted on spending time with you rather than partying with the other member. But after a little push from you, he finally accepted to go with an exchange that he will sleepover in your room tonight, of course without your brother's knowing.

Your parents are currently away for a work trip, leaving you alone to wait for Bokuto and Akaashi. You watch some movie in the living room, trying to distract yourself, so you didn't think about him. But the movie that you watch apparently attempting to turn you on.

There on the screen, the protagonist ravished his lovers with lust glistening in the eyes. Moan after moan appeared from the movie. From how the actress contorts her face, you know that the protagonist plunges it deep inside her.

And you couldn't help but imagine it's Akaashi that ravished you right now.

Your breathing becomes heavier as your eyes still bore on the screen. You could feel how wet you are right now, and wearing your boyfriend's sweater was the biggest mistake of the day.

"K-Keiji," You called out his name, didn't have shame anymore. Your finger trailed down to your thigh, imagine his index finger instead. He loves to tease you first before plunge his long fingers into your core.

You bit your lips to maintain your moan. Your hand finally slipped into your panties, ready to plunge it deep like what your boyfriend always do.

But a knock on the door startled you. You stood up immediately and turned off the television. Before going outside, you wash your hand and compose yourself first. You walked to the door and opened it, finding Bokuto and Akaashi there.

"Why do you knock, Kou? Aren't you brought your key with you?" You step aside so the two boys could go inside.

"I forgot to put it on my bag!" He whined and took off his shoes like a child, while your boyfriend delicately unties his shoes first before putting it on the rack, "Have you eat something for dinner?"

Akaashi looked up to your appearance and raised his eyebrows. You look more fidgety, and your cheek produces a faint blush. Bokuto seems oblivious to your condition. You talked to your brothers like nothing happened, but he started to get worried,

"(Y/n), does something hap—"

You immediately look at your boyfriend and send him pleading eyes and begging him to stop his question before Bokuto notice. Akaashi understands that and stopped his words. It's like your eyes could tell him that he shouldn't ask when your brother is around.

"Alright, then. I am going ahead," Bokuto stretched his body and yawned, "The guest bedroom is ready for you, Akaashi. See you guys tomorrow morning!" Your brother engulfed you into a big hug and ruffled your hair before going upstairs.

Once he's out from your sight, Akaashi walked towards you and stop on your side. The atmosphere changes all of a sudden. The gunmetal blue eyes pierce into you, making you shudder a little.

"Aren't you going to bed?" His voice was gentle, and you feel guilty for thinking about the dirty work that he does to you some night before. Akaashi Keiji is a gentle lover if nothing provoke him from changing. Instead of answering, you decided to grab his hand instead, pulling him upstairs.

Both of you walked to your room carefully. Eyes are scanning for your brother. He squeezes your hand to notify you that the hallway is clear. And so, you pulled Akaashi a little bit too fast since he almost tripped. He gave you an exasperated glare, but when he saw you trying to hide your giggle, he couldn't help but smile.

Once you went inside your room and closed the door, you finally let out a long sigh. You slide your back down to the ground, eyes looking at your boyfriend who currently changes his clothes. Your relationship is on the level when both of you could change in front of each other without lusting.

But right now, seeing his back and how his muscle flexed,

You want to devour him.

Before he could cover his torso with a shirt, you stood in front of him and trailed your finger to his back. Your boyfriend jolted from the sudden touch. He immediately turned his back and faced you. The twinkle in your eyes looks mischievous to him. That's when he knew what's playing inside your mind.

Akaashi pulls you closer to his embrace, allowing you to feel how warm his body. He put his chin on your shoulder, basking your scent to be imprinted on his mind. His hand slowly trailed from your back to your bottom, finger pressed on your slit all of a sudden.

You moaned, and god your moan could make him cum that instance. He looked to your eyes, scanning for any kind of discomfort. When he found none, his hand immediately take off his blue sweater from your body. He widened his eyes a little to the fact that you didn't wear any bra. A thought about Bokuto realising it will doom him.

Akaashi brought you to the bed without hesitation, shifting you, so your body sprawled comfortably on the fresh sheet. He hovered your body and closed the gap between the two of you. His kiss was full of desire with how sloppy and nosy the kiss is. You bucked your hips all of a sudden, telling him in advance what you have been craving on.

His long finger flicked on your nipple, making you produce a loud gasp. He smirked and trailed down to your core. Without waiting, he put aside your panties and press his thumb on your clit. The ministration made you moan so loud, thanks to his lips that he could contain your lustful voice.

Your eyes locked to his gaze, looking at how his gunmetal blue eyes seemed to be darkened by any seconds. He put his tongue on your mouth before plunging his index finger to your core, curling it deep inside of you. You gasped for air, moaning his name at the process.

"Shh, keep it down, love." His voice sounded to be huskier and sexier when you are doing it with him, "You don't want your brother to see us, right?" He bit your earlobe playfully, emitting a purr from your mouth, "Imagine how he will take it? To see his pure sister, ravished by his best friend."

"K-Keiji..." You gulped, didn't know where you should focus on. How his finger curling inside of you didn't help at all. He added his middle finger inside you, stretching your core to get you to cum, "N-no, I don't want to cum yet!" You whined to your boyfriends.

But Akaashi ignored it and added another finger instead. His thumb kept rubbing on your clit, "Let it all out, (Y/n). You want to cum, right?" His movement started to become faster, making you gasp for air before finally released yourself. You cum all over his finger as he still moved it to extend your pleasure.

Akaashi kissed your lips playfully before retracted his finger. He looked into your eyes as he put his finger to his mouth, tasting your cum that coated his finger. Once he knew your eyes were focused on him, he closed his eyes and moaned, satisfaction contorted on his face as he tasted your juice.

The pretty setter rarely moans. He usually grunted when he thrust deep inside you. But moaning was something that he always hid before.

You couldn't wait any longer as arousal creeping into you once more. Your hand immediately pushed him to the bed, hovering him and pulled his trousers off his body. The bulge on his trousers made you excited. You slipped the trouser off him to reveal the girthy cock that always made you full.

He looked into your eyes and stroke his length, trying to push your button.

"Do you want this inside you?" You shuddered from the roughness on his voice, "Answer me, love. Or you wouldn't get this deep inside you tonight."

"I-I want it, Keiji." He smirked and pushed you to lay down, the only one who will be on top tonight, is him, "I want your cock inside me, please." His hand teasingly caress your thigh, snatching your panties and throw it to god knows where by the time he heard your voice.

Akaashi is a man in need. So when you nodded at to notify him that he could continue, he immediately put the tip of his cock on your slick entrance. You gasp for air every time he pushed inside you. Inch by inch, stretching you to make your wall familiar with his size. One of your hand tugged into his hair, desperately clinging on him.

Once he seethed inside you, he let out a long sigh from how your inner walls warmed his length. He put his head on the crook of your neck, thrusting inside you with a slow pace. You mewled every time he pulled out with only the tip on your core, and plunging it deep inside you again and again.

"Keiji, please..." But his movement is not enough, "Faster, I am begging you." He looked into your eyes to found that you were serious. His hand pulled one of your legs to his shoulder, trapping you below him as you succumb to the pleasure that he gave you. The new position feels like he got it deeper inside your wet core.

His other hand was now trying to tease you even more. He trailed down his finger to where you are connected to him and put his thumb on your clit once again, circling it fast. You moaned out loud, seems to forget where are you right now. Akaashi keeps thrusting into you. Hips slapped into each other as he muffled your moan by leaning down and gave you a feverish kiss.

"Keiji, I-" Both of your hand was now loosely wrapped around his neck, "Please, I am going to-"

"(Y/n), are you calling someone?" You heard your brother's voice in front of your room, and making you both froze, "You need to sleep! If I hear you still calling your friends, I am going to tell mom!" When you felt Akaashi moves again, you met his gaze with horror showing in your eyes.

"Keiji, he could hear us!" You tried to stop him with a hushed tone.

"Don't pretend that you are asleep, my dear sister!" Bokuto trying to scare you off, "Seriously? You want to play this game? Alright, I am going in." You widened your eyes when the realisation hit you. In a split second, you pushed Akaashi away and push your naked body to the door that slightly ajar after Bokuto trying to get in.

"Alright, Kou! I will sleep!" You shouted, trying to compose yourself. How aroused can you be that your brain could not even lock the door? You jolted when two fingers delicately put inside your mouth. Akaashi was now already stood behind you, another hand caressing your leg. Suddenly, he thrust deep inside your core once again.

"Hey, sis! Please don't tell mom or dad that I am going to play the new game, please?" If you are in a normal state, you will call him a hypocrite for telling you to sleep when he's going to play a game. But Akaashi pace was faster than before, trying to chase his release, "Are you angry to me? I am sorry! You could call your friends all you want!"

"Shouldn't you respond to Bokuto-san?" Akaashi whispered on your ear, "You know how he could be in dejection mode, right? Do you want that?" You shook your head and gulped. Trying to hold your moan as his pace going faster every time he thrust his cock.

"O-Okay! I wouldn't tell m-mom and dad." Your throat clenched a little as you try to keep your voice steady.

"Alright! Good! I am going to ask Akaashi to play the game." You widened your eyes at this and turned your head to take a look at your boyfriend. He didn't seem to waver at the fact that both of you could get caught.

Akaashi didn't stop his ministration on your core as he keeps ramming his cock in and out rapidly. He didn't slow down, not even a little bit. If better, he even added more strength to his thrust, slamming his girth deeper as each thrust bringing you to oblivion.

"KEIJI!" With one thrust, your walls clenching hard around him. Soaking his length with your climax as he continued to ram into you, "Keiji, I am going to come again if you- aahhh!" You moaned out louder, and that's the only thing he needs to spill his cum inside your core. Warming your walls as it painted white.

You almost fall to the ground if it's not because of his hand that wrapped around your waist. He kissed your forehead lovingly before carrying you to the bed. Slowly, he pulled his softening length out of your core. His eyes were back to normal as he watches you close your eyes and trying to calm down. He grabs a towel to clean you off and covered your body with a blanket.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Your boyfriend just has done wearing his boxer when he found his phone ringing. He felt too tired that he didn't even care who calls and just pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Akaashi! What are you doing in my sister's room?!" He widened his eyes and checked the caller ID. It's Bokuto.

"I am calling," Akaashi answered a matter of factly.

"So it's you that she called?" Your boyfriend could only pucker up his forehead at your brother's remark. By now, you are already calmed and sat on your bed, "Why you called each other in the same room? That's a waste of phone credit!"

"Because it's fun?"

"What?!?!?! That's just absurd." Bokuto whined at the end of the line, "So you wouldn't play the new game that I am telling you before?"

"I am sleepy, Bokuto-san." You widened your eyes when you knew who he has been calling for a minute now, "(Y/n) and I would like to play with you tomorrow. But we are tired from the game."

"Alright, alright. You weak, Akaashi! But okay, we are going to play the new game tomorrow!" After saying goodbye, your boyfriend let out a long sigh and slipped himself beside you. You didn't try to ask him about it since you knew Akaashi could handle something like this. Akaashi wrapped his arms around you, pulling your body to his chest.

"I am sorry for being too rough," He gave you a gentle kiss on the back of your head, "I will try to control my need from now on." You giggled at this,

"You don't have to, Keiji." You purr, making him hold his breath for a second, "I love it when you are all out." Turning your head for a while, you kissed his lips and back to your first position, "Goodnight, my pretty setter." He smiled from the nickname that you gave to him,

"Yeah, goodnight."

When both of you were curling together in your bed. Your brother still pondering in the living room. His expression showed confusion, thinking hard about something that's bothering his mind. But then, he ended up giving up and just go back to his room while mumbling,

"Akaashi could be tired from the match today, but what kind of game they play that made her tired?" Bokuto plopped on his bed and grunted, "Meh, doesn't matter."

#akaashi keiji #akaashi keiji x reader #akaashi haikyuu #haikyuu!! #haikyuu #hq anime #hq!! #hq x reader #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu scenarios #akaashi x reader #its lemon baby

[bi-the-way-132]

La Vie en Rose

1 - Don't Forget About Me

Summary: Everything about her is perfect. Her grades, her looks, her personality, everything. Desiree Hale is known as little miss perfect all throughout middle school. But when she makes the transition from being in eighth grade to being a freshman, everything changes. Not because of the change in her surroundings, but because of a girl. A girl with gorgeous brown locks and stunning eyes to match, with a voice that sounds like an angel and a smile that could melt anyone's heart. The moment Desiree laid her eyes on the girl, she knew there was something different about herself.

Word Count: 3,205

Warnings: None

Please do NOT copy, rewrite, or translate onto another site. Permission will not be given if asked for it.

