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xb-squaredx · 3 months

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2023 In Gaming: Great For Games, Terrible for Workers

It’s that time of year again (or perhaps a bit later than usual), and while we await the juicy gaming news and big reveals of 2024, we should really take 2023 to task. Every year in gaming is going to have its highs and lows, and especially since the start of this decade it’s been…a fairly tumultuous time. 2023 still manages to stand out from what’s come before. A huge refrain you might have heard throughout the year was that “2023 is great for games!” So many highly regarded games and some really big success stories…but that isn’t the whole story. So yes, 2023 was a great year for games, but a terrible year for anyone working in the industry itself.

THE BIG THREE’S BIG YEAR

We can start by examining the Big Three of the gaming sphere: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Sony themselves had a somewhat mixed year overall. Certain timed or console exclusives like Forspoken or Final Fantasy XVI had somewhat mixed reception, though the latter at least seemed to sell alright. In the realm of adaptations to their video games, things were somewhat better. While the Gran Turismo movie…exists, and many enjoyed the Twisted Metal series, the real winner here was HBO’s live-action Last of Us series. It won critical acclaim for it’s writing and acting, regarded by many as one of the better game adaptations out there. The biggest first-party release was obviously Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 and while that game did get a fair bit of acclaim and is the fastest selling PS5 exclusive so far…not long afterward Insomniac was hit with a major hack that put a real damper on things. From personal employee information being stolen in this hack, as well as the plans for Insomniac’s next few projects (such as the already-confirmed Wolverine game), there was also a lot of information shared about Insomniac’s difficulties with selling games to appease Sony higher-ups. At one point, one presentation questioned the much larger budget for Spider-Man 2 and how that didn’t seem to translate to higher sales, or even significant recognition for that extra bit of cash injected into things. While Sony seems to be doing fine in some regards, the PS5 having sold over 50 million units, keeping pace with the PS4’s sales along the same time frame, there are signs that the company is having major issues behind the scenes. After the acquisition of Bungie last year, (alongside the Firewalk Studios acquisition this year), Sony has changed course on a number of in-development live-service titles, shelving over half of them. Adding to this, there was the rather strange announcement of the Playstation Portal, a device that lets you stream games to a small screen imbedded in a PS5 Duelsense controller. Many have likened that to the ill-fated Wii U system, and as it stands it feels like a strange project to put money into with an uncertain audience to adopt it. Alongside their continued VR efforts, Sony trudges on, but the cost of these endeavors might be starting to take a toll.

For Microsoft undoubtedly the biggest story this year from them was the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Despite resistance from various government officials, the business deal eventually went through. Along the way some absolutely WILD statements were thrown around by the likes of both Microsoft AND Sony, from downplaying Nintendo’s success in the industry, to Microsoft basically admitting to having failed the entirety of the Xbox One generation and losing customers, feeling that they NEEDED to take steps to become a monopoly to even compete. As talks closed down, Microsoft would promise to keep Call of Duty on Playstation consoles for the immediate future, though other titles are up in the air. Regarding their games this year, I’d say it was also a bit of a mixed bag. Starting the year off strong with the shadow drop of Hi-Fi Rush, a colorful, inventive rhythm action game by Tango Gameworks under Bethesda, we would later see the atrocious reception to Arkane’s Redfall not long afterward. Along with this, we ended the year with Starfield, a supposed “game of the generation” that many hyped up as being the ace in the hole Microsoft needed. That said…the game didn’t quite make the impact many might have wanted. While selling around 12 million copies by the end of the year, the game seemed to vanish from public opinion entirely. No nominations at The Game Awards, and no major impact on the gaming industry compared to the Elder Scrolls entries that came before it. Gamepass still goes on as a subscription service that attempts to bring in more players, but even Phil Spencer knows a lot of work must be done to win over fans again. During an appearance on the Kinda Funny podcast, Spencer was asked some hard questions on Xbox’s fumbles and he was honestly pretty frank, especially an admittance that losing the Xbox One generation was a major mistake that they’re still paying for. Regardless of the money they throw around, it’s clear Xbox is still on the defensive.

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Now, I’ll admit I’m probably a bit biased here, but Nintendo had a hell of a year and is the clear “winner” for the Big Three. The launch of Super Nintendo World across various Universal theme parks was mostly well received and I’m sure that will continue to expand as the years go by. Getting in on the trend to have a shadow dropped hit, Metroid Prime Remastered came mostly out of nowhere to tantalize us and whet our appetite for the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4. Pikmin fans were thrown a real bone this year; from the first two games being ported to Switch to the release of the equally long-awaited Pikmin 4, the series feels like it’s experiencing a boom of newer players that could take the series to new highs. Strategy fans saw the release of Fire Emblem Engage, a title celebrating the history of the franchise, alongside the revised released date for the Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp remakes. For the Xenoblade fans this year, the final bit of DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Future Redeemed served as an amazing sendoff to the trilogy and a way to tie things together in a way many fans had hoped for but figured would never come. One of the absolute biggest games this year was the latest Legend of Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom. Building on what the previous entry, Breath of the Wild started, this was seen by many as a technical marvel. Getting such a massive world to run seamlessly on the Switch’s tech is witchcraft, as is the game’s advanced physics and building mechanics. Engineers were blown away by what this game accomplished, no doubt helped by the game having essentially an entire year of polish. That said, the game didn’t seem to quite hit the mark for some fans and ended up repeating some of the criticisms of Breath of the Wild, somewhat reducing its overall impact. Mario fans had a TON to chew on this year. For starters, there was the smashing success of the Super Mario Bros. Movie, with it becoming a billion-dollar earner for Nintendo and Illumination. While critically it didn’t fare well, it fared well with audiences and was clearly part of a plan to push the plumber this holiday season. The first wholly original 2D platfomer in a long time, Super Mario Bros. Wonder released to critical acclaim at the end of the year, alongside the reveals of remakes for Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, thrilling longtime Mario RPG fans. With a Princess Peach game on the way in early 2024, alongside a remake of the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong game and a Luigi’s Mansion 2 port, Mario fans are eating well. This year also saw us saying goodbye to Charles Martinet as Mario’s voice, taking on the task of being a “Mario ambassador” (whatever that means) as we welcome newcomer Kevin Afghani to this role. With rumors of a new Nintendo console being revealed (and maybe even released) in 2024, Nintendo’s future is looking quite bright as the Switch enters its twilight years with some amazing games. But that’s just the Big Three so…what about everyone else?

OTHER INDUSTRY ILK

One major thing that really stood out this year was the final nail hammered into the coffin that is E3. The Electronic Entertainment Expo seems to be dead and buried, cancelling not just the 2023 venue but the next two years as well. After years of being THE place to get gaming news and reveals, it really is the end of an era. We’re at a point where other developers are using their own digital presentations on their own timetables to great effect, following Nintendo’s lead with their successful “Nintendo Direct” format. While E3 was a great way for fans to play games before anyone else and for some truly legendary on-stage moments to occur, the pandemic clearly sped up the venue’s demise, not helped by longstanding controversy with leaking attendee information and the costs of running these large presentations.

Sega had a particularly interesting year, starting with their acquisition of Angry Birds studio, Rovio which is sure to bring in some money. Following the success that the Sonic the Hedgehog brand has seen this year, Sega also seems poised to carry that momentum into new titles. They revealed several new entries in long-dormant series such as Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi among others right at the end of the year, and are also apparently hard at work at some extremely expensive “super game,” though seeing as they also cancelled an expensive new IP in Hyenas I’m a little skeptical of how this project will turn out. Sega of America also voted to unionize, which seems like good news, but there have also been apparent threats of layoffs if a union comes to pass which puts a real damper on things.

Square Enix had a somewhat rocky year. Forspoken was one of the more ridiculed games online this year, particularly due to its dialogue, and it failed to earn high sales. The primary team behind this title, Luminous, has since folded back into Square Enix proper and the engine they used for this title (as well as Final Fantasy XV) seems like it might be shelved despite a lot of time and money pumped into it. Square Enix themselves has also stated that they are going to start focusing almost entirely on larger-scale projects and scaling back on smaller games in the near future, likely as a result of several smaller projects released over the last few years not doing very well.

When it comes to larger figures in the industry itself, it’s also been a bit of an off-year. Following the disastrous launch of Babylon’s Fall and the shaky reception of Bayonetta 3, one of the founding members of Platinumgames, Hideki Kamiya, left the company in late 2023. Starting a YouTube channel in his spare time, it’s currently unclear why Kamiya left the company, though leadership apparently going full-steam ahead on live-service titles despite signs of the bubble bursting in the industry is a pretty good guess as to why. Someone of Kamiya’s pedigree would likely be a great asset to any developer…just as soon as his non-compete clause ends. Elsewhere, Yuji Naka, largely viewed as the “creator” of Sonic the Hedgehog, was also sentenced to prison for insider trading during his time at Square Enix. It’s safe to say that Naka’s reputation in the industry is about shot, though it’s sad to see the fall from grace all the same.

Speaking of falls from grace, Unity as a developer tool and engine is likely going to be a thing of the past soon. Following news that Unity would begin charging developers after they’ve past enough sales of titles that use Unity, many have sworn off the engine entirely, or are at least heavily considering it. Konami also continues to lose a lot of goodwill from fans as many Silent Hill fans are forced to watch the quality of the franchise fumble. Silent Hill Ascension is being regarded as one of the most hated games of last year, with some accusations that the game’s writing might be using AI generated scripts, if not voice work. AI has itself become a hot button issue for most of 2023, and the gaming industry isn’t immune to that. Alongside Ascension, Embark Studios’ The Finals was under fire for using AI voices for the game in lieu of paying professional actors, and the most recent entry in the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series has been accused of using AI voices for at least the English dub of some lines, though nothing has been officially proven. Of course we also have more old-fashioned scams alive and well with The Day Before, an online shooter accused of asset flipping and misleading marketing that ended up killing its developer, Fntastic, after only being available for purchase for about four days. Scams are eternal.

Leaks are ALSO eternal. Outside of the massive hack and leak of information from Insomniac, Rockstar also suffered various hacks, with the Grand Theft Auto V source code potentially stolen. This comes alongside the source code for League of Legends also being stolen from Riot. A bit of a recurring story throughout 2023 was repeated leaks of military information from forums for the game War Thunder as well; it seems people would risk the wrath of the US Military just to win some online arguments.

To end this segment on some GOOD news in the industry, several sexual assault cases from Riot, Activision and Ubisoft resulted in several victims receiving settlements. Several former members of Ubisoft were even jailed following sexual assault allegations, so there’s at least SOME justice in the world. And for some interesting surprise hits of the year, there were quite a few!

Larian ended up stealing the hearts and minds of gamers in 2023 with the long-awaited release of Baldur’s Gate 3. They would go on to sweep many award shows at the year’s end, enjoying tons of sales success for the title. Effectively letting players enter into the world of Dungeons and Dragons with a moving story filled to the brim with charming characters, it was also considered a marvel at giving players TONS of freedom to explore, fight and progress through the game. In some respects, it’s the next best thing to a real tabletop experience with lot of room for improvisation and countless variables resulting in unique playthroughs for everyone. Remedy also gained a lot of attention for the release of the similarly-long-awaited Alan Wake 2. A survival horror game with an arthouse approach, many praised the game’s presentation and foreboding atmosphere…alongside some dazzling musical numbers thrown in for good measure. After years of hit or miss titles, Remedy seems to have really hit their grove and fans have been enjoying the “Remedyverse” that has been connecting so many of these projects together. From the likes of the Max Payne games to Quantum Break, Control and now Alan Wake, the story goes ever deeper, and many a fan can’t wait to see where it goes next.

On top of the big AAA hits, it’s important to not forget some of the most notable indie hits this year. From RPG throwbacks like Sea of Stars to the colorful, distinctly-animated platformer that is Pizza Tower, there’s too many to list. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a loving spiritual successor to the likes of Jet Set Radio that has been in the works for quite a bit, and for fans of fishing, the horrors of Dredge were sure to delight. While not a 2023 game, this was the year that saw Suika Game gain a huge amount of fans due to various streamers (and Vtubers) playing it, resulting in a worldwide release after previously being only available in Japan. A fruit-based puzzle game, where players try to merge the same types of fruits to make progressively bigger fruits, the simple charm of the game won over millions of new players, having sold over 5 million copies by the end of the year. But if we’re talking big sales success with indies, we have to bring up the sleeper hit that is Lethal Company. Developed by Zeekers, previously an amateur developer using Roblox, Lethal Company came out of nowhere to become one of the biggest hits of the year at over 10 million sales since October of 2023, and this is still as an early access title. A co-op horror experience, players enter into creepy facilities in hopes of finding scrap and spare parts to sell in order to make a profit…but many things lurk in the shadows and players will have to keep their wits about them to survive and meet their quotas. A simple game and certainly a bit crude at points, the game’s success speaks for itself, becoming a gigantic hit especially with streamers. Just goes to show that success can come from anywhere.

While that covers the industry in broad strokes, I’d like to now spend some time investigating some more specific trends that slowly emerged throughout the year. Strap in, because with few exceptions, things start to get a bit bleak.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE A JRPG

With Final Fantasy XVI as one of the most talked about games of 2023, not all of that talk was positive. Playing like a traditional action game was controversial for longtime fans that associate the series more with turn-based affairs, or at least “RPG staples” like multiple party members and gear to collect and swap around to make builds. Many argued it was wrong to call the game an RPG at all. During the various bits of press for this game, as well as the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth game, Tetsuya Nomura mentioned his own dislike of the term “JRPG,” feeling it was trying to “other” games out of Japan. This kicked off a whole slew of discourse over whether he had a point or not. Some argued it was always said endearingly, or pointing out that design differences between a game like, say, Final Fantasy VII was markedly different from, say, a Fallout or Witcher game. While they are all considered RPGs, the way they are designed and play are so different that the umbrella term ceases to be useful. It did lead to some interesting discussions of game genres and how they’ve evolved over the years, but also a lot of disparaging remarks that seemed to brush off Nomura’s dislike of the term, among other things.

Nomura’s offhand comment on JRPGs would be the catalyst for a greater discussion of how western journalists and gaming pundits would often disparage anything out of Japan in the past decade or so. In some cases these seemed to be tongue-in-cheek digs, but some could be far more unpleasant and looking at them from today’s standards, it led to many a jaw drop. Among all this talk, the game review show, X-Play, was often brought up. So many “jokes” and comments directed at anything outside of Japan were seen as being incredibly racist at worst and just in poor taste and crass at best. From the constant mocking of anime or manga fans, not to mention RPG fans during this era, there was this common belief around the seventh console generation or so that the West was on top and Japan had fallen behind. Certainly Japan did struggle with the switch to HD consoles and certain Western franchises like Call of Duty or Halo found great success around this time, but none of that really excused the venom that was directed at Japan at the time.

While I think you can argue that things have largely improved over the years, that one random comment from Nomura opened up some old wounds and a lot of that xenophobia that had started to fade away during the 2010s came RUSHING back as various game pundits denied any such sentiments had existed. Adam Sessler, one of the former hosts of X-Play, didn’t exactly have the best response to criticisms though. There have also still been some statements made from Western devs in recent years that show these sentiments are still around, such as firing back against Elden Ring’s UI and general UX design among other things. If anything, I think it shows that the gaming industry still has a lot of growing up to do and some skeletons in the closet they keep trying to hide.

CAPCOM RECLAIMS THEIR CROWN

Of my many biases, fighting games are a big one, and this year had a lot to talk about regarding the genre. Let’s start with the bad before we get to the good though. For starters, the winner of “Best Fighting Game” for 2022, Multiversus, ended up being taken offline partway through the year. Having started its second season of content around the holiday season of 2022, updates began slowing down to a crawl with only one new character added during that season amidst some seasonal costumes and events. The developers, Player First Games, would announce that the game’s beta period was ending and we would see the game return…sometime in 2024. This was confusing for many as it felt like the game’s full release had already happened alongside the first season pass. Considering the game’s hefty monetization, it certainly SEEMED like a full release, but as of now it’s as if the game never happened and considering the tumultuous nature of Warner Bros. after the Discovery merger, there is a real fear the game might not actually be brought back. Alongside this, the fighting game battle royale, Rumbleverse also shut down in 2023. Despite its interesting twist on the genre, many fans just didn’t click with it and it was lost in the sea of other live-service titles. Nintendo also ended up turning heads when they revised their tournament guidelines for games like the Super Smash Bros. series. Many are left confused and frustrated with the constant attempts to throttle the competitive scene, though at this point what else is new with Nintendo?

That said, there was a lot of hype this year with a variety of reveals and launches of some greater fighters out there. With more news on SNK’s new fighter in the Garou series, City of the Wolves, fans are looking forward to seeing them continue onwards, on top of them finally adding rollback netcode into the latest Samurai Shodown game. Arc System Works continued to pump out content for Guilty Gear Strive, and despite security issues with hackers affecting some players and lukewarm receptions to much of the season 2 DLC characters, season 3 has been more highly regarded with new mechanics, special moves, characters and modes being added. ArcSys would also throw fans of Granblue Fantasy a bone with an updated pseudo-sequel to the licensed fighting game with Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, finally giving that series rollback netcode for fans to enjoy. Speaking of rollback, Dragon Ball FighterZ also finally received updates on the rollback to be integrated into the game, making just about every modern ArcSys game in line with online quality. French Bread fully unveiled Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes, a sequel to their original IP, launching right at the start of 2024. Namco’s Tekken 8 is also hotly anticipated, with many fans welcoming the new installment after years of waiting.

When it came to the biggest releases for fighting fans though, Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1 were the stars of the show. The former was Capcom’s apology for the previous game’s sorry launch, on top of creating a deeply satisfying set of mechanics and new characters to play with, on top of a significant single player campaign with World Tour Mode, with perhaps the best online experience in a modern fighting game. Capcom also drew attention to their Capcom Cup tournament taking place in 2024, with the winner receiving one million dollars, which certainly helped propel interest in Street Fighter 6. Meanwhile, the latter was the first game set in a brand new universe following the events of the previous Mortal Kombat, and while the assist-based gameplay with the new “Kameo” system was praised, fans had some qualms with the story in this “new” world alongside the game’s DLC characters feeling a tad redundant (both Omni-Man from Invincible and Homelander from The Boys make the cut, both being “evil Superman” archetypes). The game also launched with a number of bugs and many criticized the lack of single player content compared to other entries, but it was still a major sales success.

Seeing new entries in the biggest fighting game series launching within a year of each other, Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat fans are eating well as we enter into a new era of fighting games. With some exceptions and issues here or there, most fighting games have finally embraced rollback netcode, and we’re starting to see more emphasis placed on single player content, resulting in games that feel like full packages. Indie fighters also pop up every so often, pushing boundaries in ways the bigger budget games might not, so no matter where you look there’s something to look forward to. I hope you all enjoyed this brief indulging of my biases and some rare good news in the industry, because our final segment here is going to cover what is easily the most distressing trend about this year in video games.

AN ENDLESS SEA OF LAYOFFS AND CLOSURES

There is no sugarcoating it; 2023 was absolutely awful for many in the industry, as month after month news of layoffs and closures would ripple throughout the industry. Studios big and small have seen massive issues, and as a bit of a spoiler for 2024, that trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Where to even begin here? We have the absolute industry giant Epic Games cutting over 16% of its workforce, as reported in September. That’s over 870 jobs gone in the blink of an eye. Despite Fortnite being the biggest thing ever, apparently for years Epic hasn’t been really making much money and these layoffs are an attempt to cushion that blow. It’s hard to really picture the BILLIONS of dollars they rake in between Fortnite, licensing out the Unreal Engine and various other revenue streams still not cutting it, but regardless workers are paying the price.

(from PC Gamer)

Really, September and October were where the floodgates really started to open with closing after closing, layoff after layoff. The QA staff for the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf game were laid off after being brought on to help out Bioware in late September. Team 17, known for the Worms series of games has laid off much of its QA staff, around 50 jobs on top of the CEO leaving. Following over three different rounds of layoffs, the devs over at CD Projekt Red have started unionizing to protect themselves. That’s over another 100 jobs lost. Things aren’t safe at Bungie either, also reporting layoffs, on top of a “soul-crushing” atmosphere at the studio. That’s about another 100 gone, same with Pokémon GO developer Niantic. These layoffs come at the price of cancelling games and delaying expansions, with employee morale at an all-time low. Even studios that died once and were resurrected, like Telltale Games, have seen layoffs.

Layoffs are already bad enough, but longtime developer Volition shut down in 2023 following several rough years. Once well-known for the Saint’s Row series, things were rocky after the fourth game’s somewhat mixed reception. Following the absolute dud that was Agents of Mayhem, the Saint’s Row reboot failed to perform well. That said, much of the blame for Volition’s demise must be laid at the feet of Embracer Group, their parent company that swiped them up a few years prior. Embracer was on a spending spree for quite some time, snatching up various other studios such as Eidos and Crystal Dynamics from Square Enix, which have also seen better days more recently, but the biggest blow came from a 2 BILLION dollar deal falling through, and as such they have had to do some serious “restructuring.” Considering they’ve snatched up somewhere around 138 different game studios alongside all of the other non-gaming ventures they’ve gone to (such as buying the IP rights to Lord of the Rings), this could wind up being absolutely catastrophic. One really has to question just where this ends, and if we might be brushing up against another gaming crash.

For my own two cents here, this is partially the results of unchecked corporate greed, mixed in with the short-sighted belief that the boom the tech and entertainment sector enjoyed with COVID would go on forever. As much as the pandemic lingers and the world state has changed, things are not like they were for the bulk of 2020 when most people were stuck inside with nothing to do. As the “streaming wars” have raged on with movies and what was once television, games continued to do well and brought in tons of money that is now drying up, at least in comparison to the days of lockdowns. We’re at a point in capitalism where the negative effects are harder and harder to ignore. Studios are bought up and then multiple “redundant” jobs are removed. All in the pursuit of capital. The line must ALWAYS go up, and it doesn’t matter how many people must suffer for that to happen. This year was good for business but don’t ever forget that it came at a very human cost.

CONCLUSION

Alright, let’s take a breath and try to take this all in. It’s kind of crazy what can happen in a year, just looking at one industry. As many were so quick to say throughout the year, it was a GREAT time for video games. Some amazing sequels, sleeper hits and breakthroughs in the industry I hold so dear. I’ve made it no secret that gaming is one of my biggest interests and over the last few years especially, it’s served as an escape from…well, the awfulness that seems to have enveloped the entire world. It’s certainly important to highlight the good in this industry. I’m glad to see a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 resonate with so many people, showing that games like this can find mass appeal and success. It was great to see the Xenoblade series get some closure with the trilogy’s final bit of DLC, which also feels like closure for all of the various projects Monolift Soft have been involved with dating back to the days of Xenogears. Seeing Sega bringing back classic IPs is always good to see, and Remedy finally hitting the big time with Alan Wake 2’s success is heartwarming. There was a time when Sam Lake felt a sequel would never happen, and then this year ended with him performing a song and dance number from the game at The Game Awards. A lot of fantastic games and great memories this year, but we can’t lose sight of the worst aspects of the industry that produces these experiences.

People make games, not corporations. People that work hard for years and often never get even a shred of recognition. And then, when we’re seeing record levels of profits, they can be cut loose. All to please the almighty shareholders. I don’t know how we get better from here; again, going into 2024 we’re still seeing TONS of layoffs that rival 2023 already. This isn’t going to get better anytime soon. It’s worth pointing out that this has been predominantly a Western gaming issue, and Japan has seen little if any layoffs overall. There definitely seems to be much stricter labor lays in Japan comparatively. The legacy of Satoru Iwata during his time at Nintendo is greatly impacted by his repeated reduction of his own salary to prevent layoffs during the tepid Wii U years, and while that is a very noble thing…that also just kind of seems like a cultural norm over there. I’m not saying the answers to our troubles lie solely in the Japanese gaming industry, as they have their own problems, but it’d be great if CEOs worldwide would realize that constant downsizing and expensive acquisitions don’t exactly keep the industry healthy. Because honestly if this continues there won’t really be much of a gaming industry anymore.

So far, roughly a month in, 2024 is already giving us a ton of things to talk about, but I’ll hold out hope that at least some of it will be some positive news for the industry going forward. Rumors have been swelling for a while that Nintendo’s next major console will release in 2024, and with the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles entering into their fourth years on the market, people are looking forward to seeing this new generation really take off. At any rate, I’m sure it will take a great while for things to stabilize. I suppose in the meantime, we still have indies! So that’s something, right? It’s hard to really end things on a positive note when you really look back at all the garbage at the end of the year. But it’s important to not give into despair and just let things go by without comment. As bad as things have been this year, it’s always possible to turn things around. While 2024 still isn’t looking great for employment in the industry, we still have 11 months to go, and I will hold out hope we can see some momentum swing into the other direction. That said, I think that’s about enough for now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the next time I do one of these, I’ll have some better things to talk about.

Take care out there!

-B

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cavalierious-whim · 3 years

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Sylvain's wholly unprepared for Felix to ask him to slather sunscreen upon his pasty (well-defined) back.

Happy Sylvix Summer. Take my dumb beach fluff rife with Teen-aged Tropey Rom-Com bullshit. Read here on AO3 for better quality, and follow me here on Twitter!

Despite his long-harbored crush, Sylvain never thought much of a half-naked Felix until one fateful beach trip.

They’re past their high-school years and well into college. Young enough to not be tied down by relationships. That’d be boring to Sylvain, who has a new flavor every week and happily so.

Mostly because it’s easier to be casual than commit to something that’d mean more.

Felix is just an old friend, he tells himself. A second glance, really. Okay, well, maybe not second-- that’s a cruel thing to say. Sylvain would give his left arm for the guy, literally, but he’s never really considered the why behind the thought until then.

And sure, he’s always liked him, even if Sylvain’s never thought much about it. Felix is kinda cute in a deranged cat sort of way.

But now, it makes a lot of sense. Stares him right in the face, a visage of gleaming pasty white skin and deceptively toned muscles. Sylvain’s just fucking blind and stupid, and now it can’t be unseen.

Felix is no longer a scrawny and gangly thing; now he sports lithe and supple muscle. Defined shoulders and a slim waist that tapers into what’s probably the finest ass Sylvain’s ever seen. Pert and shapely, perfect in every way.

Sylvain stares long enough for his ice cream cone to melt all over his hand.

“I’d tell you to take a picture,” says Ingrid, her laugh pealing through the air from behind her hand. “But that’d only piss him off.”

“Ingrid,” says Sylvain panicked. He shakes the melted, sticky mess from his hand as he continues to gawk. At least they’re in the shade under his umbrella, so it’s only a minor mess. “When on earth did that happen?”

Ingrid raises an eyebrow. “When did what happen?”

Sylvain groans. Of course, she’d make him say it. Ingrid’s the worst (or the best) when it comes to forcing others to make fools of themselves. She’s already adopted a devilish smirk, waiting for Sylvain to dig himself a hole deep in the beach sand.

A grave might be more fitting, considering what Felix would do to him if he ever caught Sylvain staring.

“I mean, what’d you expect?” asks Ingrid, sparing Sylvain from further embarrassment. For the moment. Sylvain knows better than to think that she’s done with him. Ingrid’s only biding her time. “When people play sports, they get ripped.” She points to Sylvain. “Look at you. Look at me.”

“I play baseball,” says Sylvain in a low hiss. “I can throw a pitch as fast as a car on the highway and sprint the length of an entire field. Fencing is barely a sport when compared.”

Ingrid just looks at him, her face flat and unimpressed as she sips at her drink and twirls the tiny decorative beach umbrella within it. “I dare you to tell him that.”

Sylvain flounders the tiniest bit. Absolutely not. He likes living far too much. Ever since Felix picked up a foil and learned how to bout, he’d been considerably more dangerous than the crybaby know-it-all they’d all grown up with.

“But, like… how?” says Sylvain as he wonders, persistent in his confusion as to when Felix suddenly became handsome. Like, model handsome. Like, Sylvain would take him around and then pound him into the sheets handsome.

Sylvain never thinks about sleeping with men. Except for Felix, but that’s something that he usually pushes to the back corner of his mind because it’s really fucking awkward to think that way about your bestie.

And Ingrid knows, she’s known for a stupidly long time because of one shitty night where he’d drunkenly blubbered his feelings out to her. In rare form, she didn’t laugh at him that night, she’d only combed her fingers through his hair and called him the world’s biggest idiot.

He’s good at that. Being dumb. Probably his best quality.

Sylvain can’t stop looking, his eyes grazing over Felix’s perfect form. My wet dreams are never going to be the same again, he thinks, his mouth going dry.

“Disgusting,” says Ingrid, making a face. She knows what Sylvain’s thinking, what he can’t help but agonize about. But then she waves her hand dismissively. “Also, he does squats from sun-up to sun-down. No wonder his ass looks so good.”

“Wait, are you looking?” asks Sylvain a little too quickly. Accusatory. He watches her through a shrewd gaze.

“Oh, Goddess, no. I’d rather choke.” She makes another face, this one cross-eyed as she cuts across her neck with a finger dramatically. “I’ve just been watching your sorry ass moon over him--”

“I’m not mooning--”

“Who’s mooning over what?”

Both Ingrid and Sylvain freeze at Felix’s voice. Then, Sylvain laughs, high-pitched and incredibly awkward.

“Nothing--”

“Sylvain and how he’s--”

Sylvain kicks her and Ingrid curses. Felix watches on, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Sylvain’s rarely rude to Ingrid (okay, so that’s a lie; he’s rude to her constantly, but she’s Ingrid, and she deserves it every time), but he shoots her the meanest look that he can muster.

Which, admittedly, isn’t very threatening.

“Is there a reason you look like a fucking five-year-old trying to threaten a classmate who stole your juice box?”

Sylvain nearly congratulates Felix on his brilliant use of imagery. Instead, he starts with, “Felix--”

“Oh, don’t mind him,” cuts in Ingrid. “He’s just annoyed that I called him out on his bullshit.”

With that, Felix perks up because if there’s something that he loves more than anything else, it’s watching Sylvain getting dunked on. Which is more often than Sylvain likes to admit.

“So,�� says Felix, “The usual.”

“Felix, why are you even here?” Sylvain doesn’t mean for it to be so biting, but it comes out sounding quite like Felix himself, an absolute feat.

“We’re at the beach, and together at that if I must remind you,” says Felix, cocking his head to the side. “The sun’s high and blazing, and I’m pasty as hell. Help me with this.”

A demand, not a request. So incredibly like Felix. Sylvain barely catches the bottle that is thrown at him. “Sunscreen,” he reads aloud rather dumbly.

“Yes, you dimwit,” says Felix. “Not everyone tans like you. Some of us come out looking like lobsters, and I don’t mean in a tasty kind of way.”

Sylvain disagrees. Felix looks the tastiest he’s ever seen, and Sylvain’s known him for nearly two decades.

“So what, like rub this all over you?”