Water splashes on the light gray concrete, soaking the people nearby. Meat sizzles on the grill, sending a delectable aroma through the air. Adults and children cover the lawn, chatter fills the surrounding space. The Sun's rays beat upon everything it can reach, making anything hot to the touch. This is what a Fourth of July party looks like. People having fun interacting with each other and forming relationships with people they had just met.

But not me. I've been sitting in the corner underneath an enormous oak tree with my journal full of short stories and other random notes. No one has bothered talking to me. It's not like anyone would want to talk with the girl who has her face buried in a journal. They're too busy enjoying the sun and partying. I'm not a big fan of the sun. Or parties. I'd much rather sit inside and read or write all day.

I turned the page in my notebook and began jotting down random thoughts that pop into my mind. As I looked up to relax my eyes, I noticed a girl my age approaching me in a bright blue two-piece swimsuit with a bright smile on her face. I smiled back and watched as she sat next to me on the grass.

"So, what brings you to this miserable party?" She asked, her smile not fading.

"My parents are friends with the hosts." I deadpanned. "You?"

"My parents are the hosts." She chuckled.

Silence. We stared into the distance and watched my little sister -who's only six years old- jump into the pool with a bright pink ring sitting around her waist as my dad caught her. I smiled when I heard her screams of joy.

"What's your name?" The girl said as she cleared her throat.

"Oh, it's Desiree." I stuttered, clearly being thrown off guard by the sudden question. "What's yours?"

"Zoe." She replied.

More silence. That's enough of our conversation. It's obvious neither of us gets out there or talk to others often. We've only said six things to each other. And every time we try to converse, it always starts with her asking a question.

"Wanna come to the pool with me? I think it's a lot cooler than sitting out in the sun." Zoe comments. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Actually, that sounds nice. I'll be right back." I said, standing up as my arms naturally spread to the sky to release tension.

"If you're changing, I could show you where the bathrooms are." She commented.

"That's alright. Your mom told me where they were when we got here." I replied, grabbing my bag and hurrying into the house and towards the bathroom.

Once I was inside, I quickly stripped off my clothing and changed into my black two piece. I turned to look at the mirror and pulled my dark brown hair into a high ponytail to prevent it from getting wet. Smiling, I made my way out of the bathroom and found Zoe standing by the door, waiting for me.

The two of us ran to the pool and dove into the deep end with grins spread across our faces. Fully submerged in the water, I opened my eyes and looked to my right to see Zoe watching me. I smirked and began swimming to the surface. As I broke the fine line between the water and air, I felt my lungs gasp for air and my wet hair stick to the back of my neck. There was no point in that ponytail. I quickly stroked to the edge of the pool where I met with Zoe and got greeted with a splash of water to the face. I let out a dramatic gasp and pushed water towards her as well. Before we knew it, we made our way back out to the middle of the pool again in a huge water war. The two of us looked up to see my dad running towards us from the surface. I took in as much air as possible into my lungs and dove under the water just before he got to the pool. Zoe continued swimming in place and tried to protect herself from the oncoming tidal wave, but it was no use. Dad hit the water, and I felt myself get pushed towards the other side of the pool. As I felt the water calm down, I quickly resurfaced and swallowed a breath of fresh air.

"Dinner's ready, girls." Dad laughed as he swam over to us.

"That wasn't necessary." I said, brushing loose strands of wet hair behind my ears.

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you heard me." He replied as he stepped out of the pool. "I was also extremely hot."

Zoe and I glanced at each other and laughed, making our way out of the water. We hopped in line and draped brightly colored towels around our shoulders to dry off a bit. I grabbed a paper plate and collected a hotdog, some condiments and a small bag of Doritos. I thanked the man standing by the grill for the meal and scanned the yard for Zoe to find her sitting under the tree we met at. Smirking, I rushed to the grass. Standing at her side, I placed my food onto the ground and lay the towel flat next to where Zoe had done the same. I then sat criss-crossed on the fabric and dug into my meal.

"Tell me something about yourself." I prompted, breaking the silence.

"Oh, I uh, I play guitar and bass. I'm planning on trying out for the Jazz Band at my high school at the beginning of the year." She replied simply.

"What school are you going to?" I questioned.

"James Madison. You?" Zoe answered.

"Wait, no way, me too!"

"Really? What classes are you taking?"

I told Zoe almost every single one of my classes. Art, choir, French, and theatre for my electives. Earth science, honors language arts, secondary math one, and world geography for my core classes. Zoe's classes were a lot more complex than mine. Band, creative writing, and debate for her electives. Earth science, honors language arts, secondary math two, and AP human geography for her core classes. Not to mention if she makes it into the jazz band she'll have an extra-curricular.

We talked about our friends and lives in middle school. How I was perfect with grades and had little to no issues while she had to deal with drama and barley passing classes. Why we both made such big changes for high school is a significant question that neither of us know the answer to. The conversation dragged away from school and ventured into our home lives. Zoe told me about her brother Connor, and I told her about my little sister Brooke. She talked about how Connor has changed. How they used to be friends and would play with each other when they were younger and how they've drifted over the years. How much she wishes they could be close again and how it can't happen because of things he's done.

Zoe has dealt with so much shit throughout her life. From fights with her brother to being ignored by her parents, all she wants is to be seen. Usually I'd say the two of us are different people, but in reality, we aren't. After Brooke was born, I felt lost. My life took a sharp turn I didn't see coming. But yet again, doesn't everyone who has younger siblings been through the same thing I went through? I bet it doesn't last as long for them as it did for me. The rejection, I mean. It's been six years. Six damn years and my parents still give Brooke the attention they gave her when she was born. And what have I been doing? I've tried getting them to notice me, but it never works. I learned how to paint and made them something for their anniversary. It ended up in the basement. I drew my dad something for his birthday and it ended up in the basement. I learned how to sculpt things out of clay and made a sculpture for my mom and it ended up in the basement. Everything Brooke makes gets hung up or put on display. Everything I make gets put away. On the outside, we appear as a happy family. On the inside, we appear as a happy family. But it doesn't feel like it.

I finished eating quicker than I had expected and offered to throw Zoe's trash away for her. After many tries, she gave in and let me, telling me to grab her a Dr. Pepper while I was by the drinks. I complied and grabbed myself one.

"Thanks." She said as she popped the tab on the can, sending small droplets of the soda into the air.

"It's no problem." I replied, doing the same.

Everyone at the party had resumed their activities before the meal in no time, which meant Zoe and I had returned to the pool. We were floating on a raft together, chatting about anything that came to mind, when we suddenly felt someone flip the raft, throwing us into the water. I screamed and accidentally swallowed a bit of water. Zoe did the same. We both resurfaced, coughing the liquid out of our lungs while diabolical laughter rang through the air.

"What the hell was that for, Connor?" Zoe yelled, continuing to cough.

"Your screams were hilarious!" He laughed, falling dramatically into the water.

I eventually caught my breath and finally got a glance at what this Connor character looks like. He has pale white skin and unruly dark brown hair. He's incredibly slim with little to no meat on his bones. I brushed loose strands out of my face and tucked them behind my ears. A wave came from behind me, water splashing across Connor's face. I turned to see a wicked grin on Zoe's face. I know exactly what's happening. A water fight. I quickly dove under the water as the fight began, the siblings splashing each other with water. Reaching the concrete wall of the pool, I swung my leg onto the ground and popped myself out. I cautiously ran over to a bucket of water balloons and grabbed one, chucking it at Connor's back. He turned around with a playful glare, paddling himself towards me.

"Shit, shit shit shit shit." I muttered under my breath, grabbing as many balloons as I could, sprinting onto the grass.

I heard Connor leave the water and his wet feet against the concrete. I turned around to see Zoe climbing out of the pool herself, rushing to the pool house. Getting distracted with Zoe's actions, I felt a balloon hit the back of my thigh. My head whipped around to see Connor running in the opposite direction.

Zoe ran up next to me and handed me a super soaker, saying, "Those balloons aren't getting you anywhere."

I gladly took the gun and searched the yard for her brother when I saw an arm disappear behind a bright green bush. Pointing at the bush, we nodded at each other and sneaked up on the boy. I verged left while she went right. Slipping into the groups of people, we approached the bush with smirks on our faces. Zoe held up her fingers, silently counting us down from three. Three, two, one! Both of us blindly fired our super soakers at the bush, hoping we hit Connor. Swifter than we expected, he emerged from the bush and threw his hands into the air in surrender.

"Okay! I surrender!" He yelled.

"We'll forgive you if you get us popsicle." Zoe said, not putting her gun down.

"That's not how surrender works." Connor fought.

I squirted him with water. "Well, it's how it works around here."

"Jesus, fine." he replied, walking over to the cooler with his hands remaining in the air.

"Keep your hands where we can see them." Zoe called out.

"I am." Connor said. He grabbed three rocket pops and headed back over to us. "Have we made peace?"

"Yes." Zoe and I said in unison, each of us taking one popsicle.

As all of us peeled the wrapper off the cool treat, Connor and Zoe's dad approached us. "We're starting fireworks in the front if you'd like to join us."

"We'll be there in a minute." Zoe smiled.

She snatched the wrappers from all our hands and tossed them into the trash. I hurried over to my bag and slipped on my pair of blue shorts, completely disregarding my shirt. No one will care if I'm wearing a swim top and shorts. And besides, it's way too hot. She held out her arm to me to which I took, hooking my arm around hers. For only knowing each other for a few hours, I think we're getting along well. I've never clicked with anyone so easily before so this feels too easy. Maybe Zoe's being forced to hang out with me. It doesn't feel forced, though. Or maybe our personalities function perfectly together. Whatever it is, I don't think it matters. The bond we have is like a friendship that started many years ago. But it's only been hours. And hopefully, it lasts much longer than hours. Maybe we can have what those friendships that last for years have.

Skipping towards the gate that separates the backyard from the front, I grinned and started humming the theme to The Wizard Of Oz to myself. Zoe must have heard me, for she began singing the song. I laughed and sang along as we joined the rest of the party. Glancing around the area, I found an empty spot on the grass. I pulled Zoe to the spot with me and noticed it was right next to my family.

"So that's where you went." My dad commented, throwing a handful of glow sticks at me.

"Did you not just see me chasing Connor around with a squirt gun?" I questioned, taking a seat on the grass, pulling Zoe down with me.

"Apparently not." He replied.

Zoe, Connor, and I each grabbed a handful of the glow sticks off the grass and cracked them in one snap. Light illuminated in our hands and I took one of my red sticks and poked Zoe's shoulder. She poked me back with a blue one. And the war began. We poke each other back and forth with the glow sticks, breaking into a fit of giggles.

"How about you two use the glow sticks for something other than poking each other?" My mom recommended.

"No, I don't think we will." I replied, continuing to poke Zoe.

"Yeah, this is a lot more fun." Zoe added, poking my arm.

After poking each other for way too long, we tired of it and grabbed those plastic connectors and connected the ends of the glow sticks, forming bracelets just in time for the sun to set, putting us into darkness, the glow of streetlights illuminating our surroundings. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bright white light appear. My head snapped to look at the light to find it was someone handing a sparkler to a small child. I smirked and turned to Zoe to find her looking at me. Her cheeks dusted with a light shade of pink as her gray eyes flickered away from my blue ones.

"Hey, wanna go get some sparklers?" I asked.

"Sure!" She smiled.

We headed over to the table that held all the fireworks and grabbed a few sparklers. A man neither of us knew lit them up for us, and off we went into the middle of the street. We waved the sticks around in the air, creating patterns with the sparks. I tried spelling my name in cursive, but spelling Desiree in cursive isn't the easiest thing, and neither is Zoe. Instead, we drew pictures like hearts, stars, and cats. Yes, we drew cats in the air with sparklers. Why would we not? Is that not something that everyone does? Eventually the flammable portion of the sparkler was no more, and we had to toss them into a bucket of water on the curb.

The rest of the night was full of laughter and pure joy, something I sadly haven't experienced in a long time. Fireworks were exploding around every corner you turned. People were running in the street with explosives in their hands, with no fear in their eyes. Zoe and I quickly tired of the noise and went inside. Zoe dragged me upstairs to her room. And it looks exactly what you'd think it would look like. Periwinkle bedding with pink decorative pillows and a white chunky knit blanket displayed across the foot of the bed. The walls are a lighter shade of blue with pink flowers painted on top. White panels cover the bottom half of the walls, creating a sense of contrast. Above her bed sits a display of all the pictures she's taken with her friends and boy, is there a lot.

"Sorry, it's kind of messy right now." Zoe apologized.

"It's alright. My room is in worse condition right now." I laughed. She laughed too.

She began explaining to me how she discovered her bedroom was the perfect place to view fireworks. By simply flicking off the lights and pulling up beanbags to the window, it gave us a front-row seat to a firework show with no noise. You can see the explosions of bright colors for miles and miles across the city. Some are mere specs of light, while others are large bursts of color that illuminate the room. The sounds of the explosions are small pops, some being more powerful than others. The two of us sat in a comfortable silence for quite a while before a pair of feet came down the hallway and towards the bedroom.