Felix rolls his eyes, replying slowly like he’s speaking to a child. “Yes. My arms are short and you’re conveniently there. Even if I’m flexible--” Sylvain super doesn’t need to think about that, “--there are parts of my back that I can’t reach.”

Sylvain would rather burn in Ailell than do this because this is now his absolute worst fucking nightmare. A unique hell, tailored just for him. A test of the Goddess.

Or a memory he’ll wank to for months to come.

Definitely the latter, knowing Sylvain.

Ingrid, bless her shrew-like and ill-tempered soul, shoots Sylvain an amused glance. Soaks the entire thing up, her mouth tipped to the side as she delights in Sylvain’s discomfort. This kind of thing fuels her; juicy gossip feeds her for days and then some.

Especially when it comes to Sylvain.

“Ingrid, fuck off,” says Sylvain. Felix, who didn’t see her look, reaches out to swat Sylvain in return. “Ow!”

“You fuck off,” says Felix. “Stop being rude.”

“She’s the one--”

“Alright, I’m leaving,” says Ingrid abruptly, “Before this lover’s spat gets any worse--”

“This isn’t a spat--” starts Sylvain.

“Lover’s?” exclaimed Felix, pink in the face.

That catches Sylvain’s attention as he turns to him. What an odd reaction-- the embarrassment as he refuses to look either of them in the face. Sylvain’s mouth falls open in surprise and Ingrid’s clamps right up. Then, she smiles, the sly little grin that she gets when she’s up to no good. Never bodes well. Sylvain’s about to say something when she speaks.

“I’ll come and check on your boys later, yeah?” Oh, Ingrid’s up to no good, about to throw Sylvain to the sharks. Wholly intent of leaving him behind with Felix and his newfound discovery that his crush is probably more than a crush.

“Ingrid--” starts Sylvain, but before he can properly beg her, Ingrid’s gone, leaving behind nothing but a trail of footprints in the sand.

Felix plops onto the towel in front of Sylvain, his back facing him. Sylvain looks at the expanse of it, far broader than he remembers. He swallows thickly as his hand hovers awkwardly over Felix’s skin.

“Insufferable, that woman. What my brother sees in her I’ll never know.”

“Even people with terrible personalities have matches,” says Sylvain in humor. A decent attempt at distraction that usually works with others.

Felix grunts. “Yes, well, you’d know that best of all, wouldn’t you?”

Ouch, thinks Sylvain. Nasty little stinger right out of left-field but incredibly on-brand for Felix. His favorite thing to do is remind Sylvain about his habitually shitty dating habits.

“That’s a little cruel, don’t you think?” Sylvain uncaps the bottle of sunscreen and squirts a generous amount onto his palms.

“What, can’t handle the criticism?” Felix snorts. “Sylvain, you’ve slept with the entire volleyball team, minus Ingrid.”

“Have you seen them, though? Legs up to here, literally. Except for Ingrid of course, because that’d be so gross--”

“Ridiculous,” says Felix, snorting again. “Utterly predictable. And you wonder why you’re always dead last.”

Sylvain frowns at the strange wording. “I’m top of our class.”

Felix doesn’t immediately answer. “That isn’t what I mean,” he finally says, tilting his head back slightly to look at Sylvain. Then his expression hardens, turning aggressive again. “Are you going to lather me up or should I go ask Ingrid instead?”

“No,” says Sylvain, “Just… yeah, okay. I’ve got this.”

“Sylvain, it’s just sunscreen.” There’s a tiny frown on Felix’s face.

Sylvain’s a confident man, able to woo anyone into his bed. Rubbing sunscreen into Felix’s skin should be easy. It isn’t. Sylvain hesitates and hesitates, fingers hovering over the smooth line of Felix’s bare shoulders.

Nothing explains Sylvain’s sudden dry mouth or the inkling that this is a terrible idea.

“Sylvain,” says Felix, clearly waiting.

Felix’s skin is warm to the touch and soft under Sylvain’s calloused fingers. He starts at his shoulders, massaging the liquid in, squeezing at Felix’s tight muscles.

“Tense?” asks Sylvain, teasing him.

“Tired,” says Felix, sounding-- well, just that. Exhausted, even.

Sylvain’s hands pause as he leans forward slightly. “You train too much.”

“You don’t train enough. You could be on the national team if you gave a shit.”

Sylvain laughs and leans even closer, his mouth near Felix’s ear. “Yeah, well, that’s the difference between us. I don’t want to be on the national team.”

Felix harrumphs and crosses his arms over his chest. “That just makes you dumb, then.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Sylvain smooths his hands across the top of Felix’s shoulders, then sweeps them down and under his blades, thumbs digging into the meat of Felix’s back.

Felix lets out a low moan, a sinful-sounding thing that makes Sylvain bite at his lips and look to the sky. He’s never really prayed before, doesn’t believe in the Goddess, but he asks Seiros for strength.

“Shit, Sylvain,” says Felix with a sigh. “That’s--”

“Seriously, Felix, you’re all locked up.”

Felix whines when Sylvain raises his hand to press into the muscles at the base of his neck, his fingernails just barely scratching across Felix’s skin. “Sorry,” murmurs Felix, pink in the cheeks again, hands shifting awkwardly in his lap.

“You need to cool down properly after your sessions,” says Sylvain. “You’re working yourself too hard. Nothing but knots and bone back here.”

“Sunscreen,” says Felix suddenly.

“What?”

“The sunscreen. Your hands are dry.”

Right. The sunscreen. Sylvain isn’t supposed to be giving Felix a massage, he’s supposed to be oiling him up and readying him for the sun. He slicks his hands up again, murmurs an apology, and finds the lower part of Felix’s back this time.

“Sorry. Can’t have you burning to a crisp out there.”

Felix sighs at the touch, leaning into it slightly and Sylvain nearly dies on the spot. So, maybe he’s just now noticed how handsome Felix is, but it’s not exactly the first time Sylvain’s thought about him like this. Usually, when he does, he tucks it away deep-- not because it’s embarrassing, or Sylvain has reservations about men, but because Felix would slaughter him if he knew.

Sylvain lets out a long breath as he rubs the sunscreen into Felix’s skin, making sure not to miss any spots.

“What’s Ingrid doing?” asks Felix, nodding to where she stands fifty paces away in the sun.

Sylvain looks up, squinting at her. Ingrid flashes him a grin before pressing her thumb and forefinger together on one hand, and then taking her pointer finger with the other and--

“Is she--”

Ingrid makes the crudest gesture known to man, and then, wiggling her eyebrows, points directly to Felix, then Sylvain right after.

Sylvain’s going to kill her. Absolutely murder her in her sleep. He’s got a spare key to her place and he knows where she keeps the sharp knives. Glenn might forgive Sylvain for it if they properly explain. Even though Glenn’s nearly thirty, he still thinks it’s his job to protect Felix.

Especially from Ingrid’s never-ending teasing.

“She’s dead,” says Sylvain. “Next time I’m within a few feet of her.”

“Not if I kill her first,” says Felix.

Sylvain leans over Felix, shooting Ingrid the finger with both hands. She, naturally, shoots him one right back. “So fucking rude,” says Sylvain, leaning back again and slathering his hands with sunscreen once more. “And the things that she implies. Don’t listen to her.”

Strangely, Felix is quiet. Twiddles his thumbs in his lap. Sylvain watches him for a moment before resuming his requested task, catching the spots of his back that he’s missed.

“Would it be so bad?” asks Felix.

Sylvain’s hands pause. “What?”

“The idea of being with me. Is it such a terrible idea?”

Sylvain laughs because that’s what he does when faced with awkward questions. “Felix, we’re too old for gay jokes and Ingrid knows that. She’s just picking on us because it’s how she asserts dominance.”

Felix doesn’t even scoff which is a red flag, so Sylvain grasps him by the shoulders and looks at him from the side. “Hey, wait, are you worried about dating? I thought it wasn’t something you’re interested in?”

They’ve known each other since they were practically in diapers, so of course, they’ve talked about this: girls and dating. Well, more so Sylvain who always talked at Felix. Felix is relatively tight-lipped about it, even now, into their college years. Always says that he’s just not interested.

Never bothered Sylvain one bit.

“I mean, I know some cute girls--”

“Sylvain, I don’t want to date women.”

Oh. Oh. Sylvain’s mouth shuts tight as he absorbs this information. This puts a lot of things into perspective; Felix’s disinterest in women and how he’d roll his eyes whenever Sylvain would talk about them. His lack of celebrity crushes and such. Felix has just never said it so bluntly.

“Felix, it’s totally cool if you’re gay. I know some cute guys--”

Felix lets out a frustrated groan, rubbing at his face. “Sylvain, I’m not-- that’s not-- That’s not it.”

“Felix, you have to throw me a bone here, what on earth are you talking about--”

“I like you, you absolute imbecile,” says Felix very suddenly. And loudly. Entirely red-faced with embarrassment as he digs a hand into the sand beside him. “And Ingrid’s known for years because Glenn fucking told her, and that’s why she’s been so incredibly insufferable this entire time--”

Sylvain bursts into laughter, which in retrospect, probably wasn’t the best reaction. “Wait, no, no, that’s not why I’m laughing,” he says when Felix starts to pull away. Felix pauses, looking at him with barely contained aggravation.

“This isn’t funny, Sylvain,” he says quietly.

“Ingrid’s making fun of both of us, so yeah, it kind of is.”

Felix blinks very slowly, his face contorting into supreme confusion.

Sylvain sighs, rubbing at his chin awkwardly. “So look, here’s the thing. The shitty dating’s always been to fill a void because I’ve always been afraid to like, date someone properly. No commitment is so much easier than actual commitment and--”

“Sylvain, what on earth are you blabbering about?” cuts in Felix impatiently.

“I like you too?” Sylvain doesn’t mean for it to come out sounding like a question, so he clears his throat and tries again. “What I mean to say is, I’ve always liked you, I guess, but I’ve never really noticed you and--”

When Felix laughs, it’s always a bitter-sounding thing which is why Sylvain never wants to hear it. Means he’s about to lose his shit. This time though, he’s chuckling softly, rubbing at his face tiredly. “Let me guess,” he says quietly, “Ingrid knows.”

Sylvain swallows thickly, sitting there awkwardly with sunscreen-covered hands. “She, uh, might.”

“So, I didn’t have to resort to this, then.”

Sylvain shoots him a confused look. “Resort to what?”

Felix sighs, pink-cheeked with embarrassment again. “Parading around without a shirt on. The whole sunscreen thing. Ingrid’s blasted idea, of course, and now I see why. Glenn agreed, saying you’re the type to be visually stimulated but because I didn’t think that you liked me--”

“Wait, wait, back up,” says Sylvain, trying to process everything that Felix is trying to say. “What do you mean Ingrid’s idea?”

Felix finally looks at Sylvain’s face, annoyed with the entire situation. “She was tired of me not saying anything and told me to do something about it. I said it wouldn’t matter, that you didn’t like me but--” He pauses and waves vaguely between them.

“She’s known that I’ve liked you for years,” finishes Sylvain quietly. “Oh, Goddess, I’m going to kill her.”

“Please don’t,” says Felix. “Because then Glenn would kill you and that would mean I’ve made an utter fool of myself for nothing.”

Sylvain looks at the sunscreen again. “Felix, I hope you realize, rubbing you down in this nearly ended me. Like, I won’t be able to move from this towel for at least ten minutes.”

At that, Felix smirks slightly, his mouth tipped up at one corner. “Well, I’m sure there are spots that you’ve missed.”

Sylvain groans at the idea.

“I’m joking,” says Felix quietly, reaching out to touch Sylvain’s shoulder, thumbing over it with uncertainty. “So what--”

“I mean, the answer’s yes, obviously.” Felix looks at him, his face carefully schooled into something bland. Obviously trying not to get his hopes up, so Sylvain continues. “I mean, I didn’t collapse onto Ingrid’s bathroom floor one night, wasted to only say no--”

“You what?”

“Okay, so forget about that--”

“So you were truly serious about liking me?” asks Felix, his voice cracking slightly.

Sylvain’s expression softens. “I mean, it’s never been so clear until today but--”

“Why today, of all days?”

Sylvain’s done a fantastic job of looking at only Felix’s face so far so he finally looks down, eyes sweeping over his chest. Sylvain swallows thickly. “I mean, look at you, you’re--”

“Save it for the women who warm your bed,” says Felix acerbically. He moves to get up properly and Sylvain reaches out to grab his wrist.

“Felix, wait, don’t do that.” Felix does. Waits for him to say his piece. “I’ve always liked you, but it never really clicked that you’re-- uh-- look, there’s no delicate way to say it, so I just will. You’re gorgeous. Handsome. I can’t stop looking at you because you make me feel things, and that’s something that’s just... Ingrid told me to take a fucking picture, Felix.”

Felix snorts at that, hiding a smile behind his hand. Then he plops back down to the sand.

“You realize that I expect to be more than a bed warmer,” says Felix finally, arms crossed over his chest.

“I’d never ask that of you,” says Sylvain, seriously. “Unless you wanted to, because trust me, I’m certainly not opposed--”

Felix reaches forward with lightning-fast speed, pulls open Sylvain’s swim trunks, and dumps a handful of sand directly into them. Sylvain looks down dumbly. Dreads the inevitable itchiness that comes with getting sand in the bits where you don’t want it.

“Okay, yeah, I deserved that.”

Felix hesitates and then says, “Insufferable.”

“Yeah,” says Sylvain in agreement.

“It’s part of your charm.”

Sylvain grins at him. “Oh, my charm? Does that mean that I won you over with my bewitching demeanor?”

Felix’s expression sours the slightest bit. “Don’t push it.”

It falls quiet between them, as they sit on the towel underneath Sylvain’s umbrella, but it’s a comfortable silence. Sylvain rubs the leftover sunscreen into his own shoulders as Felix tries not to stare in return.

“So,” says Sylvain finally. “Dinner on the pier maybe? Without Ingrid and Glenn, I mean.”

“Yes, nothing says fantastic first date like shoveling buttered crawfish into your mouth like a slob.” But Felix’s face is soft and fond when he looks at Sylvain, and Sylvain knows that it’s a date sealed for later that night.

Things are going to be weird, supposes Sylvain, but there are worse things. At least they’ll be figuring it out together.

“Who gets first dibs on dunking ice-cold seawater all over Ingrid?” asks Sylvain.

“I think that I can get Glenn to distract her long enough for you to fill the pail. Or, we can tag team her-- grab her and throw her in the ocean itself.”

That’s a better idea and Sylvain says as such, much to Felix’s entertainment. “Maybe we shouldn’t,” continues Sylvain. “We do owe her some credit.”

Felix snorts. “Are you going to give her the satisfaction of it?”

They both look at each other, then Sylvain says, “Absolutely not.” He pauses, reaching out to Felix, wanting to grab his hand and hold it. But he hesitates.

Felix sees and watches silently. “We’re dumb,” he finally says. “It’s taken us so long. We’re nearly done with college.”

“Yeah, well, late-bloomers and all that.”

“Sylvain, you’re the opposite of a late-bloomer.”

“Not where it counts.”

Felix sighs softly and reaches out, taking Sylvain’s hand, linking their fingers together. He doesn’t say anything else, but he doesn’t have to. He and Sylvain have always been like that; silent in most of their communication because they just read each other so well.

Except for when it comes to their wants, apparently.

Still, better late than never supposes Sylvain when he squeezes Felix’s hand back.