"Des, it's time to go." My mom said, cracking open the door.

I groaned and stood up. "Thanks for making this party a lot more tolerable." Zoe said.

"It's no problem." I replied. "So, maybe I'll see you at school?"

"Yeah, maybe. It was nice meeting you." Zoe stood and followed me out of her room.

"You too." I smiled.

Once downstairs, Zoe joined a group of people in the backyard while I headed out to the front door behind my family. I slid into the backseat and pulled my phone out of my backpack to see multiple texts from my friends. I responded to them one by one and quickly resumed my quiet and reserved personality I had at the beginning of the day. Eventually all my notifications had receded, and it left me staring out the window of the car, watching as buildings and fireworks sped past us in blurs. Suddenly I gained the feeling you get when you think you forget something somewhere, but you don't know what it is. After sitting and thinking about it for a bit, I realized what I had forgotten. I forgot to ask for Zoe's number.

#dear evan hansen fanfic #dear evan hansen #deh fanfic #deh #zoe murphy #oc #connor murphy #larry murphy #zoe murphy x oc #bisexual fanfic #pansexual fanfic #lgbtq fanfic

[darksaiyangoku]

RWBY: The Official Manga Review

Back in November of 2018, it was announced by Viz Media that Rooster Teeth’s hit show, RWBY, would be getting a manga adaptation published by Shueisha.

This sounded like great news at the time. I mean, a manga adaptation of RWBY being published by Shueisha, creators of Shonen classics such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece and Hunter x Hunter? What part of that does not sound awesome?!

Now this isn’t the first time that RWBY had manga series, mind you. There was of course the manga written and illustrated by Shirow Miwa that was released in 2015 and the Manga Anthology collection in 2017.

But this manga was different from the others. Instead of being a spin off or a side story, it was an adaptation of RWBY itself, taking the story of the show and retelling it as a manga. Aside from anime, manga and comics are my favourite mediums of entertainment, so naturally this was something that I was very much looking forward to, even if I was pretty new to RWBY at the time.

The series was written and illustrated by Bunta Kinami and had a monthly release schedule, concluding in June of this year at 19 chapters total. Instead of reviewing this volume by volume, I’m going to be reviewing the whole thing. Without further ado, let’s get right into it. Here is my review of RWBY: The Official Manga.

Plot

Similar to the show, the manga opens up with notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick, robbing a Dust Shop in the middle of the night. It’s with the timely intervention of aspiring Huntress, Ruby Rose, that he’s thwarted. After an interrogation from the Professors of Beacon Academy, Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch, Ruby finds herself being admitted to the Huntsman Academy, much to her surprise. Together with her half-sister Yang Xiao Long, heiress Weiss Schnee and the mysterious Blake Belladonna, they form the Huntress group Team RWBY!

For the most part, it is a straight adaptation and retailing of the RWBY anime. It follows very similar story beats, such as the entrance exam, Blake’s revelation as a Faunus, meeting Sun and Penny, the revelation that Roman was working with Cinder, the infiltration of the school dance and the breach of Vale. With this new retelling, there was also the possibility of expanding on the source material and putting a cool new spin on a beloved series. Surely the writer would take advantage of that, right?

Well, no. He doesn’t. Not only is there very little in adding anything new to the story, but there’s a lot of things that have been either heavily condensed or flat out removed entirely. It’s almost as if Bunta goes out of his way to cut content. These aren’t just little moments either, a lot of what’s gone are plot points that are essential to the overarching story, making this adaptation feel hollow. It isn’t just the story that suffers, but so do the characters.

Characters

Team RWBY

Team RWBY come across as bizarro versions compared to their anime counterparts. For example, Ruby isn’t the cheery, optimistic aspiring hero that she is canon. Instead, she comes across more serious and sullen, but without any of the charm. Weiss is portrayed as nicer compared to canon. While this might seem like a good thing, I actually think it hurts her character development, where she starts out as fairly unlikeable but gradually becomes a better person, throwing away her shameful old prejudices. Blake seems less of a character here, having a lot of her endearing quirks completely removed. My least favourite, however, is what happened to Yang. Much of her personality is downplayed, to the point where I can’t even call her same character anymore. She doesn’t have that loveable “party girl” vibe alongside being the cool big sister. If that wasn’t bad enough, her backstory and motivation are also downplayed, which was essential in not only establishing and developing her and Blake’s friendship, but it also removes a key plot point for the Mistral Arc, which was the revelation of who Raven was and what she was doing all this time.

Team JNPR

Oh god, no characters have suffered more than Team JNPR. Their roles are severely downplayed, to the point where I’m questioning why they were even added to the manga in the first place. Ruby and Jaune’s friendship is almost non-existent, Ren and Nora’s fin shenanigans are gone and Pyrrha isn’t treated as a big celebrity athlete. Instead, she’s just another student. Such a waste.

Penny, Sun and Neptune

Penny doesn’t have any of the fun, cute quirks that she has in canon. Instead, she’s more desperate to be accepted and pushy wanting friends. As for Sun and Neptune? For the most part, they’re kept intact and there are few extended bits of dialogue they have, but that’s about it.

Roman Torchwick

All of the wit and humour from the canon is gone from this version of Roman Torchwick and he’s instead a cold, callous and sometimes downright psychotic. While that would normally sound right up my alley, there was nothing wrong with how Torchwick originally was! He was a fan favourite because of his wit and humour and that didn’t make him any less of a credible threat. Here, he acts more like Cinder, which is weird considering she is in this manga! Just... why?

Artwork

I’ll be blunt here, I don’t like the artwork here at all. A lot of it looks like it’s unfinished, especially the backgrounds and a lot of the characters look dangerously thin. I don’t know what kind of style Kinami was trying to go for, but it just doesn’t work. It doesn’t feel vibrant or colourful, it feels like a ghost, a shell of its former self.

Verdict

Overall, this is a very, VERY poor adaptation of RWBY. All of the charm, fun, heart and soul that made me fall in love with the original is nowhere to be found in this manga. Most of the cast have great personality shifts or have many of their signature characteristics downplayed, essential plot points that develop both the story and characters have been cut, the artwork is half-baked and there’s a real lack of effort put into this project. From what it looks like, it seems that Miles and Kerry had little to no involvement with this and gave Bunta free reign. With all that power, he decided to strip RWBY of its core and reduce it to something barebones and soulless. Some of you might be wondering if there is anything good in here and I will admit that there are two moments that I liked; Weiss actually apologising to Blake and Sun and Neptune taking a more active role in the fight against the Paladin. Other than that, there are absolutely no redeeming qualities to this adaptation. If you want RWBY manga, stick to either Shirow Miwa’s version or the anthologies.

Final score: 2/10

#rwby #rwby manga #bunta kinami #rwby the official manga #darksaiyangoku reviews

[mrslittletall]

Now that I played through the Phoenix Wright Trilogy, it is time to rate it! Graphics The graphics are painted backgrounds as well as hand drawn character models with different expressions/tiny animations. They are pleasing to look at and never feel out of place. For a game that released first on the GBA, they are surprisingly clean. I have no qualms with the graphics whatsoever. I love that, to this day, the character animations from the courtroom are used in animations where stuff gets debated. Sound and Music The music is fantastic, though I have to say, the one of the first title is the best and feels like the most iconic, especially the Objection theme, which is even used as part of the main menu theme for the trilogy.  The first title has a lot of songs that are so nice to listen too, the court theme, the objection theme, the cornered theme is godlike and even the music outside of the court is fun, especially the theme song for the easy go lucky characters, like Lotta Hart.  The other titles declined a bit, I think the music is a bit too somber and sounds too serious and the objection theme, while still remixing the first one, just doesn’t have the same impact.  The second title has a fantastic new theme for the Search Core situation, used for a villainous reveal, but the third title kinda ruined it by using it EVERYWHERE. I kid you not, that theme played like... a 50 times or so, while it only was used for a certain character in the second one.  The sound effects are fine. The blips of the text aren’t annoying and the way the text is sometimes written faster or slower got a good impression how fast or slow a person was talking.  I liked that some of the sound effects from court were sometimes used in the dialogues to convey certain emotions also. Gameplay The game is a mix of a visual novel and an adventure game, so prepare to do LOTS of reading. You basically go to an area, then murder happens and then you have to find your defendant and proof their innocent. There are two kinds of gameplay, the first is the investigation, where you go around and look at stuff and talk with witnesses and the police and such. That is the most classical for an adventure game. The second one are the trials, where you have to proof your client’s innocence. It generally is by getting a witness on the stand and having to find the contradictions in their testimony. You can press them to get more information or present evidence once you spotted a contradiction. That is like a really nice puzzle and it could be pretty hard to find a contradiction, but it was all the more satisfying, when you found it and the testimony crumbled in itself and the prosecutor had their damaged portray after a good counter.  I have a bit of problems with it though, because sometimes you are obliged to show a certain piece of evidence. Most of the time, several are allowed, but I had one case, where a crime photo very much proofed what I wanted to say, namely that the victim used his left hand to hold his coffee cup, but for some reason, the lip stain on the coffee cup was the only valid evidence. Huh... In the second and third title, the investigation part actually got spiced up by making Phoenix able to see when people hide secrets from him and then we need to gather evidence and get them to spill their secrets. It is similar to the court room, but with only two parties. I really liked that parts. The gameplay was pretty fun, for me at least, but it has a few weaknesses of course, which are the usual adventure game weaknesses. Once you know the solution to the puzzle, the replayability is gone. Story and Characters That is where the game shines. Like I said, the game is basically a visual novel. It has its own individual stories for each case as well as some over arching storyline, mostly centered around a certain case, the DL-6 in the first title and then about the Fey Family in the second and third title.  The cases are sometimes a bit crazy, but that is too expected, the whole series is very whacky and filled with jokes and humours, sometimes good and sometimes bad jokes. The stories are interesting to follow and I often wanted to find out the truth myself, see if my suspicisions were correct and if we could get the real murdered on the stand to make a confession.  It is the most interesting when the overall storylines are getting involved, like in the first title, the DL6-Incident was both for the fourth and the fifth case and seeing how it all came together and got solved completely, was amazing.  The characters are a bunch of regulars and a bunch of case specific. Our main characters are clearly Phoenix Wright, the defense attorney, we play as and Maya Fey, a spirit medium. We also get a few regular prosecutors, with Miles Edgeworth for the first title, Franziska von Karma for the second and Godot for the third title. They could be considered the “villains”, but in a sense, they only try to serve justice, even though all of them have pretty nasty personalities at first.  We also have Detective Gumshoe, a very unlucky homicide detective, Larry Butz, Phoenix’ creepy friend and Lotta Hart, a woman who can’t decide on a career, but loves making photos, and Pearl Fey, the little cousin of Maya. We also have Mia Fey, Maya’s big sister and Phoenix’ mentor, but she tragically died... but that isn’t too much of a problem, because Maya is a spirit medium and can channel her, so that she often helps Phoenix out. All of them, besides Larry, who I have some troubles with, are absolutely adorable, they are quirky, they have moments, they have character growth, they have certain speech patterns and I love them. What I especially like, Maya is kind of Phoenix’ assistant and in pretty much every other story, I would have expected for them to go the shipping route, but Maya and Phoenix, despite being shipped heavily by Pearl, never show any romantic energy in my book. They are more platonic, more like little sister and big brother. It may come from the fact, that Maya is the little sister of Mia Fey, Phoenix’ mentor, and he views her more as a little sister, but their platonic relationship truly touched me.  When it comes to shipping, Phoenix and Miles have more erotic energy between them that Phoenix and Maya could ever have! Especially in the first title! It doesn’t surprise me that they are a popular ship.  Pet Peeves  Ok, some gripes I have with this game are the ages of the characters! Like, we had a case where a 14 year old girl planned a fake kidnapping, good, everyone was super stoked about that, but then it turned out, her 18 year old sister was a police woman at that time. And at age 23, she was considered a police veteran. What?! We also had a doctor who was said to be 31 years old... he looked like he was 55!  Franziska is another offender... one of these japanese tropes of the “child genius”. She became a prosecutor at age 13 and only was 18 when Phoenix first met her. She is from germany and I am pretty sure it is downright illegal to be a legal prosecutor there when you are not of age, so... Then... we have the fact that this game so OBVIOUSLY is set in Japan, but the localization acts like it is set in America... Yes, America has a super traditional japanese village, Maya Fey is wearing traditional japanese clothing, we have a case centered around the Steel Samurai, typical japanese kids TV where an actor is wearing a full body suit and masks himself. I am actually surprised that when they were in super obvious japanese settings, that they actually talked about everything like it was japanese, and not made onigiri into donuts. But ok, I can forgive this, because it is so dumb and the original setting is more than obvious.  Larry! The guy turned out to be creepy! He first got introduced as Phoenix’ idiot friend with a weakness for hot woman, but getting used by them a whole lot, ok, that is still fine. But with each entry, guy turned more and more creepy, until he tried to hit on a married woman and said that he wanted to date Pearl. Pearl is a nine year old child, wtf, Larry?! He had some moments, but even the game acknowledged what a waste of space he is and made him the butt monkey. Which I can fully and totally understand.  Ok, that has been it! Overall, I enjoyed these games a lot! I would like to try and find the others in the series, but I don’t think I will be able to find them...