#sylvain/felix #felix/sylvain #felix x sylvain #fe3h fanfiction #sylvix #fe3h

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jq37 · 3 years

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The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 4

The Case of the Puzzling Painting

Welcome back to Loam Hall where our Sylvan Sleuths are still hanging out in a room with a dead body. When we left off, Gangie had been snooping into Sly’s conversation about Fletcher Cottonbottom and now, he uses his Criminal Contacts feature to see what he knows, if anything, about a recent return. With a 26 he knows that his family used to be well respected but after the whole business with the insurance fraud and Sly busting it, the family kind of fell out of favor. So Fletcher was in a weird position where he was rich and a part of high society and had enough dirt on everyone to get them to do things for him but couldn’t actually show his face because he was disgraced. Gangie also knows that it’s rumored that Fletcher’s weapons running scheme was actually a front for moving art.

With regard to more recent news about Fletcher, Gangie was never in direct contact with him but he knows that 3-4 years ago, his most trusted henchmen started going missing--people attributed it to some kind of “Cottonbottom Curse” and that rumor is part of why Gangie decided to get out of dodge in the first place.

Buck does an insight check on the rest of the PCs and, with an 18, doesn’t clock anyone there as especially suspicious (Lars isn’t there but like..it’s Lars). Ian tries to give Squire Badger his last rites but ends up pulling the knife out, putting it back in, flapping blood everywhere with his feathers, and sending Constance into a badger rage. Buck tries to help smooth over things, claiming his big screw up was a new style of avant garde church ritual (Ian appreciates the support--who ministers to the ministers, you know?) and in the process sees his knife for the first time. Which, you know. He obviously suspected before but never nice to see.

While this is going on, Daisy sneaks off to try and check on the secret door and everyone sees her do it/eventually follows her but we’ll get back to her once we check in with Lars who is en route to the kitchen. Once in the hallway, they do a perception check and, on a 15, there are 3 doors and Ally gets to pick one. There’s a kitchen where Gilfoyle is talking to a group, a door where someone is crying behind it, and a door where they can hear nothing. Ally, the galaxy brained genius, goes for the quiet door. That’s the money door and with their ears pressed against the door, they can hear Edwina and Carolyn--the two mice maids that overheard Buck’s conversation with the Badger--whispering about what happened there and wondering if they should pay back the money they were paid to by Buck.

Gilfoyle walks out and sees Lars snooping but on a Nat 20 deception check, Lars is able to play dumb and skate by suspiciousness. Also, with a dirty 20 perception check, when the mice maids leave, Lars sees that they’ve been stealing silverware.

OK, back to Daisy who is getting to the séance room as quickly as possible. She has two rounds before people catch up to her so she’s trying to make the most of it by Investigating the painting she noticed was bolted to the wall earlier. She first rolls an 11, getting no new information. This is so frustrating to her. She’s good at this dammit! But being around Sly is rattling her terribly. She has feelings for him--strong ones. But she isn’t herself around him. How can she be with him if he makes her so unlike herself? Her introspection is enough to earn her advantage from Brennan on her second roll and boom! 25! Daisy is back.

With that roll, she notices that the eyes in the painting actually move and can be used as a spying post on the other side. Then Sly runs in and they start bickering immediately. Daisy throws a crystal ball at him and absolutely brains him on a nat 20--the first combat roll of this very RP oriented season.

Buck and Ian are still in the room with the body for the moment and Buck asks Ian about the first few names on the list Gangie gave him. There were a bunch of members of the Burrows family--a working class family that all died of a consumptive illness. And then the Diggories who died in a carriage accident. The connecting thread? All badgers. Buck then zooms away to follow Daisy, Ian follows, and Lars, seeing them as they leave the kitchens, also follows.

So all the PCs are in the séance room now and they kinda have the sense of, “OK y’all, we’re all screwed but we’re al screwed together so we better throw our lot in with each other and start working together so we don’t die because no one else here is on our side.” Buck proposes an alliance and they all agree to share info. Sly asks about Buck’s knife and Buck admits it’s his but says he didn’t do it. Sly believes him--not because he wouldn’t do it but because he has no motive (that he knows about anyway. Buck doesn’t spill about the contract).

Gangie shares the list of names from before with the whole group.It’s like half badgers and then some other critters (full list here). Sly doesn’t share any of his secret info Grant got texted. Daisy and Buck don’t share about the key (though Sly you’ll remember sat her steal it). Buck does however mention his suspicion about the fact that Gilfoyle wasn’t around when Squire Badger gave his speech and Daisy does the same about the fact that he said he would call the cops but the cops haven’t arrived yet. Lar’s remembers that Jez’s husband is gunning for at seat in parliament and wonders if this is related somehow. Daisy mentions the eyes in the painting and everyone is like way to bury the lede dude! Especially when they’ve just all spilled their secrets. Everyone checks on the painting and with a 25 Gangie can intuit that this is probably used to spy on rich people when they’re mid-séance and vulnerable and spilling secrets (which he doesn’t share but Daisy comes to a similar conclusion on her own). Buck on a 23 can smell ledgers (idk how but the DM said so and I’m reporting it) and guesses that that’s where the Squire’s real office is which means that’s probably where the contract he needs to find and destroy is too.

The group makes a list of their loose ends which are what’s on the other side of the painting, what’s up with Fletcher, and the smell of ozone. Plus Ian remembers that the date on the bust in the study is wrong and shares with the class.

Lars tries to get to the other side of the room by ripping the painting off the hinges with a very impressive 26 but there is fully a wall behind it and the noise brings Gilfoyle, Harding, and the Badger kids running. Lars notes that in the stone behind the painting it says “⅓” and then hurriedly puts the painting back. Daisy thinks that might refer to a secret third floor or basement accessible by the elevator (but my first thought was that there were 2 other spying paintings in the house somewhere).

Everyone in the room hears the Gilfoyle and co. coming and try to act natural. There is a group stealth check that they all tank so heavily that all the suspicious staff and kids need to do to suss them out is roll above a 5.

AND THEY ROLL A TWO.

With that, Lucretia appears, totally buys that they’re doing very important spiritual work in there, and in fact guards the door for them. They use the privacy bought by their very vigilant sentry to plan their next steps. Sly, Daisy, and Ian will check out the study while they rest of them check out the elevator. As they exit, Lucretia asks if they got the answers they needed out of the spirits.

Oh yes, says Daisy, echoing Lucretia’s nonsense prediction from last episode. Either something good or bad might happen. Either way, I’m excited!

Case Notes

How baller of a player move is it to say a line so poignant that the DM is forced to let you roll with advantage? I have been on the other side of that as the DM and it’s so great. MAD respect to Rekha for that. AND THEN THE DICE COOPERATED. You simply love to see it.

The other best Rekha line is Daisy to Sly upon being called out about stealing the key in his normal, coy, quippy way: You saw me bitch.

Shout out to Grant also for being constantly on as Sly. The guy is on point always. Impeccable.

I am SO SO SO happy Daisy and Sly are on the same mission team. If I was friends with either of them I’d be like, “This is a toxic relationship, they make you too crazy.” But as an outside viewer I want them to be within crystal ball throwing distance always.

The question I’m sure we’re all asking: Is Brennan enough of a minx to invoke the butler did it trope? I know everyone at the table is thinking it even if none of them have said it outright. I figured the reason the cops haven’t showed up yet was the storm but who knows?

Two pieces of housekeeping, only Buck and Gangie know what the room behind the painting is with their high rolls and, after the bit of passing it back and forth with Buck, Daisy has the key.

I really can’t do the bit about Gangie’s mom justice. I wish there was a comedy Emmy for actual play DnD shows so D20 could get the accolades it deserves just for that bit.

Brennan indicated that the conversation between the mice maids was the most interesting info (Gilfoyle convo to staff was too public to be juicy/they could get the info from one of the many gathered staff people and crying is info on its own--though I am curious about who the crying person was) but I’m wondering what he meant by that. Because the fact that Buck paid them might be interesting if Buck did it. But we know he didn’t. Is it the fact that they were in the room at all? Again, info that the party knows if not Lars specifically. The fact that they were stealing silverware? What’s Brennan’s game here?

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #mice and murder #mice and murder spoilers #the case file

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onyxoverride · 3 years

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-> Vote Results Mass Post & Announcement

Please Read, especially if you voted!

This doesn’t contain every single comment since I tried to summarize it a bit! Thank you all so much for voting!!!

I’ll be going over who won, what will happen with the votes, and responding to some stuff, etc!

Why am I not surprised? I've summoned all the Zeke Simps

I'll work on a Zeke Jaeger fic (probably submissive)

Then Reiner Braun, Sukuna, Porco Galliard, maybe Connie Springer (might turn into a drabble,) Naoya Zenin, and lastly Pieck Finger. In that order (again if everything goes according to plan!)

These characters I already have ideas for, that's why I put them in the vote!

Woof this one was a close call the whole time! I would check it and it would be at 50/50 but thankfully some votes broke the tie!

I'll be starting the series event soon! Already have some of the introduction written and I'll set up the masterpost for it! (Bear with me, there's a lot of characters and some don't get much love or any at all so...)

I'll be writting it and uploading it slowly... it's a big one for me yall.

Thank you for critiques! I got some questions:

How do you mean "masterlist at the top"? Masterlist at the top of fics or the top of navi? I put the Masterlist link at the bottom of fics so when their done reading they can just click!

I only put official fics in the masterlist! And I haven't updated the drabbles masterlist in a while because it's a lot! I hope this clears some stuff up! That's why I use the general tags like that to help, so when in doubt, use those!!

Yes! I like lowercase for stuff like when I say "warnings" and "note" but I also am very wary of when I'm writing to capitalize properly but I slip up every now and then!

The lettering that's hard to read- is it like this? 𝔵𝔶𝔷 that's hard to read or like this ? So I can fix something but some of it is just for fancy formatting!

Thank you to all of you who said they enjoy my theme or said everything was good!! I appreciate all the input and compliment!!

I don't think I'll ever write for Free! I remember watching is when I was younger but it just doesn't intrigue me anymore!

Step! Zeke is mwa, I love stepbro Zeke a lot.

Zeke as a teacher and with a high school student I'm not quite comfortable with but I do have Professor! Zeke as a WIP!! I hope that's satisfactory instead whenever I'm able to write it out!

Characters: Armin Arlert x2, Inumaki Toge x2, Jean Kirstein x3, Sukuna x2, Miche Zacharius, Yuta Okkatsu, Erwin Smith, Connie Springer, also I think 2 people said Naoya Zenin!

Kinks: watersports x3, femdom/domreader x3, breeding x2, cockwarming x2, size kink x2, edging x2, sleepy sex, somnophilia, spanking, role-playing, overstimulation, biting, hair pulling, thigh riding, spitting, finger sucking, cuckholding, Zeke Kink (all of us hheh) and blood kink.

I love all of these for the most part! Also I'm comfortable with writting blood and such! I have a love for blood so blood kink and such is amazing for me. All of these are A plus, you got it!

I'll take all of these into consideration!

Yall are really making me get teary-eyed, so sweet 🥺 I love you all so much!!

I'm so glad I can even interact with yall!! Thank you so much for calling me a safe space 🥺 I'll try to live up to that.

I'm glad my personality is okay!! Sometimes I'm like .. do I even have one LOL. And I try to answer asks with a decent answer because they're all juicy thoughts and thirsts!

I'm glad you like the font and pictures!! Sometimes editing them is hard but seeing the end result is fun hehe

I'm glad the tags are helpful!!! I try to be really good at it even if its a simple ask because sometimes short asks have really good points.

Zeke and Reiner are my babes I love them so much!! Im glad yall like my content 🥺

I'm so happy I can be relatively consistent! This blog makes me really happy so I try to put a bunch of effort into it!

I see I see, this makes sense since those are the fandoms I write the most for 😂 i need to write for MHA more but I'll probably start writing more when season 5 comes out so I can get back on the brainrot. I also forgot to add Chainsaw Man and Haikyuu but I write a little bit for those.

High Rise Invasion I've watched some because an anon recommended it and I may write for it, we'll see!

Overlord- I haven't watched it but it looks interesting, I may look into it!

Diamond of the Ace I've heard of and I may watch! Death Note I've seen and know but I dont think ill write for it

I won't write for Free! But Bleach is one of my favorite animes, I'm an old anime fan (old as in I've been watching anime for a very long time) and I'm even rewatching it! I'll even write for it if inspiration hits!! We can thirst over Bleach! In fact we have some Bleach stuff on my blog!

Again thank you so much for participating!! Trust me I've compiled all you have said and will refer back to them! I'll be answering asks this weekend and as much as I can (there's a lot) so no fic but I'll be writing as well so ;)

Also if I haven't answered your ask its not because I'm intentionally ignoring you, I just wanna gather my thoughts and answer with something substantial because yall got some juicy thoughts I love yalls noggins

mwamwamwamwa smooches for you all. Drink some water and eat a lil snack, stay healthy, love you!!

- 𝖔𝖓𝖞𝖝 (they/them)

#⚫.megaphone

21 notes · View notes

andromedarune · 4 years

Text

Bede x Hop Request:“Just Desserts” (p2)

REQUEST ~ “I have one, it’s a hop x bede where bede feels bad for being mean to hop, but is too scared of apologizing to him in fear of rejection. Due to his past at the orphanage and his overall fear of being left alone again. So he decides to send homemade desserts to hop with secret messages ,anonymously . Hop Figures it out when the desserts stop coming after bede gets sick badly ( maybe a bad fever from exhaustion, anything that stops him from baking will do). You can include opal or the other gym leaders teasing hop on who could be sending the treats. I hope this is okay.”

A/N: Alright, here’s the conclusion to my mini-fic requested to me earlier in the week! I definitely got carried away with the prompt, but I really wanted to nail the emotions being presented here (because there are A LOT). Not sure if I accomplished that, or much else, tbh... Oh well! Give it a read anyway and hopefully it’s decent? Thank you!

It’s hard to really say that his work could possibly follow a routine. There were the basic things that always remained the same, of course; he’d wake up a seven in the morning every day, feed Dubwool before he started eating his bedsheets, do whatever morning chores his mother had waiting for him, head to the lab, basically become free slave labor for Sonia for the next eight or so hours, come home to a few more chores, then pass out on the couch while working on some papers before magically waking up the next morning in his bedroom. That was probably the closest thing to a routine he’s ever had, all things considered. But Hop never really minded the idea of a routine or the lack thereof; so long as he got to have some fun at some point, he didn’t mind. And it was safe to say that being the new professor’s assistant was far from what he would consider a boring life.

But he wasn’t sure how he felt about getting comfortable with someone constantly leaving lovely gifts for him every single week.

The first one came in, leaving the assistant incredibly puzzled. It wasn’t anybody’s birthday, here, so that idea was dashed. Maybe Leon brought it for Sonia? Hop shook his head; he wasn’t so quick to assume something like that, especially since Leon had never mentioned anything about giving Sonia presents beforehand. Nevertheless, the youth brought his findings to his boss, who was equally as perplexed as him. So the two opened up the box as well as the letter. A beautiful cake, and an eloquent letter apparently dedicated to Hop. Now that was a plot-twist.

“Someone’s got a secret admirer~,” Sonia nudged his shoulder, still giggling at the way he was completely frozen in a state of perpetual embarrassment. Maybe he should have investigated on his own before bringing it to Sonia.

“D-definitely not!” Hop finally found his words, wincing at his voice crack. He thought he had enough of that when his voice started changing. Apparently it wasn’t done with him.

“Oh yeah? What did that letter say? Something about the ‘brilliant radiance of determination reflecting like the sun in your eyes’?”

“Sonia, please,” Hop slapped his hands over his face.

She laughed some more, giving him a good pat on the back.

“Relax - there’s nothing wrong with having a secret admirer. It’s actually really sweet and adorable.” She picked up the letter, flipping it around a few times in her hands. “Though, they didn’t seem to leave a name. Any ideas on who it might be?”