#phoenix wright #phoenix wright trilogy #phoenix wright spoilers #review

[jusauria]

Hotcattale (basic storyline)

Like every Story we have to start from the beginning of all.

Long time ago. In an AU of undertale there were monsters and humans. Both creatures needed the same kind of food to survive. The soul powers of the monsters scared The humans. The monsters were afraid of the soul energy of the humans. The fear turned into hate and a war began. In this war many lost their lives and both sides capitulated. The monsters were aware of the humans hate and so they moved out of all human villages to start a new life in peace. The only problem for the monsters in the mountains is the lacking source of food. Some of the best guards are hunting animals. The others are going to the cities to get other needed food supplies.

In these awful times of hate and rebuilding the life story of Sans and Papyrus begin. When the little skeleton opened his eyes he saw two taller skeletons in front of him. A huge smile were on their faces. They pick up the little skeleton and tell him: “My child. You made it. Of all the dead children's bodies, you made it to become a skeleton. We are so proud of you.” The surprised child looked around and saw something moving in the ashes. He started to move uncontrollable in the arms of the huge skeleton, only to tell them there was something. The female looking adult stuck her hand in the ashes and got out another little skeleton. The ashes made his bones look black and he sneezed a few times. The adults looked pleased. They grabbed their stuff and went to the forest where all the skeletons live.

Both kids grew up there and learned many new things. Even so they learned that skeletons can’t make kids like other monsters can. They need dead children in the age between 5-10 and have to put soulpower in them. Unfortunately not all kids become skeletons. That’s why the population of skeletons is looked over very careful. The two young skeletons knew they were from now on brothers and so they treated each other like. The smaller one got the name Sans, in the meaning of a calmness of the Ocean and the Sand. While the other one got the name Papyrus, in the meaning for the Power and Kindness from his soul. Sans was always the weaker skeleton of the both. He almost died of an unknown sickness and so his Heal Points (HP) went down to 1.

Papyrus and Sans often went outside to see others of their kind. But they never felt welcomed near them. When both got 15 they moved out. On that day all the skeletons in their villages said to them goodbye and wished them a ‘skeleton’ of luck. The brothers left the villages and walked many days to finally see the mountain they wanted to start a new life. They tardy walked in the entrance and asked other monsters where the king and queen were. On their way they met ,a bit younger as them, Asriel who showed them his parents. The royal family allowed the skelebrothers to live in the Underground. Toriel asked them kindly with a caring voice where they both want to live. Sans said: “I don’t mind any place. My bro should choose. He is the coolest in this stuff” Papyrus looked at the huge map on the walls of the gigantic room and pointed at Snowdin. He yelled: “There! This place should be as calm as Sans and as cool as me. Nyahaha.” Toriel looked at Asgore and both agreed. In snowdin was an old house where nobody lived. So the brother took this opportunity and made it their own.

Many years passed and the brothers grew in knowledge and happiness. While Sans found a job as scientist assistant in the labor from hotland. Papyrus made his hobby of cooking to his job in “Grillby’s”. But Papyrus' dream is to become a part of the royal guards. He wants to go outside and buy food for the monsters who need it. Sans and Papyrus are the only skeletons in the Underground. They always get from the town people rotten or spoiled food to eat and to cook with. They give this to the brothers not because they hate them. Generally because they don’t want to waste food. Even so skeletons can eat all kinds of food without getting sick.

One day the brother's knowledge about human and monster relationships broke apart.

Sans was in his room. All dressed in black and in front of his door was Papyrus in black too. He stared at the door wanting to knock but couldn't make him do it. He broke into tears.

Both had come home from the funeral of Asriel and his best human friend Chara. The brothers, Asriel and the twin sibling Chara and Frisk always have been very close to each other. One day when they were in a restaurant of all kinds Asriel and Chara got poisoned by the golden flower poison. The brothers ate the same dish. But because they are skeletons it had no effect on them. If Frisk had been there too, he would have gotten poisoned like his sister and the prince.

Sans was sitting in his room corner thinking why they couldn’t save them. Why they didn’t notice something was wrong. Papyrus otherwise was thinking how sad Frisk must be. Lost his twin sister and wasn’t able to be at the funeral because he is still ill.

A month later Sans and Papyrus are fine again. Of course they are still sad about the lost, but they need to work to earn money. Else they will lose the house and that’s what both don’t want to happen.

Sans walks nervous around in the labor and Dr. Gaster looks at him and asks kindly: “Sans. Do you think a maschine could produce all kinds of food, with water and the key atoms?” Sans stopped walking. He thinks about all possibilities and replies with yes. Gaster smiles and shows him a room which was always locked up. On the walls were plans for a food making maschine to solve the hunger of the monsters. The sketches and files amaze Sans . The doctor put his hand on his shoulder and whispered to him: “This will be your work from now on. Work on this machine and save the monsters. I will work on the core power machine in the meanwhile.” This is a huge job opportunity for Sans. After work he takes a shortcut to his home door and jumps into Papyrus arms. Both brothers walk inside the house. Walk to the kitchen, make tea and sit down on the table to talk about what happened on this day. They have no secrets from each other and speak open to each other. Papyrus tells Sans that people like the food he makes. The royal guard Undyne wants to teach him more cooking tricks. She was very impressed by his skills. Sans is happy for his brother and lets him talk for a while more until he tells him his news. At the moment Papyrus finished talking he tells him his whole day in detail. What a huge responsibility he has now. Even so he informs him that he will stay at the labor for a while. Papyrus stands up and hugs his brother.

The next day Sans walks to Papyrus and says: “Listen. I know you can stay alone for a while. Please be safe bro. I will be gone for about 2 or 3 months.” Papyrus looks at Sans and replies: “You don’t have to worry at all. The brilliant Papyrus will make sure everything is ok and safe! Be careful of your heavy bones”. With a last hug their paths split.

Stress is for Sans a foreigner word. He has never known stress until he sees the deadline for the machine to work and be ready to use. Sans calculations have to be all correct. Every mistake will take too much time to fix. So he worked fast but meticulous. Skeletons don’t necessari need sleep, so he had only 2 hours of sleep everyday. Gaster looks like a skeleton but isn’t so every night Sans is working alone in the labor. Often he gets scared that something will pop up out of the darkness. But this wasn’t a reason for him to stop working.

Day after day was hard work on his plan but 2 months later he finished the first machine of his kind.

In the 2 months Gaster hired a new assistant named Alphys. She is shy but it isn’t that bad to work with her. Sans invites Gaster for seeing and testing the prototype. Gaster sets up the maschine and pour the special liquid in the maschine. He starts the maschine and walks a few steps away from it. First all looks good but then Sans notices that the machine starts to form some cracks. He yelled at Gaster to walk farther away. But he was too late. A huge explosion is the result and Sans gets smashed to the wall behind him. He hits his head on the wall and his whole body gets covered in a strange hot liquid. He stands up and some of the liquid gets inside of his skull. The pain of the heat, how it burns through his skull and cracks it makes him faint.

When he opens his eyes he sees Papyrus and Alphys talking. He sits up and asks: “How long was I out.” Papyrus' face shows that he was sleeping for longer than 1 day. His brother jumps on his bed and gives him a strong hug. He cries in relief and Alphys goes outside to let both of them have some time for themselves. As soon as Papyrus finished crying himself out, Sans stands up. He sees in a mirror two cracks on each cheek and the almost full healed hole in the back of his skull. They go outside the room and Alphys asks Sans to do some task.

All monster kinds can use magic. Not all the same kind of magic, Skeleton uses bone magic.

She asked him to spawn some bones. Sans focuses and sees the bone in front of his spiritual eye. But at the moment he releases the power he spawns a hotdog which looks more cat-like. A hotcat? Sans tries again to make a bone but all he does is make hotcats. All in the living room are in shock. Sans runs upstairs in his room to do some more tests by himself. Papyrus walked behind him but he couldn’t enter the room in time. The still hurt skeleton tries harder than usual to make a bone but it doesn’t work. Only hotcats. He takes one and bite a piece off. It doesn’t look spoiled or anything. Warm is it too. All a sudden his back skull hole starts to heal up. Only a crack left. But cracks on his cheeks are still there. Sans calmed down and continued to test his other abilities. He still can do shortcuts and the telekinetic stuff. He can’t make bones and he is able to spawn two gaster blasters at the same time. To Sans' surprise the blasters can turn into Skelecats. He opens the door and Papyrus gets scared by the skelecats running out of Sans room. Alphys is already gone and both brothers walk downstairs in the living room to talk. Papyrus tells Sans that Gaster must have died. Not long ago a talking flower appeared after this bad event. Sans tells him that he not being able to make bowns isn’t as bad as he first thought. He can make food for other monsters and make them less starving and that he is more happier to be alive than dust.

A few weeks later Sans and Papyrus start to work together for Grillby and have a nice time. But then Sans got the idea to make his own little restaurant with papyrus. Papyrus agrees. With the help of their friends they build a little eating place which can move around hassle-free. The skeleton brother wants to become a travel food bistro. When they both are about to leave the underground, the royal family give them both a little present. A red scarf for papyrus and Sans gets a book full of jokes, to make them both laugh hard. This is a heartbreaking moment but the two boys know that this isn’t a goodbye forever. They walk away with the little bistro. Sans uses his telekinetic powers to move it around while papyrus is looking at the map where to go first. They decide fast where a good spot is to begin to earn money and a reputation. Sans walks around the small town offering humans and some monsters his hotcats. First they didn’t know what to think about this but soon everyone fell in love with these. It looks like the taste of hotcats varies from person to person. Some say it tastes sweet, some spicy and some salty. It depends on the person's preferences. The two make good money from them. Papyrus buys some food to cook healthy and taste food. Many humans and monsters love the taste of his dishes. The skeleton’s little restaurant becomes downright famous overnight. A few days later they closed the shop for the first time to get a small break. They walk around the town and talk a lot about what to improve and fix. In an alley Papyrus notices the talking flower he saw once in Snowdin and walks to him. The flower monster looks confused and a bit scared. Papyrus sits down in front of him and says in a kindly voice:”Hello little golden flower, why are you here in town? Are you following us?” He gets more confidence and replies to him:”Maybe. But I am here to see if you and the potato are doing fine.” The eye sockets from the huge skeleton become bigger and you can see sparkles in it. He hugs the flower and offers him to go on his shoulder so they can walk together around. The golden flower agrees and introduces himself to them as Flowey. Flowey tells them how he came to life and how confused he was first. Sans notices that the soul of the flower is awful similar to Asriel’s and asks him if he knew him. The bright yellow color from his blooms turns minor darker and he replies with a sad face: “ Yes and no. I somehow have his soul and heard his voice a few times. He told me one day that I am my own person and since then I haven’t heard of him.” Papyrus puts his hand on his head to make him feel a bit more comfortable. Sans starts to think and comes to the conclusion that the flower must be a by-product of the explosion he caused.

The sky went from a light blue to a red, violet color. The brothers arrive at their restaurant. Papyrus makes a movement to flowey to say that he can stay with them as long as he wants to. In Flowey’s face is happiness. Flowey became the mascot of the shop and is the first waiter too.

The next day the shop is booming. Many customers want to eat the special hotcat from Sans. Others some fresh made dishes from Papyrus. A human with brown hair and a yellowish skin comes to Sans and asks for the manager of this shop. He responds that he and his brother are the owner of this all. The human asks kindly if he can work there. Sans walks to Papyrus in the kitchen and asks if they should hire the human. Papyrus goes with Sans to the front and looks at the human diligent. He gasps and says that the human is Frisk. Frisk smiles and says: “Hehe. Long time not see you two. Sans to be honest, what happened to you? Did you fight with a dog and lost? hehe.” Sans explains all and both skeletons decide to hire Frisk in their small business. The not so tall human is already 19 and so he can legal work for them. At the end of the day all 3 monsters and Frisk help to clean the shop and set up a sleep area for Frisk.

They stayed 2 months in the small town and then continued their journey to another town.

After a year Flowey and Frisk discovered the other AUs. They told the skelebrothers about this. Since that day they are known as AU travel Restaurant “Hotcattale”. Which stays in every AU at least 1 week.

The end.

(I know. The story is not good. but it gives a good view about this AU and what makes it unique ^^)

#undertale au #undertale au story #story #storyline

[atomicblasphemy]

In the sign of evil

She kept thinking of her battle with the Emperor.

Not the battle itself, or how it would play out next time around, although it would be a lie to say such thought didn’t occupy her mind. After all, she made it through him with barely enough time to save Eda, King, and that other one.

Instead, what truly kept her up at night, what truly haunted her was what she saw in that creature’s eyes. First, she saw what could only be described as pure, unadulterated evil. Something Luz, who had thus far lived a mostly comfortable life, sheltered from the true perils of both worlds she knew, was unacquainted with. In her original realm sure she saw some small glimpses of it. There was the fact that she had for a long time been ostracized by her school peers, made to feel ashamed of being who she really was. But perhaps a more appropriate name for that would be the irreflected propensity for cruelty that some children, in both realms come to think of it, seemed to be obsessed with. Nevertheless, age and the ensuing experience it brings should rid most such children of these evil seeming impulses. And here in the Boiling Isles, even if she could count with a mostly reliable source of protection in her friends and, of course, in her mentor, she had not been unscathed from the semblance of evil’s claws coming to try and reach, abduct her from safety. She could, of the top of her head name at least four names for the list of unrepentant evil doers: Adegast, Tibbles, Boscha and, of course, Lilith. Then again, if anything, Adegast was motivated by sheer spite and while that alone made that monster a threatening foe, it might not be enough for him to entirely qualify to such a strong word as evil; Tibbles was a capitalist, his motivations were simply profit, an opportunist, which meant his approach to morality may be more than a bit lax, frankly Luz wasn’t all too sure whether to call that pig like witch evil or just immoral; as for Boscha, the same as for her bullies back in the human realm applies, whether she was truly an evil doer or just a misguided kid was for time to decide; Lilith, in all frankness Luz failed to come up with any significant argument to abstain her from the title of evil doer, but given how instrumental she was on freeing Eda and King from capital punishment, and then relieving her sister of her curse, Luz ruled in favor of conceding her the benefit of doubt.

However, the Emperor’s eyes… They carried within them an aura far deeper and so much more horror inducing than all of those past experiences combined. She was in those two wholes, those all consuming voids the bottoms of depravity. Ambition corrupted to its furthest extreme. Whatever that creature was, because she held close to her the belief that no witch nor human would ever be capable of conjuring such dread in her very soul, Luz prayed it had no peers, and she wouldn’tbelieve for even the shortest of instants that its plans weren’t boorish, as he himself put it. Truly, defeating that horror was imperative, both for her own sake, as well as for life itself.

Still, none of that was what made sleep avoid her. No, she had seen something else, something other than evil, in those bottomless pits. Something about which the girl simply couldn’t help but to allow her inquisitive mind to ponder.  

There was no mistaking it, she saw a glyph, one unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was intricate, one could even say that, had they been found elsewhere, that the lines and shapes therein were even beautiful, entrancing even.

Luz had replicated it in a small piece of paper, and whenever she found herself alone she would turn her gaze upon it. She knew what a Faustian bargain was, she had read about it in her literature class back at human school, but she never expected to find herself pondering whether or not make one of her own. On one hand, this could bring about the most nefarious effects and essentially grant her foe an uncontested victory, which might as well be tantamount to the destruction of both realms. On the other hand, maybe this could prove to be the source of a power to rival his own, and this could certainly be extremely useful in helping her to release everyone she knew, everyone she cared about, everyone she loved, from the agony of living under that tyrant’s ironclad fist.

She tentatively raised her finger towards the glyph, she had made several in an effort to make sure not to forget anything, down to the smallest detail. She wanted to activate it, she felt as though the risk could be worth it; she wasn’t a magical powerhouse, so whatever its effects were they wouldn’t likely be all that expressive. Right?

Still, it was to risky to do it alone. And she couldn’t jeopardize Eda’s well being further. No, that was unthinkable, luckily for her there were three young witches she knew she could count on.

----------------------------------------------------

“Luz, Amity said she would probably have to stay late in class today and its been almost half an hour.” Gus said, trying his best no to sound discouraging. “I can wait a bit longer, no problem, but maybe we should go ahead with it.”

“Yeah.” Willow spoke, equally trying to sound calming despite her nerves being entirely on edge. “Besides, we don’t what this thing does. And, I think us three should be about enough for this… experiment.”

The three of them sat on an empty classroom, four identical copies of the glyph sitting on a small desk around which the three of them stood, looking attentively at the pieces of paper. Luz couldn’t voice an answer. The decision weighed heavily on her shoulder. She rubbed her temples, hoping a solution would miraculously manifest itself. Amity’s presence, surely, would help her feel safer. After all, their bond had been growing steadily for sometime now, and having three powerful witches guarding her back was better than two. Right? Still, Gus’ and Willow’s words were sound.

She still can’t say a word, her breath coming with more difficulty now. She looks at her friends. She nods. And before either of them can stop her, she ignores her previous reservations and taps on one of the glyphs, activating it.

---------------------------------------

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late. I ran into Boscha and you wouldn’t be...lieve...” Amity, having just entered the not so empty classroom, felt her words run short. The view was horrid. One of Willow’s vines hung from the ceiling, imprisoning an upside down and surprisingly bored looking Luz. Flanking her stood two figures, a red piece of cloth on which they, despite the complete absence of any sharp objects in the room, somehow had cut a vertical for going all the way up to their noses and  a couple of holes for their eyes. In their hands they held wooden rulers Gus’s made ofillusion magic, long ones at that.

“Oh, hey there Amity. Can you… maybe… help me… please?” Luz whimpered at the only friend of hers currently in the room.

“What… is going… on here…?”

“BLIGHT. BLIGHT. We are so glad you are here. We were expecting you, yes, we knew you would come eventually. How could you not be here, we were expecting you, after all?”

The only way Amity could describe the unfolding scene was as an outbreak of evil. Her once estranged friend had a manic grin on her lips, not unlike that sported by Gus. Their voices, normally so friendly were tinged by something that scared her to her core. Something underlying withing it. No, they hadn’t such sepulchral voices as the ones she heard when they spoke. She couldn’t begin to understand the scene. They were her friends, they had forgiven her past undoings. More importantly, they were Luz’s closest friends in the Boiling Isles. It was all unfathomable.

“Seriously, what in the Titan’s ever loving Isles is happening? Why is Luz tied up? And what is up with those weird masks?”

Luz, seemingly having recovered some amount of fortitude was the first one to answer.

“Oh… Well… You see… Mistakes were made today… We were waiting for you, but I decided to just go ahead with that glyph experiment I told you about and… Now they are evil… Yup, their psyches are totally corrupted… My bad.”

“What?”

“And these, dear Blight, are the unholy evil shrouds with which we hide our identities.” Willow, still sounding ominous, continued with the explanation, pointing her index finger at the rag covering face. “With those none will able to stop as we ascend.”

“What?”

“Yes, dear Blight. Look, we even made one for you too... Actually it was for this ungrateful, unambitious… uhhh… she was going on and on about how ‘no, that’s not who you are’, ‘no, those smell really, really bad’” Gus continued, stopping to shake his head with disapproving eyes at Luz, who simply answered by rolling her own eyes in annoyance. “Anyway, we trust you, dear Blight, will not be as short sighted as this fool. Join us, dear Blight. Join us on our quest for power.”

“Ok, first of all, please stop calling me dear Blight, you sound just like Lilith when I was still under her wing. Second, I still don’t know what any of you are talking about.” Amity, recovering some semblance of sense finally managed to produce a coherent sentence. Two actually.

“Ah yes, dear Blight. We haven’t told you of our plans, have we?” Willow answered as the faint sound of Amity’s huff could be heard. “We shall take over the world, and we want you to join us. Soon the Boiling Isles, nay all the realms, shall tremble at the sound of our mighty RRROOOAAARRRS.” She actually made justice to that last word.

“Why? Willow, Gus… Why would you guys ever want to do something like that? Also… HOW?” She shoots wide eyed glances at the upside down Luz, who was now swinging back and forth, whether trying to loosen the grip of Willow’s vines or just to amuse herself Amity couldn’t tell. “Did… Did the glyph awaken some hidden power within them?”

“Nope.”

“Really?”

“Yup… I mean, look at these things. Don’t you think they would have done better than that if it did? Like, Gus didn’t even conjure a couple of swords for crying out loud.”

“SILENCE, TRAITOR.” Gus yelled as he whacked Luz over the head with his illusion wooden ruler. “Now, dear Blight, you asked how we intend to achieve such, admittedly, ambitious goals. The answer is simple, dear Blight. By overthrowing that lowly Emperor and seizing the throne for ourselves. How else would achieve the power we so deeply crave?”

“Again… How exactly do you plan on doing that?”

They let out a loud “Ehh” while shrugging.

“We’ll figure it out as we go.” Willow attempted. “Besides, that’s where you come in, dear Blight. You were always the top student of this proud institution, were you not? You shall be the planner, I shall be the raw muscle, and Gus the charisma. We will make such formidable, unstoppable force, you’ll see.” Lifting that red rag with the hand not holding her weapon, Willow proceeded. “Now, put this on and join us, dear Blight.”

Amity sighed once. Then again. Rubbing her temples with both her hands she tried to process all that she learned since entering this forsaken room. She looked her the eyes of horror that took over her possessed friends. Raised both her hands in a deceivingly amicable gesture that actually aimed at eventually disarming the two of them. She, unlike them, had a plan.

“Now, guys. Why don’t we all calm down, talk this out? Willow, you could start by letting Luz loose.” Amity spoke, slowly walking towards Willow and Gus. Luz was still swinging back and forth to the point Amity actually began to believe it was out of sheer boredom, the again, she knew the girl had been in direr straits before. Gus’ and Willow’s began showing the faintest signs of suspicion. “I mean, think about it, you guys don’t even have a plan. And I really can’t help you with this one. But more importantly, this isn’t who you OUCH! What did you do that for?”

“BLASPHEMER!” Gus, having just beaten Amity over the head, yelled. The witchling’s strike actually felt like metal as the weapon collided with Amity’s.skull “How dare you, loathsome Blight, mock the brilliance of our design? THOU SHALL KNOW OUR WRATH!”

And, like that, Gus and Willow raised their weapons, to which Amity responded by bravely running in the opposite direction, looking at Luz in hopes of the girl offering her a solution, she just shrugged.

“I don’t know... all I did was activate the glyph and things started escalating pretty quickly.”

Amity thought of her short life. Had she had time to make up for her numerous mistakes? What would her family make of her demise? She, honestly, expected a more glorious death, perhaps even fighting the Emperor alongside Luz. Definitely, not by the hands of Gus and the girl she tormented and allowed others to torment for years, but maybe that was fitting.

She thought of Luz, she hadn’t had the opportunity to confess her feelings to her quite yet and that’s something she’d soon take to her grave. Until then, she would cherish every interaction, every word exchanged between herself and the human.

And then, two thoughts came to her. Although she possibly had just suffered blunt force trauma, this was done through the use of an illusion. A magical spell. Likewise, Luz was hanging from artificially, magically, created vines. Magic. They were all students of magic. Including herself.

Quickly turning around she summoned one of her largest abominations to date between her assailants and herself. Noticing the threat, Willow and Gus promptly shifted targets.

Progress was undeniably made.

But still, she had a job to do, and she just then noticed that amid the battle somehow a fire had started in one of the room’s corners. She had two jobs to do.

The other thing that had crossed the witchling’s mind, directly resulting from those last words Luz had told her. The glyphs. There were still three of the accursed things sitting on that small desk. A burst of brilliance commanding her to move forth. She held one glyph in each hand, admiring the design for a brief instant. It may be a long shot, but she was short on options. She took a deep breath, bracing all her determination. She had to save her friends, all of them, but especially Luz. She let out the closest thing she could think of for a half decent battle cry.

“TILL WAR!”

And she hit Gus and Willow with that mysterious magic. Now, she could only wait.

--------------------------------------------

Willow woke up, a weird smell assaulting her face. Her last memories were of being with Luz and Gus, as they went through with the glyph related experiment. She was laying on the hardwood floor, next to her Gus also seemed to be recovering his senses. Her headed ached, and judging by the grunts so did Gus’.

But that wasn’t the most surprising part of the scene. That title rested with the abomination happily waving at her while, horizontally, holding a vine wrapped Luz  over its head. She, smiled at them cheerfully. Next to them a small fire raged.

“Hey, you guys are up, thought it’d take longer. Anyway, still hellbent on overthrowing all known existence?”

“Wha… What are you talking about? What happened here?”

“Wait, I refuse to answer without today’s hero’s presence.”