“No clue. I honestly didn’t think that anybody’d actually think of me like that…”

“What? Of course they do! You’re a total catch, Hop - not for me though, ‘cause that’s gross.”

“Yeah, gross,” Hop finally laughed, lowering his hands to inspect the cake a bit. It really did look good. Chocolate cake was always delicious. “So, should we eat this now or…?”

“Who, me? No way - this is your secret admirer. You eat it.”

Before Hop could argue, Sonia sashayed out of the room, snatching up some of the documents she had brought into the room. Once she was gone, the boy simply sighed, glancing back down at the cake. Well, best not let it go to waste. He sat himself down, skimming over the letter a few more times. Who in the world could it be?

A week went by, and he had forgotten about the letter and cake. But they, apparently, did now forget about him.

“Another?” he blushed down at the box on the ground. He didn’t even need to look inside to know what it was. Hop looked around, hoping to find a sign of somebody around the entrance to the lab. Nothing but Rookidees. He sighed, kneeling down to pick up the gift. I don’t even know if Lee gets stuff like this, he thought to himself, pulling the simple envelope up to investigate. Maybe they left a clue this time…

But, just like before, there was no discernable way to figure out the identity of the mysterious benefactor. He opted to hide from Sonia’s teasing, hiding himself up in one of the numerous study rooms that the main laboratory had to offer. The letter was similar to before; beautifully crafted words of admiration, noting the many qualities of the assistant that he hardly noticed himself. He could note, though, a strange familiarity in the writing. ‘I had never known shame until I saw myself in your teary eyes.’ So obviously they knew each other - unless this was all metaphorical. Hop was never good at metaphorical writing. But Hop didn’t exactly interact with a lot of people, these days. He’d occasionally get to hang out with Gloria if she had time off; maybe it was her? He shook his head at that. The girl wouldn’t know bashful if it hit her in the face. A shy confession like this definitely wasn’t her style. Maybe Marnie. He hoped not. They never really spoke to each other, even during the gym challenge, but that was mainly because Hop wasn’t sure if he was more scared of her or her brother. But fancy homemade cakes didn’t really fit her style, either, so that was out. Who else did he know?

Not really anybody else. He sighed, skimming through the letter a few times more before resigning to just eat the cake and return to work. It was, unfortunately, amazingly delicious. Better than even the fancy cakes up in Wyndon. Whoever this person was, they really knew how to bake; Hop just wished he could finally figure it out so he could thank them or something. Do you even thank secret admirers? How does all this stuff work out? Definitely too much for him to figure out.

Four weeks later, and it became an unfortunate addition to his routine. Friday would roll around, and Hop would eagerly rush through his work without even noticing. Sometimes Sonia would comment, other times, she’d just wink and saunter off. Hop tried not to think about it too much - anticipation really did get annoying, even for him - so he sought to busy his mind with work until the time came upon him.

The clock ticked on, and so did the day. Before he knew it, the sun was setting, the whistle of the tea kettle from the kitchen signalling the end of his shift. Sonia called him over to join her for some tea, usually her way of saying thanks for all his hard work. He had barely walked into the room when Sonia leaned onto the kitchen table, curious eyes searching for some juicy gossip from his own golden irises.

“So, I noticed that we didn’t get any… special deliveries today.”

Hop blinked.

“Huh, so that’s what felt off today,” he tried to say, hoping that he could save face just a little bit.

“So? Does that mean that you’ve figured out who they are?”

The teenage boy grimaced, running a hand across the nape of his neck. It was a little sore today; maybe he slept wrong?

“Uh, well, uh… not really.”

“Huh?” Sonia slapped the table. Oh no, it’s happening - she’s getting worked up over something that doesn’t involve her again. “You’re serious?! Your secret lover didn’t send you a gift today and you don’t know why?!”

“W-well, th-they’re, uh, not really, um - we’re not -”

“Hop this is serious!” she lunged for him, grabbing his shoulders. “This person has faithfully been leaving you sweet gifts every Friday for over a month, now, and just magically stops doing it out of nowhere?!”

“Maybe… they forgot?”

“TRUE LOVE DOESN’T FORGET, HOP!”

This lady really needs to lay off the chick-flicks. But Hop had learned the hard way never to point out stuff like that when Sonia was in one of her manic moods.

“S-sure it doesn’t…” he tried not to sound creeped out.

Sonia sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she sent him a sassy pout.

“I’ve seen this in a show once - the person with unrequited feelings reaches out in their own way to their crush, but then something bad happens to them, so the crush has to be the one to help them.”

“I don’t think that’s what happens in real life -” Sonia shot him another look and he promptly shut up.

“Yes, of course!” she smiled, ignoring Hop’s previous comment entirely. “You have to find out who your secret admirer is quickly or else something terrible might happen to them - if it already hasn’t! Maybe they’ve been hit by a car! Or were kidnapped! Or are terminally ill and only your love can save them!”

“How are you a nationally-acclaimed pokemon professor?” he muttered under his breath.

“It’s settled then - here’s your mission, Assistant Hop! Figure out who can bake a cake like that, and you’ll find your true love! Easy, right?”

Hop nodded, not really understanding what she was saying, but was desperate enough to just lie to escape her nonsense. She was probably just overexaggerating like always, but he also didn’t want this mysterious person to be hurt. Maybe something did happen to interrupt the once steady flow of kind words and delicious foods? And thus began his search.

As terrible as it felt, the first person Hop went to was Leon. His big brother no doubt had handled situations like this before, so Hop swallowed his pride and approached his brother on the subject. Once he finally got Leon to stop laughing, he explained the whole situation from start to finish.

“Well,” Leon stroked his chin, at least pretending to seem semi-serious, “I don’t think I personally know any high-caliber bakers. But if I’m remembering things correctly, I think Opal is said to have legendary baking skills that practically nobody can compare to.”

Hop grimaced, but Leon quickly waved his hands before his brother full-on threw up everywhere at the thought of Opal being his secret admirer.

“No, no, no! I’m not saying she’s the one sending them - I’m just wondering if she taught the person who’s sending them.”

Hop leaned back a bit, trying to think. He didn’t really know too much about Ms. Opal (other than that she was an eccentric rich lady at an unknown age who seems to enjoy dressing people in bright shades of pink). But if there was a chance that she knew the identity of his mysterious benefactor, then he was willing to investigate a bit further. He opened his mouth to thank his brother, but a dark scowl suddenly flashed over his features. Leon blinked.

“Uh… everything alright there?”

“I just remembered,” Hop growled, “that if I want to even get close to Opal, then I’ll have to see that jerk again.”

“Who, Bede? Like I’ve said a thousand times, don’t worry too much about him. I hear he’s really mellowed out these days. Maybe all that pink finally seeped into his brain.”

Hop scoffed, but otherwise kept all his venomous comments at bay. He thanked his brother for the help and hurried out the door, making his way towards Ballonlea.

Ballonlea was always a difficult place to get to. A big contributor to that issue was due to Glimtangle Forest, which was basically a mystical maze that had posed as a major threat to countless gym challengers as well as general travellers for years. This is why most people opt for a flying taxi whenever they need to get to the city, but even then, some mystical fairy nonsense occasionally will cause a detour for whatever poor soul happened to be flying over the forest. Thankfully for Hop, this wasn’t the case, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nervously twiddling his thumbs at the apprehension of having to navigate that nonsensical forest when in such a hurry.

He jumped out of the taxi, offering a berry to the Corviknight before making his normal dash for one of the most ornate buildings in the quaint town. It wasn’t hard to find Ms. Opal’s house when it was so amazingly decorated - it was borderline gaudy with the amount of pinks and purples passionately strewn about the house’s complex design. He wasted no time, bounding up the fancy front steps, grabbing the old-fashioned door knocker, and knocked. A few breaths passed him by as he shoved his sweaty hands into his pockets. What was he even nervous for?

After a couple of moments, the door opened, revealing the ever intimidating Ms. Opal, the now retired fairy-type gym leader of Ballonlea.

“Well, if this isn’t a… pleasant surprise,” she smirked, seeming almost deviously pleased in the teen’s awkwardness. “Running errands for the professor today, hm?”

“A-actually, I, um….” Hop took a deep breath and gathered his resolve. “I’m actually here to ask you something.”

She nodded, tapping the ground a couple times with her cane.

“Of course you are. Come inside, then.”

Before the assistant could protest, the elderly woman was already shuffling away deeper into the depths of the house. Hop could only sigh as he followed behind her. It was painfully frustrating; she took tiny steps and dragged her feet along the somehow pristine wooden floors, so Hop had to take the world’s slowest pace at the constant protest of his long legs. But over the course of a year, he’d managed to attain some semblance of calm, deciding that it would be best if he didn’t complain too much around the person he was seeking assistance from. Once he got the information he wanted, he could run around to his little heart’s content.

Eventually, Ms. Opal halted just before a beautiful white staircase, spiraling all the way up into the rather tall ceiling above.

“So, tell me,” she mused through sharp, invasive eyes, “what was it you were hoping to ask of me?”

“I… was curious to know if, um… Well, uh… if you happened to have any knowledge in baking. L-like, y’know, a cake, or something…”

Opal’s eyebrows twitched upwards just a centimeter. She brought a hand to her chin in dramatic thought.

“In my earlier days, I was quite proficient at it. But I don’t bake nearly as much as I used to.”

“Then… is there, um, a chance that you might have taught someone how to bake like you?”

She paused, staring intently at the boy with an amused expression. Hop was beginning to wonder if he really wanted the answer to this question. Before he could make up his mind to flee, she let out a small chuckle.

“Ah, but of course. My protege has been trained in everything I know how to teach. Head up these stairs and you’ll find your secret admirer.”

A stone of dread sank into the depths of his gut. Maybe Ms. Opal had more apprentices? It definitely couldn’t be the person he was thinking it was, right? No, that would be silly - impossible, even. But there seemed to be no turning back now. Hop swallowed his fears and slowly began his way up the stairs, trying to ignore the apprehensions racing through his fingertips.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Bede rolled onto his other side, desperate to find a position that made existence a little less agonizing. A dreadful fever had overtaken his body, unrelenting in its rage for the past four days, leaving the normally active youth bedridden the entire time. Hatterene was on nursing duty, constantly checking her trainer’s temperature and switching out his face towel in an attempt to ease the fever. Sylveon was stubbornly nestled under the covers, desperate to get as close to his body as physically possible. Not like Bede could really scold it even if he wanted to; he didn’t want to waste his energy on pointless yelling. So, he reluctantly stayed in bed, allowing his devoted pokemon to care for him while he waited for his body to recover. But a knock on the door earned a frustrated grown from him.

“What?” he hissed, trying to speak through a throat chalked full of phlegm. Hatterene nudged his shoulder, reminding him to watch his emotions. She was a sensitive thing, that Hatterene. Bede sat up, watching the door open and fully expecting to get an earful from that old woman again. So it’s safe to say that his heart entirely stopped when he saw Hop sheepishly shuffle in, wringing his hands nervously before his chest.

This… this couldn’t really be happening, right? No - he must be dreaming. Yes, that’s it. This was just a fever-induced nightmare. Bede would wake up in a moment’s notice and be in his bed once more, alone with only the company of his pokemon to rely on, just like always. Just like always. Just like always.

“Um…” Hop kept his eyes on the ground, brows knitted tightly together. Bede wasn’t sure if the boy was frustrated, sad, or confused. It all just looked like a blur of emotions constantly shifting across the assistant’s tan face. “... It’s… been a while.”

Bede opened his mouth with full intent to say words, but none dared to come to fruition. So he closed his mouth, pushing his aching body up to his elbows. How pathetic he felt right now, sick in bed with this person who confused him so annoying bad being unable to look at him. Maybe it would be best if Hop just left. At least then Bede would be familiar with the feelings in his chest. He didn’t know what he was feeling right now.

“So…” Hop cleared his throat, attempting to meet Bede’s eyes, but quickly looked off to the side. “I… I just wanted to ask if… if you’re… um…”

The light-haired boy felt a bead of sweat tumble down his brow. Surely it was from the heat of the fever, right? No way was he this nervous. No, no, Bede always kept his cool. Especially when beign confronted by the person he sort of kinda maybe almost possibly liked. Not that he did, anyway. Because that would be stupid. And Bede definitely wasn’t stupid. Right?

Hop sucked in a sharp breath of air, balling his hands into fists as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you the person who’s been sending me those gifts?” he threw the words out, trying to ignore his own flurry of conflicting emotions going through him at the moment. He didn’t know how to feel about either possible answer. Could he be happy with either one?

The intensity in the air rose a few degrees, making every breath laborious. Bede glanced towards Hatterene for some sort of support - he didn’t really know why he did. She smiled back at him, cooing a few unintelligible sounds.

Well, by the gym leader’s logic, if Hop was destined to abandon him like everybody else, then it really didn’t matter if he knew the truth, then, right? It didn’t matter of Hop found out this terribly dreadful secret Bede’s been carrying with him for over a year. According to the assistant, Bede was still Bede. Cold. Egotistical. Conniving. After everything that had happened, it was ridiculous to hope that Hop could ever forgive Bede, and nobody could blame him. And even if he could, it wouldn’t last. No, Bede would surely find some way to screw things up, or wouldn’t be enough to make Hop happy in any condition. Hop would leave, and eventually Ms. Opal will leave, just like the chairman and his foster parents and his parents that never came back and

“So what if I am?” the words hissed past his lips, far more venomous than he meant. Oh well. It didn’t matter. The outcome would be the same, anyways.

Hop flinched back a bit at the sharpness of the other boy’s words, but his conflicted expression remained stable. Once he collected himself, he took another deep breath. Slower, this time, as if to savor the taste of oxygen flowing through his lungs.

“Why?”

A painfully simple question. Remarkably, it was also one Bede hadn’t really expected. He really should have thought this through.

Why did he bake those cakes? Why did he write those letters? Why did he send them to Hop? Why did he feel this way? Why, why, why?

It eventually became obvious that Hop wasn’t going to hear a response. Bede had opted to glaring holes into his duvet, fingers tangling themselves within the fluffy pink fabric. Ah, pink, the color of so many things: sweetness, innocent attraction, adoration, and - evidently - embarrassment. There was no way to hide such a shade from the plush of his cheeks. How bothersome.

“... Did you really mean what you said in those letters?”

Bede looked back over at Hop for the briefest of moments, and immediately wished that he hadn’t. Much confliction remained, but there was something else there, now, amid the tempest of clashing feelings depicted on the teen’s face. Perhaps Bede really was having a fever dream. No way there was actually a bit of hopefulness in Hop’s eyes.

Maybe that’s what pulled out a strange sentence from Bede’s mouth.

“Every word.”

Hop shied his gaze away, seeming a bit more bashful as he rubbed the nape of his neck. Now Bede was really confident that he was the color of embarrassment. Maybe a bit too red though. The assistant stuttered an awkward laugh, trying to ease the thickness of the air while Bede shifted a bit more upright. Sylveon didn’t appreciate that motion, evidently, and crawled onto it’s trainer’s lap. Instinctively, Bede ran his fingers through the creature’s fur, desperate to distract himself from his non-fever related warmth. He looked back over to Hop, who seemed to still be processing the gravity of those words, and another sentence slipped out without Bede’s permission.

“Are you going to leave?”

Hop met his gaze, surprised.

“What?”

Bede took a small breath, losing just the smallest smidge of confidence in his words as he took the initiative to repeat them.

“... I said, are you going to leave?”

“Do you want me to?”