As if on cue, a flustered Amity carrying a witch bucket - not to be mistaken with a human bucket - filled with water broke through the door with a loud bang. She quickly made her way to where the fire burned, making short work of killing it.

She turned around to face the newly conscious duo.

“Willow!” She exclaimed pointing at Luz. Willow quickly liberated the human, who immediately jumped towards Amity, planting a kiss on her cheek.

“My hero. And here I thought I was supposed to be the fearless champion.”

Normally, the way her pale face so easily reddened after virtually any amount of physical exertion was a constant source  of embarrassment for Amity. Now, however, she was thankful for it.

“So...” Gus, finally speaking, broke the moment. “Can you two please explain what happened?”

Amity and Luz shared a troubled glance.

-----------------------------------------------

That had been probably the most uncanny conversation any of them had ever had.  

“So, I think its safe to assume that this is some kind of dark magic glyph that turns everyone present, except the one who activated, it totally evil.” Gus said, pointing at the piece of paper on Amity’s hand. The girls nodded.

“That’s kind of like a curse isn’t it? I mean, if it wasn’t then Luz would have turned evil too, right?” Willow continued.

“Humm… Maybe… then that’d mean that the Emperor is cursed, so we could try to look into a way of reverting it... I don’t know.” Luz, rubbing her chin in an attempt to give off her most scholarly look, hypothesized.

“That is possible, but I don’t think it would be worth it. I mean, look what happened today, this kind of magic seems really dangerous. I vote against us looking into it any further.” Amity countered their arguments. The others, after some reflection, voiced their agreement. She continued, looking at Luz for permission. “So… Can I destroy this?” Luz nodded.

Her blood ran cold. As she performed the motions of ripping it a terrible accident happened.

She tapped the glyph. It activated. -------------------------------- @johnnysfire hope an eleventh hour entry is still acceptable

#johnnyspromptchallenge

[messagefromtheveins]

Curious Bodies [Part 4]

A/N: So, this is Part 4 of my Curious series. But you don’t necessarily need to read the other parts to understand this (I’d appreciate it though)

Words: 3.5k

Pairing: Shawn/reader

Warning: smut. first time awkwardness

Being half naked around Shawn when the two of you managed to get some alone time had definitely become the norm lately. Ever since you had started exploring each other and had become more and more intimate and comfortable it just felt unnecessary to wear too many clothes when it was just you two. Even if it only ended with cuddles, both of you enjoyed feeling the others skin so much that he was usually left in sweatpants- or sometimes even just boxers- while you only had a pair of panties and your T-shirt left on your body, though usually the T-shirt was pushed up so high that you might as well have taken it off.

Shawn's parents were out of town and his sister was having a sleepover at a friend's place. You had absolutely no idea how he had managed to convince them that he could be left alone for the night, though you definitely didn't complain about it as his hand rubbed random patterns over your bare thigh.

Your eyes were glued to the screen, not noticing that Shawn was watching you instead of your favorite movie. A soft smile was playing on his lips as he took in your features, from the way you were barely blinking because you were so fascinated by whatever was currently happening on the screen, to the way you mouthed along some of the lines. Tightening his arm that was wrapped around you, he grinned as you immediately snuggled closer to him.

"Hey?" he murmured, placing a lingering kiss on your temple.

You absent-mindedly patted his stomach, barely taking notice of his surprised chuckle. "Hold on, this is the best part," you whispered, still not looking at him- even though now you were actually aware of the fact that he was watching you.

He wanted to let you watch your favorite movie, he really did, but he had to get the words out. "I love you."

Whenever he had tried to find a way to say it out loud these past few weeks his heart had raced in his chest and he had lost the courage before he could actually tell you. But now, having you cuddled into his side, face free of makeup and only one of his T-shirt covering your body, he really couldn't stop himself anymore. And he figured the fact that he wasn't nervous and he was as calm as it could get- his heart had only started beating the slightest bit faster, but it wasn't close to jumping out of his chest like all the other times- was a clear sign that this right here was the right moment. He was finally sure of his feelings for you.

You quickly looked up to him, eyes wide as you stared at him- trying to figure out if he was serious or if he regretted saying it already. But when he gave you a soft smile and tucked your hair behind your ear you couldn't stop yourself from grinning, the movie long forgotten as you shifted to tightly wrap your arms around his neck. His hands came to rest on the small of your back as he held you close to him, your fingers playing with his curls. "I love you, Shawn," you whispered, feeling his grip around you tighten before he released a breathy laugh.

Maybe interrupting your favorite part of the movie to tell you those three words had been perfect. That way whenever you thought of the movie or that specific part or even watched it you would always be reminded of this moment.

–—–—–—–—–—–

Cleaning up downstairs before you went to get ready for bed together felt so domestic that you found yourself wishing that every night would be like this.

The bedside lamp was still on by the time you were cuddled up in bed, hands lazily caressing the others body while your lips met in tender kisses over and over. He didn't give you the feeling like he was dying to take things further with the way he was tracing his fingers up and down your spine beneath your T-shirt, but you knew that both of you were aware of how perfect the timing was- after all, you would be alone until sometime in the late morning when his sister would come back home.

It wasn't until you wrapped your leg over his hip and noticed that he was getting hard under his boxers that you pulled away from his lips. "Hey, Shawn?" you whispered and tilted your head back as he pushed his face into the crook of your neck.

He hummed while leaving little kisses behind on your skin. "Yeah?"

You bit your lip as he found the especially sensitive spot near your pulse point, his lips parting against your skin before he licked over the spot and then lightly sucked on it- he had learned a while ago that it made you weak for him. "I'll be really bold here for a second," you breathed and swallowed back a little moan as he started nibbling on your earlobe, "did you get condoms?"

He chuckled softly and placed a kiss on your jaw before he pulled back to meet your blown eyes, his hand raising to run it through your hair. "I did," he nodded and cupped his hand around the side of your face. Your mouth opened as his thumb slowly brushed over your bottom lip, tugging in an almost playful way for a second before he looked into your eyes again. "But you know we don't have to do anything just because we got the house to ourselves for the night, right?"

"You don't want to?" you whispered.

He grinned widely and shook his head, a hand reaching down to adjust your leg over his hip before he rolled you over. "Fuck, you have no idea," he murmured and leaned in to kiss you, hands bracing on either side of you to keep part of his weight off you. Arms reaching up to wrap them around his neck, you lightly scratched your nails over his scalp in the way you knew he loved and released a soft moan into the kiss as he rocked his hips against yours in return. The feeling of his hard length pressing down against your core made your heart beat faster, one of his hands reaching down to grip your hip as you lifted them off the bed to grind against him once more. "Just don't want you to feel pressured," he mumbled, lips tracing along your jaw while his fingers slowly snuck beneath your T-shirt.

You were so glad that the two of you had spent so much time over the last few weeks and months to slowly work up to this part, so having him on top of you like this while he slowly took your T-shirt off wasn't making you nervous anymore. You didn't feel insecure anymore once the T-shirt was off and his eyes greedily trailed down your body.

And yet having his lips exploring your chest was a different kind of exciting than all the other times, the way his fingers traced over your torso even more intense. You let your eyes fall closed as he mouthed at one of your nipples while his hand snuck beneath your panties, immediately finding your most sensitive spots. You played with his hair and caressed the back of his neck and his shoulders while you completely concentrated on his- by now skillful- touches and the way his teeth gently nipped on your chest.

You were absolutely wet by the time he lifted his head to look at you again, a thoughtful expression resting on his features. "Am I supposed to get you off first?" he wondered, his fingers still tracing over your clit in all the right ways.

You grinned and cupped his face in your hands, your head lifting off the bed to capture his lips in a soft kiss. "I don't think you have to."

One of his eyebrows raised in a way that made you giggle, despite the situation you were in. "Do you want me to?"

You thought about it for a moment before you shook your head. "Not this time," you said, "you know how sensitive I sometimes get after coming."

"Okay," he breathed before he leaned in for another kiss, his fingers slowly leaving your core in favor of tugging your panties down your legs. You didn't hesitate to return the gesture, fingers hooking into the waistband of his boxers and pulling them down. Your hand wrapped around his fully hard cock as you let him deal with kicking the piece of clothing off his endlessly long legs.

His groan was almost surprised as you brushed your thumb over his leaking tip, his head shaking as he reached down to tug your hand away. "I'm so worked up already, honey," he grinned a little breathlessly, but you could see that his smile wasn't genuine- he was annoyed.

Cupping his face in your hands, you gently forced him to look at you, his features dropping a bit as he realized that you had noticed something wasn't right. "Shawn?"

He sighed deeply before he crawled off you and dropped to lay flat on his back beside you, your heart heavy in your chest. "I'm just-" he brought a hand up and rubbed it over his face before he combed his fingers through his hair. "I want this to be a great experience for you too, you know?" he said and turned to look at you, the tight feeling in your chest slowly easing up as you realized what was going on. "But when you touched me right there it felt like I'm like, 10 seconds away from coming and that's just... bullshit," he sighed and tugged on a loose thread on the sheets.

You smiled softly and shook your head, turning to lay on your side and reaching out to trace your fingertip over the scar on his cheek- something that always made him smile. "Hey?" you whispered and patiently waited until he looked at you with still frustrated eyes. "I love you," you reminded him, immediately seeing the way his features shifted into something more affectionate, "and this will be a great experience for me, no matter if it only lasts for a minute or ten."

He inhaled deeply. "But I want this to be perfect."

"But it will never be perfect if you put so much pressure on yourself," you told him, his gaze not meeting yours. "Look, Shawn. All those other firsts we've had lately, they were far from perfect. We always fucked up in any kind of way and yet it was always a great experience, even with all the things that didn't go to plan," you said, a little smile spreading over his lips, "and just like we did with all those other things, we're going to learn from our mistakes with this, too. We're going to work on making things better and getting you to last longer also falls into that category. It's just a matter of practice, I guess."

His gaze hesitantly met yours. "Promise you won't be disappointed if I don't last long?"

"I promise," you whispered and gave him a reassuring smile, "there's really nothing you need to worry about."

He seemed to be in thought for a moment longer before he returned your smile and leaned over to give you a quick kiss before he turned to pull one of the drawers of his nightstand open. The whole reality of the situation only crashed down on you once you spotted the box of condoms in his hand, but instead of being nervous like you had expected you might be you were strangely excited.

Sitting up, he ripped the box open with slightly shaky fingers and pulled one of the foil squares out. "We never practiced this part," he giggled and tossed the box on the nightstand again.

The sheets rustled as you also sat up, holding the covers up to your chest while he turned the little square in his fingers. "You know how to use that, right?" you asked and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder.

"Only in theory," he mumbled and ripped it open, hesitating for a brief moment before he shoved the covers down. He cursed himself for actually blushing, reminding himself how many times you had seen him naked before as he carefully rolled the condom over his length, his teeth digging into his bottom lip in concentration.

He turned to look at you once he was sure that he hadn't done it wrong, a smile spreading over your lips as you noticed his flushed cheeks. Stretching up, you placed a kiss on his jaw before you laid back down and immediately reached out to him again as he followed your example.

Neither one of you bothered with the covers that laid forgotten at the foot of the bed as he moved back on top of you, your legs instinctively falling open for him to settle down in between. The feeling of his nude body against yours was euphoric, your hands eagerly tracing over the exposed skin while he kissed you passionately.

"What if I hurt you?" he mumbled after breaking away from your lips to instead kiss along your jaw.

You smiled softly and combed a hand through his hair. "Then you just stop and give me a minute," you responded in a whisper. His head lifted, blown eyes meeting yours and holding your gaze for a long moment until you shifted your hips beneath him, hoping that he would get the hint.

Pushing himself up on one hand, he wrapped the other around himself and let his gaze drop before he looked into your eyes again. "Do you think you're wet enough? Because I also got lube, just in case," he murmured, his cheeks flushing once again, "or I could go down on you."

Shaking your head, you pulled your legs up so they were bent at the knee and your feet were flat on the mattress. "I think it should be fine."

He swallowed heavily before he nodded, looking down as he lightly traced his tip over your clit. Meeting your gaze again, he couldn't hold back the little smile as you immediately nodded like you had known what he was about to ask. His heart raced in his chest as he shifted, his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he positioned himself before he looked into your eyes once more- and then moved his hips forward.

It was just a very unfamiliar feeling for a moment before it started stinging, your eyebrows furrowing in slight pain before you could try to act like you were okay. He immediately stopped moving, eyes frantically searching yours. "What? What is it?" He whispered and combed his fingers through your hair.

"Do you think we could maybe use a bit of lube?" you mumbled and blushed heavily. He grinned softly and pecked your lips before he pulled out again and stretched over to the nightstand, quickly retrieving an already used bottle of lube.