Here it was. The moment he had been unknowingly dreading. If he says yes, then Hop will no doubt walk away forever, and Bede would be back in his element of loneliness. Or, he says no, and takes a risk he never expected to take willingly. He would be clueless, a Magicarp out of water, left with nothing to keep himself steady but the hope that Hop would guide him through the confusion. Could he really take that chance?

“... No.”

Bede couldn’t keep his eyes on Hop. This was it, the deepest layer of his person; everything he was had been revealed in only a handful of words, leaving nothing but a fearful child afraid of being left behind by the people he loved. And now Hop could see the truth behind Bede’s every action and every word. This was blind faith in its simplest form, the gym leader unsure of what exactly he was hoping for.

“Okay.”

His eyes shot back up, genuine surprise (and a tinge of fear) written all over his flustered face. Hop stared back at him, hands shoved deep in his pockets with a curious expression on his face. What could that guy be thinking when he stared at Bede so intently?

“O-okay? Okay… what?” Bede’s voice died down syllable by syllable, reduced to nothing but a faint whisper by the end of it. Hop gave a timid smile. Perhaps a bit afraid, but a little hopeful, still. Such a strange expression on such a tender face.

“I’ll stay.”

30 notes · View notes

callboxkat · 4 years

Text

A Little Nightmare (part 6)

Author’s note: My puppy was kind enough to let me write today! Sorry about the wait, and thank you all for your patience. :) I hope you enjoy, and more importantly, that you’re all staying safe. <3

Warnings: fear, death mention, mentions of being eaten, illness and injury, referenced drowning, pressuring people into things, food mention, censored swearing, arguing, rat/mouse mention, a dog

Word count: 3530

Infinitesimal Masterpost!

...

Joan opened up the cabinet beside the microwave, their eyes scanning its contents, searching for the small red and black coffee tin that should have been inside. They frowned, moving aside a few spice canisters. The tin wasn’t there, as far as they could tell. Where was it?

They stepped back, eyebrows drawing together, and opened the neighboring cabinet door. Perhaps they had misremembered where they had last put the coffee? They didn’t drink it much, so that was a reasonable possibility. They hoped they weren’t out. It had been Nunya’s one request, the one thing she claimed might make her forgive them for their blunder with the dog.

That had been pretty dumb of them, Joan thought, taking their eyes off of Marco long enough for him to get to Nunya’s door. They should have realized that she would be nervous about a dog sniffing around, even if he couldn’t get into the room.

They sighed, moving on to the next cabinet.

…

With Joan gone, Remy turned back to her plate of food. She picked up the strawberry and took a bite, closing her eyes with a soft, pleased hum at the sweet, juicy taste. She very much liked the strawberries—she didn’t exactly get them often, surprise surprise, given that most humans she’d encountered didn’t just leave fresh fruit lying around for littles to find. Not that she was going to show Joan just how glad she was to have them, but she would take the fruit.

Perks of almost dying and being caught by a human, she supposed.

She paused to wipe the juice off of her chin, glanced over at the rest of the strawberries on the plate, and decided she didn’t have to try to make this one last. She finished off that strawberry, leaves and all (it was small, stop judging her) and reached for another. She dragged it towards her, wincing at the strain on her chest, and took a bite. She slowed down a bit at this point, not wanting to get full too fast. She wanted to savor it, and actually taste her food. Who knew when the next time she’d get strawberries could be?

Remy was about a quarter of the way finished with the berry when the bedroom door opened, causing her to jump. She turned around to see Joan poking their head in the door with a guilty expression. She squinted, wondering what this was about.

“Um… hey. I’m sorry, but turns out I don’t have any coffee after all. I must have run out and forgot. I can get some, though, if you want? It shouldn’t take long.”

Remy looked at them for a moment, searching, then slowly nodded. Late coffee was better than no coffee, obviously, assuming that that was really what Joan was going to do.

“Maybe you can take a nap while I’m gone? Marco’ll be in my room the whole time.”

Remy’s expression soured at the mention of the dog. Joan seemed to be waiting for an answer, though, so she just said, “Yeah. Maybe.”

Joan nodded, glancing away, then retreated. The door closed with a soft click.

Once she was sure they were gone, Remy went back to her food, still ignoring the peanuts and crackers that Joan had brought her along with the strawberries. She had those all the time, at least comparatively. While she was accustomed to often having trouble finding any kind of food, if she had options, she was going with the fruit, thanks.

She finished about half of the second strawberry, then got to her feet, having no plans to take a nap like the human had suggested. Sure, she was still tired, her chest throbbed, her headache had only slightly let up, and her nose was starting to feel stuffy; but now would be a good time to go exploring again, with less chance of the human interrupting. There might be something she had missed the night before.

She made herself a mental map of the room, taking note of any potential escape routes: outlet covers, the vent cover that she might be able to squeeze through, the door, maybe the window; as well as hiding spots: the nightstand, the bed, the closet, and the space behind the door when it was open. She wished it wasn’t such a plain room. More hiding spots would be nice.

Still no red flags that she could find. In this room, anyway. At one point, she heard the tapping of claws in the neighboring room as the dog walked around. That was a pretty big red flag, especially since she had no guarantees that it really couldn’t get to her. But mostly, she focused on exploring this room.

Just when she was starting to consider calling it quits, so that she’d be back in the blanket when Joan returned, she found it.

A seam, so perfectly fitted that she nearly missed it, in the wall under the bed. Remy brushed her fingers along it, frowning, discovering that it made a door-like shape. A distinctly her-sized door-like shape.

She hesitated, then shook her head. Why should she be nervous? What did she expect to find inside, a booby trap like some Indiana Jones movie? Ridiculous. The worst thing she was likely to find was, like, a giant rat. Or maybe a skeleton.

Remy’s mouth thinned.

But probably nothing. Nothing was the most likely answer.

With that thought, she hooked her fingertips in the seam and pulled. It took her some effort, probably because it was stuck and definitely not because she was so weak; but then it gave, and the door swung open. It was cleverly only partially cut on one side so as to allow the movement but not let the door fall open entirely. She’d luckily pulled on the correct side. It would have been embarrassing, to be standing there tugging on the wrong side of the door for who knew how long.

Remy glanced behind her, towards the room at large, as if to make sure Joan hadn’t returned, then turned back to her find.

“Hello?” she awkwardly whisper-called, feeling very stupid but also apprehensive. “Is, uh, is there anybody in there?”

She didn’t get an answer, unsurprisingly—even if there really were other littles in the house, they could be practically anywhere, and she was unwilling to raise her voice. She poked her head in the wall, hoping for some clues.

The tunnel within clearly hadn’t been used in some time, she realized with a sinking heart, probably at least a year if not more. There was dust on the floor, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she even saw a couple of dead insects lying on the ground about a foot down the tunnel.

Remy swallowed and stepped back.

So… no littles, then. At least, no littles recently. Perhaps they had moved out because of the dog. That would certainly make sense.

Of course, it would also make sense that they had been eaten by the dog, or killed by Joan or some other human, or had had some other horrible thing befall them; but Remy was trying to think positively, here.

She stepped back, taking a breath, and shut the door. It blended nearly seamlessly with the wall once more.

Did she want to stay, after finding this? What if something had happened to those littles, and it had had to do with Joan? What if this was her one warning to get out while she could?

She put one arm around herself and rubbed her sore head with the other hand. She swore, conflicted.

If she stayed, she would be taking the risk that this really was a clue to some horrible thing that Joan was hiding. But if she left, she would definitely be putting her life at risk, when there might well be a perfectly reasonable and non-nefarious explanation for there to be abandoned tunnels in the walls.

She debated for a long moment, and eventually, she decided to continue to stay, for now. Leaving posed a big risk, especially since she wouldn’t even be able to get back to her supplies and still had nowhere to call home, not to mention her… current situation.

She made her way back to the blanket, glancing several times towards the hidden door along the way. She sat down there, hugged the baggie of peas to her chest, and waited.

Nearly two hours had passed in total, judging by the movement of the shadows in the room, by the time Joan returned. Remy was starting to get antsy. She was promised coffee, and she was not known for being patient. Granted, she was barely known at all, but no one who did know her would call her patient.

She turned as soon as she heard the knock on the door, opening her mouth to ask where exactly they had been for so long; but when they actually came in, she broke off, her mouth beginning to water.

She recognized the rich aroma as soon as the door opened, tickling her nose tantalizingly from across the room. She sat up, unable to help the thrum of anticipation within her.

Joan poked their head in, smiling and carrying a tray laden with goodies that Remy’s eyes immediately zeroed in on. “I’m back!” they greeted, “and I’ve got something for you.”

Remy pushed off the baggie of frozen peas—well, they weren’t quite frozen anymore—as Joan approached. The human stopped about a foot away and went to set down the array, then paused. They picked up the shot glass filled with dark brown liquid and took a sip from it, probably to demonstrate that it was safe. Remy just watched, shifting where she sat like a kid trying to contain her excitement.

Joan lowered themself to the floor and set down the tray in front of her, then scooted back a couple of feet to give her space. The tray they left behind was laden with a couple of sugar cubes, two shot glasses, several little bowls made of tin foil, plus some extra unshaped foil, and even what looked like a small cookie. The dark brown liquid in the first shot glass was obviously the coffee, while the other must have been the milk. Almond milk, she remembered Joan mentioning it was. She didn’t know what exactly that was—almonds were a nut, weren’t they?—but she didn’t ask. She had her coffee, finally. That was all she cared about.

A bit of steam curled lazily from the first shot glass. Hot coffee? She knew coffee was usually supposed to be served hot, or at least, not room temperature; but she’d never actually had hot coffee before. She glanced up at Joan, then slowly approached. She paused, then poked one finger into the coffee to test the temperature. It didn’t seem too hot, so she took a tiny sip. It was bitter, but in a familiar, pleasant way; and it warmed her insides. She could tell it was freshly made, too, which was not exactly usual for her caffeinated treats.

“You like it?” Joan asked, seeming hesitant.

“Hmm,” Remy hummed, too pleased to bother with a sarcastic comment. She looked at the rest of the tray’s contents, then picked up one of the clumsily folded aluminum foil cups and used it to scoop out some more of the coffee, filling it about three quarters of the way. After a pause, she filled the rest up with almond milk. She took a sip, belatedly realizing that she hadn’t seen Joan try the milk. But it seemed okay.

Coffee and milk. Not bad, actually.

She finished her first cup and went to refill it. She had already decided that hot coffee was vastly superior to the room temperature kind. This must have been what “good coffee” meant. She felt briefly gratified that she had insisted upon the good kind.

Meanwhile, Joan was watching, but totally pretending not to be.

She glanced over at them as she measured out the coffee, milk, and sugar ratio she wanted to try next. “What took you so long, anyway, girl?” Don’t get her wrong—she sure as heck wasn’t complaining about the extra investigation time, since it would have been rather… ah, awkward to explain what she was doing if they’d walked in in the middle of it; but she had thought that humans were faster than that at getting around. Her tone was slightly accusatory, suspicious about what they could have been up to, but it was mellowed slightly by her satisfaction at finally getting her caffeinated nectar of the gods. A bit of her nerves might have shown in her voice, which sucked; but Joan, thankfully, either didn’t notice or pretended not to.

“Oh—sorry, I had to stop upstairs for a minute. One of my tenants emailed about a leaky faucet. I had to take care of it. And then I had some trouble figuring out how to make some cups for you….”

“…Tenants?” Remy echoed, not recognizing the word.

“Yeah. I own the building we’re in. I rent most of it to other people, they pay me for the space, and I take care of the building.”

Remy blinked. So, this wasn’t just a house, after all—it was an apartment building. Now that she paid attention, she thought she could hear something above them, maybe someone walking around, and a television or something playing. She hadn’t noticed before. Something that she felt was more than justified in her case.

More importantly, though…. “Are you going to try to make me “pay” too?” she asked suspiciously. “For, like, taking up space here, or whatever?” Maybe that explained the empty tunnels…. The littles hadn’t been able to pay whatever Joan’s price was. And now the human was trying to trick her into taking their place.

“What? No—no, that’s a different thing. You don’t owe me anything. I promise.” They frowned, seeming upset.

“Hm.” Remy would hold them to that promise.

Joan stayed silent until Remy went back for her third cup.

“You know,” they ventured quietly, making her pause, “I really do think you’d like Marco if you met him.”

Remy sent them a sideways glance, scooping the coffee into her cup. Yeah, I’m sure I’d have a great time getting eaten by that mutt.

“He’s really sweet,” they continued. “Not threatening at all.”

Remy crumbled a few grains of sugar off of one of the cubes and sprinkled them in. Once they dissolved, she took a small sip, glancing once in Joan’s direction, skeptical of their claims. She took another sip of coffee and firmly directed her small, satisfied look at the cup. If only Joan wasn’t here, annoying her.

“Maybe if you gave him a chance, you’d see you don’t have to be scared.”

Remy still pretended not to hear them, focused on her coffee.

Joan sighed.

Remy tapped her fingers on the sides of the cup. “How long have you had that thing, anyway?”

“What?”

“The dog.”

“Oh. About two years now.”

She took a contemplative sip of her drink. That timeline did check out with how long the tunnel appeared to have been empty. So, the dog probably had had something to do with it. Which wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was nice to have her suspicions confirmed.

“And he’s never, like, caught anything, right?”

Joan had perked up, apparently thinking she was considering their offer. “No, never. I was actually kind of afraid he might be vision impaired or something when I first got him, he was so chill around birds and stuff. Turns out he’s just like that, though.”

“And what about… uh, mice? Or, like, rats, I guess.”

Joan’s eyes shifted to her tail, which twitched self-consciously. “No, nothing like that.”

“Have you ever even had mice around him? How would you know if you’ve never had mice?”

Joan looked sheepish. “Well… we used to have mice, I think. I put out some traps, but I never caught any. I think they’re gone, now, though. I haven’t seen any sign of them in a few years.”

Remy mulled that answer over for a moment, and the tone in which it was said. They hadn’t avoided the question, and it sure didn’t seem like they were hiding anything in it. She didn’t exactly like that they’d put out mouse traps to try to catch littles, but it seemed that they didn’t know that they weren’t actually mice. The answer still didn’t tell her what she needed to know, however, and it was always possible she was missing something. Focusing was not her strong suit at the moment, and she’d only known this person for a day—not to mention that she hadn’t ever even spoken to a human before now, and hadn’t planned to. She was no psychic, or expert on how to read humans. She was just doing her best.

The pause was lengthening, so Joan spoke up. “He really is very sweet. He’s harmless.” They seemed to know they were pushing it, but they still asked, “Would it really so bad, to just see him, so you could see for yourself?”

Remy took a long sip of coffee. She didn’t want Joan getting ahead of themself just because she was asking questions. “Nah, girl. Pass.”

…

Joan wilted a bit at her flat, negative response, but they tried not to be too disappointed. They tried to put themself in her shoes (or boots, technically). They tried to picture what it would be like to face a dog like Marco at her size. They supposed they might be a bit intimidated by a corgi the size of a house, even if he was a sweetheart. Especially if they hadn’t known that he was a sweetheart. Corgi or not. Maybe it was a bit cruel of them, trying to push her into this, despite how much they felt that it would put her at ease to know what kind of dog was “lurking” outside.

They dropped the topic for the time being, watching her enjoy her coffee. As she went back for a fourth and then fifth cup, Joan started to wonder where she was putting it all. Did she have a coffee-loving black hole for a stomach? Perhaps it was good that they’d gotten her decaf coffee. They’d debated for a while at the store, wondering if caffeine was the best idea for someone in her condition. They’d also grabbed some regular coffee, too, just in case; but they’d made her decaf for now. If she somehow ended up staying longer and wanted regular coffee, they had it.

“So...” Nunya said, breaking Joan out of their thoughts, “what happens when your absolutely flawless plan fails?”

Oh. She just wanted to criticize them some more.

“It’s not like he’ll be near you. I’ll have him on a short leash.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah,” they said. “I told you. I won’t let him near you if you don’t want him to be. Definitely not until you’re comfortable with it. And if that never happens, it never does.”

“Uh-huh. Girl, you said you want me to meet him. How do you meet someone and not get close to them?”

“Just see him, really. You don’t even know what he looks like. Would it really hurt just to see him?” From the sound of it, Nunya had had a very difficult time sleeping the night before, imagining their enormous, vicious, bloodthirsty dog coming after her. Seeing the fluffy, adorably harmless reality might reassure her and make her stay that much easier. She wasn’t going to get better if she didn’t feel safe enough to rest.

…

Remy frowned down at her cup. Part of the reason she was drinking so much was so that the caffeine would perk her up and make it easier to think clearly, but it didn’t seem to be working. Her headache and head fog were still overpowering. She stifled a cough, sniffling, and put the cup down.

Joan was still waiting for her answer. Well, she’d already answered, like, a bunch of times, even if most of them hadn’t technically been verbal; and it shouldn’t have taken a genius to get the hint. But that wasn’t good enough for them, apparently.

She should have just reiterated a flat “hell f*cking no” and clammed up on the topic, but she paused.

She thought of the empty tunnels again.

A part of her felt curious—okay, maybe obligated was a better word—to find out what had happened to their builders. But was it even worth the risk, when, if Joan was to be trusted, she was leaving the next afternoon?

“Maybe you can think on it?” Joan asked.

Remy closed her eyes, resigned. “Fine,” she huffed.

“Fine… you’ll think about it?”

“Fine, I’ll do it. But you, ma’am, had better make damn f*cking sure that that mutt of yours can’t reach me.”

Joan’s shoulders loosened, and they sent her a relieved if uncertain smile. “Well, I do have an idea… but I’m not sure how much you’ll like it.”

64 notes · View notes

amandlas · 4 years

Text

right at the borderline is where i'm gonna wait

tfota | jude x cardan, post-reconciliation, nsfw, the idiots get biblical. seriously. (ao3)

[give or take three years after qon. title from “meet me halfway” by black eyed peas]

The apple had been shiny. Decadent in gold, everything about it inhuman.

Jude inspected it with a slithering memory of it stuffing her nose, trickling down her cheeks. Back when Valerian was alive and planned to make a fool of her. How could something so beautifully venomous appear so harmless?

She was uncomfortably reminded of her twin sister. To shake away the thought she spoke.

“An apple doomed humanity.”

Cardan lifted a brow. His tail swept at his back, causing a small hissing noise. They were done with food, lounging at the table close and carefree, political matters long dealt with.

Jude scrunched her brows, trying to remember. “In some religions of mortals, the first man and woman were kicked out of heaven for eating an apple. Her, specifically.”

“Really?” he asked, intrigued.

She nodded. “Adam and Eve. They were meant to live in the garden of Eden but a devilish snake charmed Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.” She grabbed the faerie apple, lifted it for closer inspection. She could smell its sickly sweetness. “Then she convinced Adam to do the same.”

His face was full of amusement. “A snake.”

“A snake.” Jude placed the apple back on the platter. There was more, she knew there was, but her time in the mortal world was long past. “The devil in disguise, actually.”

He nodded as if in understanding. “Is that your creation?”

Jude felt stunned by the use of ‘your’. She shifted in her seat, moving her right leg so it was no longer in contact with his. This subject was bringing back memories forgotten or repressed for more than a decade. Crosses. Stars. Going to school, seeing churches on the way there through the car window. Thick books hidden in a drawer in every hotel room. Like anything mortal, religion had been ruined by Elfhame even if the Duartes had never been particularly devout. She found herself unable to move forward from this yet wanting to run away.

“Religion was never a strong verse of mine. Especially considering the age I came here.” The thought drifted off into silence. It was all she could say. Cardan had the decency to hold her gaze, to allow her this vulnerability without pity.

Her eyebrows scrunched again. “It must all sounds so…absurd to you.” She had to look away.

Cardan remained silent, his tail quiet at his back. He grabbed the apple and gave it a hard bite. Through juicy chunks he bid her, “What happened to them?”

For a handful of days, she told him here and there. Not much but the mere basics. Jude herself didn’t recall too well. She remembered the tale through Cardan. He asked, more intrigued than was to be expected, either for her favor or a genuine curiosity over human beliefs. She even managed to stop by a human library during a visit to Vivi’s, where she found and printed out a picture from the internet to show her husband. He saw a drawing of two naked people ambling by bushes of green and red. They had leaves between their legs and expressions of wonder. Of children. Jude still couldn’t pinpoint how to feel. It settled weird in her stomach, as she held up the tiny print out and Cardan squinted with an unreadable expression. To think that this was her beginnings. How faeries must’ve seen them. Standing in the shoes of an outsider, it made her feel more human than she felt in a long time.

She thought the subject to be blessedly forgotten, until a few days later.

Cardan was guiding her with hands over her eyes. The guards were called away, instructed not to interrupt them. Jude felt the pounding of her own heart up to her ears. She could sense and hear grass under her feet, smell leaves and moss. The place they were going to was warm.

“Why is it growing quieter?”

Cardan didn’t falter. “We’re moving deeper into the forest is why.”

“Will we run into wild animals? I remember studying the mountain lions-”

His chuckle cut her off. “No lions, Lady Devout Student. I found this place not too long ago, in the years prior to my ascension to the throne. It is quiet and secluded.” There was a pause. He stopped both in their tracks. “I’ll admit it was lonely. I was often lonely. At least here, the view was better than my chambers at Hollow Hall.”

Cardan removed his hands.

Jude huffed in a breath. She couldn’t appreciate being led blindly through the woods, but the sight before her took the words away.

It was a small bit of everything a human would expect of a fairytale. A nook in the woods, some place forgotten by the maps. There was an ample space surrounded by greenery. She could only describe it as a concealed meadow. The trees formed in a natural alcove, hugging the space into intimacy. Even the thin slices of sunlight creeping through leaves looked magical. And flowers. Those were everywhere. Their smell filled her nose, enticing like honey.

“There,” Cardan pointed.

It was an apple tree. Small and with only a few golden apples dangling from its branches. She did not know what to make of the metaphor.

“It’s…bewitching,” she told him.

He walked over to the tree. Pried a fruit off it. “I never showed this place to anyone.”

That simple sentence reached her heart. He walked over back to her.

“I was reminded of this place,” he began, “when you first told me the mortal creation story.”

Ah. Everything was clicking. Jude took a deep breath, inhaling with it the scent of the apple. “The garden of Eden was meant to be heavenly.” She smirked at him, lifting a brow. “This is presumptuous of you.”

His hand found her chin. “Presumptuous it may be. Conceited, even. Poetic, hopefully?”

It was endearing to see him this way. To allow him to care. She stepped closer, his loose linen white shirt brushing hers. She didn’t have a dramatic black coat over hers but that was attributed to his taste and her lack thereof. The black tint around his eyes was perfect.

“Am I supposed to fall hopeless to your faerie charms?” She stepped even closer, so close she pretended to clean lint off his coat.

His free hand fell to her hip. “Are they successful?”

She scoffed. “You fell for my foolish mortal wiles. Anything should be possible.”

With the hand holding the apple, he brushed some strands of hair out of her face. “Here I am, attempting to be elegiac.” He leaned down and planted a soft, deep kiss on her lips.

Jude allowed her eyes to close. She let herself be vulnerable, allowed him to lead. He kissed her again, still slow as if afraid she would turn and leave. When they pulled apart he was breathing heavy. Then he licked the skin of the apple, not quite biting it, while maintaining eye contact.

Her breathing hitched.

“Never have I been the doted student so correct me if I'm wrong.” His lips met her cheek, then the other. “I recall that Adam and Eve had but two rules.”

“Rules?”

He pulled back and rolled his eyes. “Expectations.”

Jude let out a laugh. “You’ve become a better student.” He’d become a better lots of things. “What rules?”

His one hand still gripped her waist. “The first was not to eat the apple. Which,” he threw his golden apple in the air and caught it again, “they failed.” He said it with a certain finality that fell ill on her belly.

Her eyes fell directly on the faerie fruit in his hand. It all suddenly swirled around in her head. Her humanity. The memory of being helplessly under its spell that school afternoon, and the memory of desiring more. How at that moment, at the raw experience of eating the single fruit she lost semblance of herself, her basest instinct of survival. It pushed her to act against her own self-interest, to destroy herself. Succulent and blissful it had been, but the cost of it was the fall. A beautiful fall, but a fall nonetheless.

She felt too close to Eve at that moment. A shudder ran down her body. Eve, the first mother, who many pointed to as the broken woman who cursed humankind. The single bite that ruined the world.

Cardan could tell she got lost in her head. He lowered his hand and brought her eyes to his. He demanded all her attention.

“I don't believe you are foolish.” He whispered it like a caress. “I never have.” He paused, gathering his thoughts and granting her the same courtesy. “My own prejudice blinded me, as yours did me equally.”

“You thought me an insect for so long.”

“And you thought me a monster.”

Some days it was hard to convince herself that either of them was wrong.

He let the fruit fall from his hand so he could cup her face fully.

“Adam and Eve are a whimsical tale but I would not call anyone naive for believing in it. Not you, if you did, or any other mortal. From a certain light it’s...innocent. Sweet.”

Jude scoffed, her heart lightened. “Sweet? The doom of humanity is sweet?”

He smiled at her laugh. “No. The intention of you. Residing in heaven, living in ignorant bliss with your love and your equal is what makes it sweet.”

At this she lifted a brow. He might be bringing some of his own interpretation to the tale. But gender relations and faith had always been different in Elfhame, so he knew no better. “Like I mentioned, I am not well-versed in the text. Some mortals would even call you wrong. But I suppose a story is to be made whatever the reader wishes to make it.”

“Here's what I make of this one.” And he pulled her into another hungrier kiss.

Jude could’ve almost laughed, as he tugged at her clothes and her fingers shed him of his trousers. Piece by piece, they rid the other of clothing. When air bit her bare skin, she jumped back without thinking. They were in public. They could be found.

Cardan studied her expression quickly, worried. He understood immediately. “The guards. I sent them off to a perimeter, remember? We are alone.”

Right. Tension left her muscles as her spine straightened again. She brought his body back to hers, only his shirt and socks left. She helped him with the first as he stepped out of the second.

“I cannot believe your biblical seduction worked.”

His fanciful smile flashed. Sparkling white teeth. “It is not finished yet.”

Part of her couldn’t believe it. “Frankly, it’s hard to fathom you could care so much.”

He ignored her, as they were now fully uncovered. Silently, he leaned forward and shook out her hair, fluffing it out in wild tangles. It was unlike her, aside from moments in training when her pleats came loose. His long fingers touching her scalp sent shivers everywhere in her body, and her eyes drooped. Jude’s brown hair was so long and fluffy it fell down streams past her shoulders, brushing the tops of her breasts and tickling her back. When Cardan appeared satisfied with the results, he stepped back to rake her all over. From crown to heel.

As naked as they had come into this world. Mortal and fae alike. There was a metaphor there.

“You forgot the second.” Cardan whispered this into her neck as he guided her down onto the floor.

“What?” It was hard to think.

“The second rule. You forgot to ask about it.” They settled on the pasture.

Part of her was so confused. Also annoyed. “Oh, you’re teaching now?”

He made a show of pinching the side of her ass. Jude yelped. He soothed her by nuzzling her nose with his.

“The first rule was not to eat the apple. Correct?”

This was so out of bounds but it had to be going somewhere. She nodded.

Her husband took a deep breath. Inhaling her in. Perhaps afraid of what he would say next. Of what Jude would think. “The second was to go forth and be fruitful.” His pale hand trailed her sides, skimming her hips. “To continue humanity.” His lips marked kisses on her clavicles, descending to her chest. “To have many,” a kiss to her sternum, “many,” another right above her belly button, “many children.” The last kiss was at her abdomen, his hands on either side of her stomach.

The air was knocked right out her lungs. Cold shocked her entire body, then in a flash she was hot all over.

She looked into his eyes. Cardan was calm, serene. He was upright now, leaning on one hand on the ground. His thumb drew circles on her hip. A part of him seemed resigned, as if ready for a blow. In that moment she felt his spirit as open as she had privilege to see very few times prior.

Jude trained her voice not to shake. “You wish to be fruitful, my husband?”

A long pause. They only stared at each other until Cardan leaned down to kiss her stomach again. “To try, certainly.”

She couldn’t find any words. Therefore she used her body instead. One hand cupped his face, gently, then the other. As if holding a delicate bird. His black crow eyes could tear her soul apart.

Half of her didn’t know what she was doing when her hands pulled him up, meeting his lips with hers. It was neither an answer nor a rejection. A response, the best she could give him for now.

Nevertheless he answered threefold. The High King refused to break apart until they were both gasping for air. A small smile adorned his face when he seductively muttered into her lips.

“Let us play like Adam and Eve. I’ll have you with leaves in your hair and grass beneath our backs.” He planted a kiss on her ear, nibbling. “The blue sky can be our witness.”

Her hand kept him where he was as she groaned. “You would play at a mortal amongst the dirt?”

Instead of celebrating her banter, he bit her harder. This time she hissed, and he moved lower.

“We,” Cardan mumbled on her skin, “are the only two beings in here.” Unable to lie, he couldn’t play along with their roles and say ‘in the world’. It had to be ‘in here’, in the alcove, yet she appreciated his way around it all the same. The sentiment remained. That sinful mouth floated over the skin of her belly. It traced a line falling low. Jude gasped when he teased the area above her center. Between her legs is where she wanted him, where he refused to go. A whimper escaped.

It made him look up. “There is no one else.” With that, his red tongue licked the bundle of nerves amidst her thighs.

Jude could only grip his hair, shut her eyes and moan. He drew circles, adding pressure that drew louder noises. When he took all of her into his mouth and sucked she started to scare the birds off the trees.

His hand, snake-like, slithered up her hip and to her breast, where he caressed and squeezed her. The other…it went to her center, aiding his lips, teasing. One finger, then two, and the tongue circling harder.

Jude couldn’t make sense of up from down to the point where her peak came in a waterfall without notice. It felt nothing short of natural. Her chest heaved, eyes closed and back arched. When Cardan withdrew his fingers they were soaked.

Pleased beyond sense, she only felt him work his way back up, align his chest to hers. Smother her neck with kisses while pushing her thighs apart with his knee.

“No one else,” he murmured against her throat.

Her eyes fluttered. “No one…”

He kneeled upward suddenly. Cardan reached for a flower, two, pink and bright from a bush next to her head. He threw off the stems, leaving only the petals and crushing those between his long hands. She was still busy riding her high to ask what the hell he was doing. Then he took what remained of the flowers and smeared it over her body. Across her chest, down to her stomach. She was glazed in petals. Everywhere he touched, she shuddered. Her body was a canvas in pink. Clinging to her skin, staining and perfuming her. Grass glued to her back and flower petals to her front, hair fanned out. It was the farthest from dirty she’d ever felt. His expression was hungry, reverential, and some other unreadable thing.

“Jude.”

She met his gaze. “Cardan.”

His hand went between their legs, and she felt the nudge at her entrance. Her breathing stopped.

He leaned down to touch noses, foreheads, to share breath. “We are primordial.”

He could not lie. He believed it, some part of him, some twisted explanation. She didn’t give herself time to ponder.

“Cardan.” Sliding into her was the easiest thing.

All thoughts died with a sigh.