He bit his lip as you raised an amused eyebrow and gave him a smirk. "Don't even pretend like you wouldn't have been curious too," he chuckled and poured a good amount over his length- too much actually, as drops of it landed on your thigh. "Fuck, sorry," he sighed and wiped it off as much as possible with his hand, which only made it worse.

Settling down on top of you again, he didn't waste much time before he slowly pushed into you again. Your first reaction was to hold your breath, which he noticed and immediately stopped moving again, a worried expression settling on his features. "No, keep going. Sorry," you giggled, a little grin spreading over his lips before he pushed a bit further, slowly spreading you open around him. Taking his hand off his cock, he braced his forearms on either side of your head and gave you a loving smile, closely watching your features and barely concentrating on himself.

It wasn't until he was buried deep inside of you and you released a soft sigh of pleasure that he allowed himself to take his eyes off you, his head dipping to rest in the crook of your neck as he released a soft whimper. "Honey-" he mumbled and pulled his hips back before he thrust into you again, his mouth dropping open as your walls immediately clenched down around him.

Your hands frantically grasped at his back and shoulders. "Give me a second," you pleaded, meeting his blown wide eyes as he lifted his head to look at you.

"Sorry," he whispered and tried to stay as unmoving as possible as he captured your lips in gentle kisses. Truth to be told, he needed a moment to catch his breath, too. He had figured that it would feel overwhelming, but he hadn't been prepared for how overwhelming it would be- his length was heavily twitching against your walls as he tried to calm himself down, knowing that it wouldn't take much more before he would come.

It didn't take too long until the slight sting of the unfamiliar stretch faded, giving him a sign to keep going, on which he didn't act immediately. Instead he kissed you a few more times, lips lingering longer and longer before he finally started moving again. His pace was slow and gentle, perfectly matching his kisses until he broke away from your lips with a breathless gasp. "You okay?" you whispered, receiving an immediate nod from him.

"Yeah," he swallowed heavily as he came to a stop inside of you again. "You just really can't imagine how good you feel," he chuckled and tightly bit his bottom lip as his eyebrows furrowed in pleasure. You could see how much he was fighting to hold back and as much as you loved him for trying to make this last, you also knew that you most probably wouldn't get to come this time- which was fine. Brushing his messy hair back where it was starting to cling to his sweaty forehead, you cupped his face in your hands and gave him a soft smile. But before you could get a single word out he spoke up. "Honey, I'm so close already," he sighed, silent apologies written all over his features.

"It's okay," you smiled and placed a kiss on the side of his head as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck, your arms wrapping around his shoulders. "Let go."

It only took four more slightly sloppy thrusts before he whimpered against your skin and shuddered on top of you, hips twitching in shallow movements before he exhaled heavily and came to a complete stop. A beautiful rosy flush had spread from his chest up his neck and filled his cheeks as he pushed himself up on shaky arms, carefully pulling out of you and immediately reaching for you as you grimaced in discomfort. "Sorry," he murmured and caressed a hand over your thigh.

"No, it's fine. That was just a very unfamiliar feeling," you explained and gave him a genuine smile that eased his worries.

He gave your thigh a gentle squeeze before he climbed off the bed, running a slightly trembling hand through his hair. "Be right back," he mumbled and grabbed his boxers from the floor before he stepped out of the room. You took a deep breath before you grinned widely, sitting up and just crawling off the bed as his voice reached you. "How do I get rid of this without risking that my parents see it in the trash?"

Picking your T-shirt up, you pulled it over your head. "I don't think you should get rid of your dick, babe," you called back.

You giggled as he groaned. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Wrap it up in toilet paper," you called, hearing him hum softly in return.

Minutes later when both of you were cleaned up and dressed again you found yourself pressed up against his bare chest, one of his hands under your T-shirt lightly caressing your back. "Everything okay?" he murmured and placed a kiss on your head. "Did I hurt you?"

You shook your head and left a lingering kiss on his collar bone before you shifted until your head rested on the pillow right beside his. The lights in the room were turned off, but the blinds were only halfway pulled down, so you could make out some of his features in the darkness. "You didn't," you whispered and returned the smile he gave you, "you were perfect."

He snorted and rolled his eyes, making you giggle. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead, why don't you just lie to me," he responded sarcastically, feeling one of your hands place on his chest.

"Shawn, I'm serious," you said, a certain firmness in your voice that had his heart skipping a beat, "of course there's stuff we can work on. But I think considering that it was our first time and we both had no idea what the hell we're doing it was pretty damn great."

S.Mendes+Team Taglist: @justanotherfangurl272 @alone-in-madness @waitonmedarling @shawnase @rechema @mendesromano @stradivariusbitch @desire-to-live @alinashawn @lifeoftheparty74 @particularstrings @liliane106 @herbeautifuldarkness @havethetimeeofyourlifee @pastelshawns @delightfullyspeedyearthquake @aargyy @adelaidebaby

Curious Taglist: @vintageroses1014516 @shawnsparticulargirl @hannahlouiseee @nervousyouths @marveloushawn @messy-cassy

(feel free to message me if you want to be moved/removed)

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes smut #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes writing #shawn peter raul mendes #writing

[kagami190]

“Death & Rebirth” Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Death

Prologue

Konata, Kagami, and Tsukasa sat around a table at the Hiragi household, finding themselves restless in the summer after graduation. And as per usual, Konata had found something to rant about. What was unusual was that it wasn't anime or games or even something arbitrary - she seemed it have a genuine concern with the lack of romance during their high school years.

"The funny thing about it is," Konata said holding up one finger in a declaration, "As much as we talk about it, not one of us goes seeking out boys."

"YOU'RE the one who's talking about it," Kagami said annoyed, "I think that's personal stuff and it's rude to ask someone about it if they're uncomfortable."

"And me talking about boys and dating makes you uncomfortable?" "Yes!" Kagami said, "Why else would I have said that?!"

"Well we have been friends for a long time,". Tsukasa interjected followed by an innocent smile, "If you can't talk about things like that with girlfriends, who else would you talk about it with?"

"That's my point though, what's there to talk about?" Konata said, "No one even talks about having a crush. We're missing a core dynamic in a female social circle."

"I've just had more important things to concentrate on." Kagami said, "I was worried about my grades up until the day of graduation... Wow, can you guys believe we're done with high school?"

"I can believe that." Konata said, pausing for a beat, "What I can't believe is how a group of hotties like ourselves made it to the end of high school without so much as holding hands with someone."

"Wow," Kagami said, "You're not letting this one go, are you? "I'm just saying," Konata said.

"She does have a point," Said Tsukasa, looking sadly at the ground, "I mean, I don't think I'm ugly..."

"You're not." Kagami said, "You just have priorities as I do."

Tsukasa smiled, "Thanks, sis." She turned to Konata, "But Kona-chan you've never really cared about boys and relationships anyway. Why start now?" Tsukasa asked.

"I'm just making an observation," Konata said, "Not like it keeps me up at night." "Yeah, I'm sure your pervy dating sims satisfy your loneliness anyway." Kagami teased.

"Nah, I don't get off on it or anything. My dad might with his dating sims, but I'd rather not think about his gaming practices." Konata said, shivering a little.

"So then why play them?" Kagami asked. "It's a great social exercise," Konata said nodding.

"Right," Kagami rolled her eyes, "Social skills for the social life you don't have?"

Konata shrugged, "It beats talking to people and trying to convince them to be my friend. In the game everyone likes me."

"That's all well and good," Kagami started, "But the adult scenes?"

"Good study material for how stuff is gonna go down in college. Girls gotta be prepared to face the world of naughty coed antics."

Kagami sighed, "Riiiight. If you say so." Tsukasa gasped, "Is... THAT what happens in college?!

-1-

Konata stood at the front door of the Hiragi household, about to leave for the night.

"Bye Kona-chan! Thanks for stopping by." Tsukasa said smiling at her friend, "And thanks for letting me borrow this anime DVD. Promise I'll give it back."

"Yeah, you'd better," Konata said matter-of-factly, "I know where you live." "Real nice, creep-a-zoid." Kagami shook her head.

"You know I'm your hero." Konata winked, waving to the twins as she walked out, "Have a good one!"

"Bye!" The girls said in unison.

And with that, Konata had left for the evening.

"What'd she lend you?" Kagami asked.

"Oh, some kind of show about giant robots." Tsukasa said, taking a second to think quizzically, "For some reason, she really wanted me to watch it."

"Giant robots huh?" Kagami said, "I've seen a lot of those around in my life - which one is it?"

" I think it's called Ev******," Tsukasa said.

"Really?" Kagami said, "Sounds kinda Christian or biblical."

"Yeah, but she said it was really good and thought-provoking." Tsukasa said, "So I figured what the heck."

Kagami shrugged, "If Konata likes it, it has to be weird."

"Probably," Tsukasa said knowingly, "I won't be able to watch it tonight though - I have some college applications to fill out."

"I already sent mine off," Kagami said worriedly, "You know, you should have sent yours by now too."

Tsukasa felt a slight sweat drop of embarrassment, "Always one step ahead of me, sis."

"I'm riddled with anxiety waiting for the responses, though..." Kagami sighed. "Ya mind if I watch that anime tonight then? If you're not gonna watch it I may as well to keep myself occupied."

"Sure, sis!" Tsukasa happily handed the DVD to her sister.

"Thanks, Tsukasa." Kagami smiled, "Let me know if you need any help with those college applications."

"Kay. Night, Sis." Tsukasa said walking off. "Night," Kagami replied looking down at the anime DVD case she was holding.

It was a standard DVD case with a white piece of paper inserted where the artwork would usually be, on the spine in pen the title read, "Ev*****: Death and Rebirth."

Kagami opened the case to find a burnable, unlabeled DVD-R on the inside.

Kagami rolled her eyes. Of course, Konata would only have an illegally burned copy of a DVD. Probably purchased at some anime convention somewhere at a shady bootleg table. She briefly pondered how bootleggers got away with stuff like that at public events. It must be such a staple of Otaku culture that they just let it slide.

Kagami shrugged at her inner thought and headed for her room with the DVD.

After changing into her nightclothes, she opened the case again and marveled at how unorganized it looked. Title scribbled in the spine. Not even labeled. Only Konata.

She pressed the center button in the DVD case and with a click it released the disc, which she put in her DVD player.

The anime automatically played and opened up to a schoolyard. The camera's view panned across the front of a normal-looking high school and followed the building around to the back, in front of a group of windows. Kagami could lightly hear the sound of moans.

Moans of pleasure. Soft and breathy from a female.

"What in the..." Kagami started to herself, her entire body immediately getting extremely hot, so hot she almost broke a sweat. Her eyes stood locked on the television screen.

It was then on the screen that Kagami saw the hands of a beautiful anime girl with pink hair and small breasts pressed against one of the windows of the building. She was being pounded from behind by a strong man. A darkly handsome man, albeit in the form of an anime character. He held on to her sides and continued to penetrate the pink-haired girl. Her moans growing louder and more passionate. The man cupped her small breasts as he continued to thrust his member into her.

It was at this point that Kagami was certain this was not "Ev*****: Death and Rebirth." This was not an anime with giant robots this was explicit anime, hentai. Kagami assumed correctly that there was probably an anime with giant robots somewhere out there, but regardless, Kagami knew she wasn't watching the intended film. She grabbed her remote to lower the volume but did not stop the feature.

But she continued to watch, transfixed, now watching as the petite pink-haired girl was in a reverse cowgirl position, her small breasts bouncing up and down as the character on the screen continued to moan.

Kagami felt tingling all over her body, craving the same pleasure she could hear in the moans.

She picked up the remote beside her and turned the TV off.

Kagami couldn't believe herself. She was getting turned on, getting off to a cartoon. What the hell as the matter with her?

"I'm not going to sit here and turn into an anime perv," she whispered to herself, a light blush still apparent on her face - she could still feel the warmth her body had released.

She couldn't help but dwell on what she felt as she sat in her room in silence - the yearning. She'd never felt this way before. All thanks to Konata her first taste of sexual appetite stemmed from a perverted anime. Great.

She knew, though, that she couldn't let this moment slip away. It felt too good. She finally knew what it meant to make an irrational decision about sex. Should she watch it? Of course not... It was immoral and completely out of her character. But she wanted to watch it, to hell with everyone else. She wanted to feel pleasure, to be relieved of this bold new feeling. To feel the release, the ecstasy of what she knew to be the result. It was well worth a little bit of guilt.

Once again she picked up her remote and turned the TV.

When the screen lit up, she saw that the film had continued to play and now the same pink-haired girl lay on her back, legs spread. In between her legs was another girl, just as cute and sexy with blonde hair and a busty chest, slowly licking in between her vaginal lips.

Kagami's hand flew up to her chest, partly in surprise. When she felt her hand touch her breast she instinctively gave it a firm squeeze, a small burst of pleasure shooting through her. She let out a surprised moan. She wasn't expecting that to feel good.

She moved her hand in a circular motion, pressing down on her petite breast as she did so. She let out a small, this time pleasurable, moan, and began to unbutton her shirt.

Once she had the first few buttons undone, Kagami allowed her hand to slip underneath the shirt. She continued to fondle herself, grabbing her chest and rubbing her breast.

Kagami stopped for a split second and took two fingers and pinched her small pink nipple. "Ah..." She let out a soft sigh.

With her other hand, she slowly moved towards her waist and put her hand underneath the elastic of her pajama pants, moving past her cotton panties and feeling herself.

Kagami let out a moan so loud she had to cover her mouth with her free hand.

"It's wet..." She said to herself, smelling her sexual juices, "I'm wet."

So this was what 'wet' meant.

Keeping her hand covering her mouth she went in with her hand again, shutting her eyes firmly in anticipation.

It wasn't in vain, she moaned loudly into her hand as soon as her fingers reached under her panties. She rubbed her fingers up and down her pussy.

"Yeah..." She whispered to herself, "Oh my God..."

Her breathing became heavier as she continued to rub her young body. Looking back up at the TV, the scene with the two women was still playing, the pink-haired girl now pleasuring the blonde one with her finger. But she was concentrating on a specific part towards the top. Kagami recognized why.

Kagami had always known what her clitoris was, and what it was, but never dared to try anything.

Unlike tonight when she thought, it was anything goes.

She ran her middle finger over her clitoris for the first time and hunched over in pleasure.

"Fuck..." She heaved, slightly taken aback but not completely surprised at the use of the expletive. "Jeez..."

She took her middle finger and moved it back to her clit, this time rubbing it in a circular motion. "Oh yeah..." Her other hand covered her mouth once again as she let out a long muffled moan, "Oh, God!" She screamed again into her hand. She slowed her hand as she rubbed her clit, the ecstasy became more sensual and bold.

"Hah..." She panted, her voice raising an octave or so, her body began to tremor.

She once again sped up her finger movement massaging her clitoris. It was unlike anything she had felt yet, the soft fondling evolving to a faster more aggressive rubbing was so potent with pleasure, she felt like she was going to explode. She felt like she was going to explode.

But she kept on.

She thought for a split second that she might pee. But the feeling of ecstasy far outweighed the feeling of impending urination. Something else was about to happen and she didn't care what.

She felt her entire body tighten and fill with the nicest, the most pleasurable thing she had ever felt in her life. Her body filled with warmth. It almost felt like a magic warmth and it shot through her entire body.

Without warning her pelvis shot up into the air as her fingers continued to massage her young 18- year-old clitoris. She used her other hand to grab her right breast and massage into it as she experienced her first clitoral orgasm.

She screamed - not bothering to cover her mouth. It was loud, almost a guttural moan, followed by her soft voice letting the rest of the exasperation crawl out of her mouth, out of her petite body.

With that, she simply lay there to catch her breath, heaving and panting, not regretting a single moment. She already knew she needed more.

She looked down in between her legs to see a small puddle that her juices had left on the bed. She used two fingers to wipe over the small puddle and investigate it further. When she brought her two fingers closer to her face, they were damp and slightly dripping.

"Wow, " Kagami said to herself, "That's a lot of... Uh, stuff." There was a light tapping at her door.

"Kagami?" She heard Tsukasa's voice, "Are you okay?"

Kagami jumped, a pit in her stomach dropping like a slab of cement. She pulled the cover over her body frantically and did her best to answer her sister in a normal voice.

"Yeah," She said weakly, "I'm good."

"Can I come in?"

"NO!" Kagami said, "I mean.. No sis, I'm totally ok, besides I look horrible."

She looked again at the puddle in between her legs. Yeah, she could look pretty bad if someone walked in.

"Umm. Ok." Tsukasa said, "I heard a scream I was just worried. "Uh, yeah," Kagami said, "Just stubbed my toe, it really hurt." "Oh," Tsukasa said, her tone not buying it, "You're SURE?" "Tsukasa!" Kagami said, "Go to bed!"

"Ok.." Tsukasa said, a little hurt in her voice, "Sorry. Good night."

Once again Kagami felt her red cheeks subsiding and the blood finally rushed back into her body, her face going from a bright red to her normal skin color. That was a close one.

She didn't know what to do with her newfound hobby, or who she should confide in... IF she should confide in anyone. Konata was out, she would just tease her until the end of days. But this was too much for her to not seek advice from someone.

She sighed. That was probably enough sexual stuff for the night. She felt spent anyway, as the experience was considerably intense.

She got up from her bed and began to get dressed in her pajamas once again, going to her closet and grabbing a spare sheet... so that at least the giant wet spot wouldn't keep her from sleeping. It would probably be dry by the morning.

Turning off the lights and laying down she pulled the covers over herself couldn't help but wonder what this meant. The death of her innocence?

Maybe. But it felt good. It felt really, really good.

#anime #lucky star #lemon #female mastrubution #female homosexuality #female friendship #protagonist female #relationships #kagami hiiragi

[metalgearkong]

The Last of Us Part II - Review (PS4)

8/14/20 ***SPOILERS***

Developed by Naughty Dog, released June 19th, 2020

The Last of Us was a game I wasn’t originally a huge fan of when it came out in 2013. Despite it receiving astronomical praise by fans and critics, it took me a couple times completing the game before I fell in love with it. What truly made The Last of Us special was not necessarily its concept or gameplay, but its storytelling and characters. The depth of the interpersonal drama and raw emotion on screen was the true core of the game, with the stealth-action, zombies, and other aspects more like icing on the cake. The Last of Us ended up being one of my favorite games of all time strictly based on execution, even if the game as a whole still isn’t perfect. 

The Last of Us Part II was my most highly anticipated game of 2020, and it feels strange to be on the other side of it finally. This game has been polarizing for fans, and as it turns out, I feel conflicted on the game as well. I finished it a month or so ago, but only now getting my thoughts written out. While some aspects are daring, jaw dropping, and gorgeous, other aspects detract from what is an unexpected story not quite living up to its potential. I respect this game more than I love it, and while I do think critics have been too kind in review scores, the exceptionally low user reviews have been far more incorrect. This is a solid, epic, deep, beautiful, emotional campaign which will deliver its money’s worth, but many contentious points will dictate how much you enjoy this blockbuster of a video game.

One of the aspects I like the most about this game is how similar the gameplay is to the original. Many people I suppose would want more change or innovation in the 7 years since The Last of Us, but personally I’ve always been a fan of sequels that retain what I like about a series. If it changes too much, it becomes too detached from what I enjoyed or got used to. Changes Part II makes are subtle, but natural for the genre and world. The player can duck and go prone in waist-high grass to conceal themselves, a dodge button has also been added, and a huge addition to combat and stealth is the addition of attack dogs who patrol with their owners. Dogs can pick up your scent until you distract it, adding to a lot of tension anytime enemy K9s are around. And yes, I found it difficult to shoot the first couple of dogs I encountered as they yelp out in pain when they get hurt or die.

Part II picks up I believe 5 years after the original. Ellie and Joel live in Jackson, the town they town the become a part of at the end of The Last of Us, and seem to be thriving in a community with food, power, and systems in place for relative safety from the outside world. The story is told in a much more chopped up chronology which I found to be detrimental to the pacing. The first game had a straightforward narrative and it worked very well, and this game has to dice up its story to make it seem more complex, but just comes off as pretentious. For example, by the end of the prologue (about a hour and a half) you play as three different characters. This leads into the strange structure of this game’s story, aside from having the linearity chopped up at times. 

The most controversial moment of the game is the moment of Joel’s death and how it occurred. While this event was not unexpected for myself and others, the manner of which he died is what’s justifiably pissing people off. A brand new character is introduced named Abby (and one of the three characters we briefly play as shortly before) and without any background or indication of who she is, brutally tortures and executes Joel in front of Ellie’s eyes. It’s not difficult to see director Neil Druckmann cackling with satisfaction of his subversion of expectations. It’s simply toying with the emotions of fans, and he has to expect and stand by any criticism he’s gotten for how this scene went down. However, this moment does make more sense as the story unfolds, but its no less a heavy handed and manipulative move for the sake of auteur video game storytelling.

Ever since I witnessed the brutal death of one of my favorite video game characters of all time, my only though was “they better justify this.” It was never “this is horrible and irredeemable, and “Naughty Dog is off its rocker,” like many people seem to have reacted. It was gut wrenching, but I knew Naughty Dog has a pension for organic characters, and in the back of my mind I knew I had to give this game its fair shot, and see if and/or how Naughty Dog justified a scene liable to piss off virtually every single fan of the original game. This is a poor spot of the game, but the structure of the game itself is, for me, the biggest issue of Part II. In the end, I don’t mind Joel’s death as much seeing the context surrounding it, although it still should have been handled entirely differently. 

Neil Druckmann proudly pulls a Metal Gear Solid 2 move, and entirely switches protagonists for a huge portion of the game (about 45%). Abby turns out to be the main character once the halfway point of the game hits. Following Joel’s death is about 9-11 hours playing as Ellie on her revenge quest to find Abby and kill her. The motivation is justified, being in the room with Ellie as she watched her father figure die in agony in front of her. Ellie’s portion of the campaign makes sense, Abby’s makes less. The structure of the story comes to a high point mid way through, where Abby and Ellie finally meet to clash. After all this build up, and around the same time of the game where the first game had its conclusion, everything halts and resets. 

We are suddenly dropped into the Abby story, showing her side of things, and why she would want to kill Joel. I do think the story directly surrounding her motivation is well done, but the problem is, a large portion of Abby’s story has literally nothing to do with Joel or Ellie. We effectively see why Abby would want revenge on Joel, but then we have to tag along on a major side journey while Abby helps a trans kid and his sister escape the cult they grew up in. I get that it helps develop more empathy for Abby as a character, but Abby’s story should have been at least cut in half to keep the overall story more focused and flowing. Many times while deep into Abby’s story I honestly forgot what the point of what I was doing is, and was getting confused on which events had happened and which hadn’t. 

Abby herself is a good character, and after all has been said and done, she is the third best character in this series so far. It’s a shame though that so much of her story is a direct waste of time, despite more of an excuse for more of the same great gameplay and set-piece moments. Empathy and perspective are the two big themes of this game. The best thing I can say about Part II is it convinced me of something I thought was near inconvincible: it made me like and root for Abby after the scene of Joel’s death. However, while the theme of the game is “all of your enemies have their own backstory,” Par II doesn’t teach us anything new whatsoever. Abby’s father was the surgeon Joel killed upon saving Ellie from the Fireflies at the climax of Part I. But Joel (and Ellie) killed a lot of random enemies in the first game, most of them players won’t even remember specifically. 

The fact that we have an entire video game showing us the perspective of one single person who wants revenge on Joel is a story that doesn’t need to be told. Any NPC we killed in the first game had family or friends who would also want revenge on Joel as well. We don’t learn anything new. This whole series is just marauder against marauder. Joel has never been a good guy, and that’s never been a secret. Joel is shown as an anti-hero even before the conclusion of the first game. It’s partially what makes him such a cool character. We only rooted for Joel because we were seeing things from his perspective. If the first game was entirely about Abby and Joel was framed as the bad guy, the results would have been the same: Abby would be our point-of-view “hero” character, while Joel was clearly the villain. Part II is not the epiphany Neil Drukmann likely wanted his audience to experience.

As anyone can see, the graphics and performances of Part II are incredible. While the story and structure are nothing too special (because it ruins its great moments by long drawn out heavy handed moments), at least the game itself is engaging to play and is gorgeous to look at. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest myself, and the game mainly taking place in Seattle, I enjoyed being totally waterlogged throughout the entire experience. If the story isn’t depressing enough on its own, the weather will certainly get to you. The core characters themselves are portrayed extremely well via motion capture and voice acting as well. I’m wondering why Neil Druckmann didn’t just make a Netflix series beings he is clearly so focused on the character’s interpersonal relationships. This is especially true for Joel and Ellie once again. Side characters are well acted, but have less of an effect on the core story, which is a huge tragedy when so much effort was clearly put into bringing them to life.

There’s no doubt Naughty Dog accomplished their specific goal in making you as depressed as possible. To be honest, it reminded me of some of my favorite books about stories of conflicting emotions and ending on depressing notes. Even though Part II is far from perfect, it’s still a juggernaut of a single-player game with amazing graphics, acting, responsive gameplay. I like the ways it proved me wrong on stuff I thought was unchangeable, and for that, it has my deep respect. It may not be for everyone, not even fans of the first, but if you come at it with an honest open mind and let yourself drop your ego enough to take in this entire story, I think it’s a daring piece of media that might age very well in time.

7/10

#the last of us part ii #naughty dog #ellie #abby #video games #review #ps4 #playstation 4