Everything stilled. His eyelids fell shut, breath tickling her face. “There is only you and me.”

Time went by oddly. Jude couldn't separate one coupling from the next. Something out of a fever dream or the drowsiness that follows a strong poison. She was overwhelmed with the primal nature of the story, by the pleasure in her body.

Cardan was thrusting into her from behind, both laying on the grass on their sides. Wet leaves stuck to his legs, to her hip. She was moaning, a fist of grass in her hand and a fist of her hair in his. He pulled, brought her closer. “My love,” he whispered in her ear.

Then she was straddling him. Moving up and down painfully slowly, torturous drags. She had his chin in her hands, powerful, forcing his eyes to hers. She was whispering, unrecalled heinous things she wouldn’t remember later. Only the feel of him inside and his hands on her hips.

That might have been the first hour. Or the second.

He was slamming into her. Jude was dizzy with the pace, strong and rhythmic. Her back was to an old tree, steadying her. Cardan kissed her breast. He was not going fast, focusing on going deeper. There were petals stuck to his chest now too, and some grass blades. The paint around his eyes was smudged. She yelped once. An evil smile formed on him, a smile that reminded her of taunts and tricks. His hands fell to her sides, one on her and one on the tree. His hips charged harder, making their pelvises meet and slightly pushing her up the tree. She squealed louder.

Jude was riding him again. She was on her front this time, facing away from him, each hand on his knees for support. Her hair was a mess; tiny stems and petals caught on the ends, the odd twig here and there. It was far from her priorities, though, or his. She even thought the ferality heightened his desire. At her back, Cardan hissed, grip on her waist as she impaled herself on him over and over. Slick sounds filled the meadow.

His tail whispered up her left side. The tuft coil slid around her throat, cutting off a groan, settling as a choker. “Oh,” was what she could manage. A particularly strong moan escaped Cardan. She rode him harder. Faster. Leveling her body so only her waist moved, keeping them close. Back and forth, back and forth, blinding her senses. She came again, as swiftly as an autumn breeze.

That was when he decided to push her forward. His tail stayed at her throat, tightening. She was on all fours, limbs trembling.

Cardan shifted into position behind. “On your knees, Your Majesty.”

It took a few gasps to gather a response. “Majesty? I thought I was Eve from the garden-” but the rest was gone to his thrusts. The grass under her hands was ripped off.

Where had their base necessities gone? For hours they wouldn’t stop to eat, to drink, only to rest for some heartbeats in between positions. A mere catching of the breath. Blue sky turned to pink, purple, to a reddish tint marking sundown. Jude thought the garden had truly driven them mad.

He was on top, eyes locked on hers. Jude sprawled on the ground with one leg horizontal and the other on his shoulder, his hand holding it close. She had one foot in the air and her thighs open wide. Anything but them, but the glistening sight of their joining ceased to exist.

She kept one hand at his hip, beckoning him forward, controlling the pace even with him moving above. It was a fantastic dynamic. Below him, she whispered praise and any unintelligible phrase that came to mind. “Just like that,” she’d say. “Right there. Harder. That’s better.” There was even a shaky “That feels perfect.” It only made him more dutiful. Then she noticed him looking at her breasts. How they bounced by the efforts of their movements.

“Touch them,” she commanded.

His hand went to one, fingers splayed wide, clutching.

“Harder than that.”

With a moan, he squeezed harder, sparking pain and pleasure through her nerves. Her limbs were aflame.

Skin met skin. The slaps were like a song, lulling her and encouraging him. Cardan took a glance at the place where he disappeared in her, again and again.

“You’re drenched.”

She had coated them both until their groins were wet.

Jude grasped his shoulders, snatching him to her, chests meeting. As close as they could be. In that liminal state, in that indescribable eternal in-between, she planted kisses on every inch of him.

“Love me.” She whispered in his ear, his hair, any reachable place. “Love me. Love me. Love me.”

Their last thoughts blurred into oblivion.

There is only you.

There is only me.

For now.

#jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jurdan #tfota #tfotaedit #it says post-qon but theres no spoilers i swear i dont even have the book #its for the timeline #this is Very different to what ive done before so tread...carefully #if youre not into religious discussion look tf away #nicky writes #mine:tfota

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ruiojousama · 5 years

Text

Rockstar! Cor x Loqi AU

This has long been in our prompts. Collaborating with @moonraccoon-exe for this is one of the best things ever!

It took me quite a while to post this, but I hope you guys enjoy this extremely long (but fuilfilling) read and the illustrations!

Headcanons:

First things first: Rockstar!Corqi. Aye.

Not so surprisingly, our Loqi is a self-proclaimed NUMBAH ONE FAN; but he is in hiding ‘cause of his family standing. Can’t really have his parents catch him being a rock/metalhead now, can he?

Loqi is, as usual, the son of a high-society family. His entire life revolves around high-society stuff (parties, school, friends, etc.). Hence why it would be ludicrous and scandalous if he was to come out as enjoying of such things like rock and metal bands (people in tight leather pants, piercings, tattoos, and crazy haircuts, sweating and screaming and singing and jumping on a stage with a bunch of noisy screeching smelly mentally ill teens that apparently hit each other as a hobby? EW, SOOOOO UNREFINED AND SAVAGE!).

Guess Loqi enjoys that sort of music both just because he connects with it, and because usually rock & metal tend to be aggressive. So it’s sorta perfect for him to vent his own aggressiveness through it.

Besides, he could NEVER talk about it to anyone; not only is that music unaccepted and seen as unrefined and savage among his family and social circles, it just so happens that his favorite artist is a Lucian. Loqi could NEVER IN LIFE talk about such a HORRIBLE thing!

((Niflheim and Lucis aren’t at war, but there’s still that tension/arrogance from the high-class Nifs to look down on the Lucians))But despite the secrecy, he has like, 20 posters of him and his band. Photo albums and newspaper clippings.

Loqi has a secret /panic/ room where he hides everything. Sometimes sleeps in it, hugging a custom dakimakura (A/N: I’m laughing cos I remember Matt Mercer and his dakimakura in Critical Role [Coon here: LMAO OMG RUI XD]).

Posters, photo albums, newspaper clippings, magazine covers, his Cor dakimakura (...I mean we can’t blame him), heck, Loqi probably has the goddamn action figurines. Or nitotans and custom plushies.

Let’s talk about Cor. Rockstar Cor.

Cor in even more/more stylish black clothes. Cor….WITH EYELINER.

Cor sings. You wouldn’t believe it from him because he may come off as too serious, but Cor has ONE DAMN GOOD VOICE, especially for the rock/metal genre.

Cor’s actually a good performer; as in, he doesn’t just have the voice, he does great on the stage too. Public never grows bored.

Can we imagine a smirking singing Cor that’s sweaty from the 1.40 hours of concert and the spotlights, thank you.

Cor is sexy. And he KNOWS THAT.

Being a musician since like age 20, Cor has gone the ages being praised and adored by the public both as a musician and due to his looks. 25 years into the praise, you can tell someone’s raising some ego (A/N: You know, like Hyde or godsdamn Gackt).

Now the juicy part of this; the story.

Cor and his band are going to tour and they opened some dates in different Niflheim cities.

Let me say that again in Loqi language.

COR AND HIS BAND ARE COMING HERE OHMFYGODAJW DNJDSJFN CORANDHISBANDARECOMINGINEEDTOGO OH GODS HELP ME IAMSOFUCKEDTHISISTHEBESTDAYOFMY/L I F E/

Loqi has luck he has that safe room, he has somewhere to scream without freaking his parents out.Loqi bought the tickets as soon as they were available.Loqi is seated on his chair, like both hands and feet on it like a damn gargoyle, intensely staring at the computer screen’s clock, so he can SMASH THAT REFRESH BUTTON as soon as midnight hits so he can be the very FIRST to get a ticket for the concert.HE. HAS. TO. GO.

He KNOWS it’s going to be so hard because of his situation. His parents are strict and picky, they won’t let him out so easily, even less if he doesn’t have a good explanation, he’s keeping all this thing a secret, he just can’t say he goes to a concert, and besides, going out of the house is only the beginning; once out, he has to make it away of home without being seen by ANYONE (the only time when having security cameras AND guards AND dogs become a problem), and once away of home, he could be seen by ANYONE in the streets; his schoolmates are often out on friday and weekend nights clubbing, the concert is going to be in one of the clubbing areas, he could run into ANYONE, heck he could run into anyone that knows him DURING THE CONCERT ITSELF, and THEN he has to make it back home with the same secrecy. It’s giganormous quantities of problems.

….but HE HAS TO GO OR HIS NAME IS NOT GODDAMN LOQI FUCKING TUMMELT.

It’s a once in a lifetime chance, he can’t miss seeing his favorite artist/band live! Who knows when, or IF they will ever come back to Nif again!

Going to the concert actually proves much easier than expected.

His parents don’t check his room at night, and he locks it anyway; he goes out through a window, and maybe convinces a guard to help him out (“I’m not going to do anything bad, I’m just...going to...go see...see someone” because Loqi would VERY much rather his family think he’s dating someone than knowing he went to a rock concert [the guard was all winks and smiles like “Aaaaaaah, THAT stage of youth. I used to do this for your father too you know” “EEEW, too much info! >:(“])

Loqi darling goes around in his most “peasant” clothing, which includes a hoodie, and wears a mouth mask to hide at least half his face.

And finally, without much trouble, Loqi arrives in the concert.

He was early so he could be as close to the front as possible.You should have seen him when the lights went off and the band came out; he went HYSTERICAL

Composed, high-class, serious and ice-cold Loqi, suddenly losing his shit, bouncing on his feet, and shrieking out, waving his concert lighters they hand out at the entrance.aSdsdlfjalksdsad jesus christ I’m loving this so much ahahahah (A/N: SAME COONIE SAME)

You should have seen his face when he saw Cor. *Eyes all gleamy and mouth a bit open like he was a believer seeing his god right in front of him. Full of absolute ADORATION and fan-to-idol love....Loqi may or MAY NOT have gotten a bit teary eyed DON’T JUDGE HIM.((Pls understand him, Loqi’s not very comfy at home due to all the restrictions and he’s been fan of this band for YEARS and he has literally NO ONE to talk to about them or the music, and it’s music that speaks straight to and about his most intimate feelings.))

And now he’s right in front of them. Of course he would get a bit emotional after years of bottling frustration up <33

Loqi DOES have a little problem, though.

He is. Too. SHORT.

He’s very close to the front, he was actually on the very first row, but most people, especially male, are much taller than him, so he was forced out and sent a few rows back. Even the people that don’t mean to take advantage of his size can be troubles, as they’re bumping into him, pushing, even crushing the poor thing.

And don’t get me wrong, Loqi has (a bit too aggressively) pushed people too, and he’s in amazing physical conditions. It’s just the height, dammit.

You know, the band are known for being super friendly with the fans, both on and off stage. On stage, they’re known for ALWAYS bringing multiple people on stage at different moments of the concert.

Oh, so this is surely the “I’m going to bring someone on stage and, oh surprise, I just made eye contact with the story’s other protagonist, who I happen to find angelically BEAUTIFUL, so I’ll bring this person on stage and we just fell in love and I’ll kiss them” story, right?

WRONG.

Loqi DOES come “on stage” of sorts….after ALMOST DYING.

There was a moment of the concert, you know, everyone is so hyped and ecstatic and they’re having fun, so it just happens the crowd starts calling for a Death Wall (you know, crowd parts in two, and then both parts RUN TO EACH OTHER so they can crash and the HARDCORE SLAM BEGINS). There is a REASON it’s called the DEATH wall lmao

So dear Loqi and some other fans, mostly the younger ones, among Death Wall and slam, they end up a bit scared, injured, or like in Loqi’s case and more dangerously, falling down.Cor and his band may get a bit too much into the fun sometimes, but they’re good people and they care about their fans’ wellbeing above the fun or the fame or the music itself.

So of course Cor STOPS THE ENTIRE CONCERT.

BECAUSE SURE HE'S RIGHT NEXT TO HIS IDOL BUT IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN LIKE, LIKE, LIKE...LIKE T H I S

And he’s like “WOAH OKAY CHILL PEOPLE, CHILL, WAIT A MINUTE, SOME PEOPLE FELL AND IF YOU DON’T TAKE IT EASY YOU’LL END UP HURTING THEM, OKAY, BE CAREFUL” and while most people stop, there’s some idiots (because there’s ALWAYS some stupid idiots) that don’t, so Cor has security go check on the people that fell and/or are injured.

And THAT’S the story of how Loqi got to be on stage with his favorite band!For like 30 seconds. Unconscious. In the arms of some buffy security guy. That crossed the stage only to get this boy to backstage. Lmao. Loqi-ly, dear angry blond pup wasn’t injured, just knocked out. He wakes up backstage...AND HE JUST /FREAKS OUT/SO MUCH--

Loqi wakes up after the concert is over and the band has already come backstage to chill.So all that Loqi knows is that some stupid idiot elbowed him in the face, he was knocked out, and he’s waking up in this strange wide room he’s never seen before in his life and how did he get there anD COR FUCKING LEONIS IS SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-YOU CAN’T BLAME HIM FOR FREAKING OUT.

So Loqi’s natural reaction is to gasp and then yelp shortly, and shoot up on his feet and points at Cor and he screams “YOU’RE COR LEONIS!!!” because pointing out the obvious is apparently the natural reaction to seeing something obvious.

So Cor finds it amusing and laughs and makes some comment about how “why yes I think I am” and about how he’s “always pleased to meet a fan.”And ooooh BOI, Loqi’s having NONE OF THAT.

Loqi for SOME REASON thinks it’s embarrassing and humiliating that someone else knows that he’s Cor’s fan, and it makes no sense because the one that knows is COR HIMSELF, but Loqi’s still this stubborn, difficult little shit and for SOME REASON he gets all worked up and isn’t happy to meet him, he’s just plain upset and tries to pretend this isn’t like the DREAM OF HIS LIFE.AND THEN HE TRIES SO HARD TO CONTAIN HIS FEELS HE BLURTS OUT RUDE THINGS TO COR

“Damn you look older up close—“

"Geez, chill, relax, you're safe now"

"SAFE? I WAS SAFE ON MY OWN, I WAS NOT- I DIDN'T EVEN- I'M NOT EVEN YOUR FAN"

"what"

"YOU HEARD ME, I DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO BE HERE."

"then why were you here in the first-"

"WHAT DO YOU cARE OHMYGOD STOP HARASSING ME”

Maybe Cor also teases him and the little Loqi realizes how douchebag this idol of his is BUT HE CAN’T DO NO SHIT HE STILL LOVES HIM

And Cor's like--whoa first time he encounters a fan who kinda hates him? (does that even make sense wtf).Like, he’s met haters and fans, but this is a fan that hates him and holy moogles is that even possible? How do you love someone by hating them how does it work Cor doesn’t understand.

And he’s sorta puzzled you know. Because Loqi’s wearing a wristband of the band, he was at the concert very close to the front, and he recognized Cor immediately. So he IS a fan. But he behaves so unlike any other fan Cor has ever met in the past 25 years of career; he’s met people that scream and cry out of excitement, some that clap and smile, many that ask for photos, some that are very timid and don’t even talk at all, he’s met some that have even cried….but he’s NEVER ever before encountered a fan like this.

Loqi is calling him names, pointing out rude things or making up some comments just to be rude, he’s freaking out at the slightest comment or movement from Cor, BUT he also burns red in the face, BUT he’s also walking in circles yelling “WHERE IS THE GODDAMN DOOR I WANNA LEAVE NOW THANKS”. Loqi is the rarest and a very unique one-in-among-literally-everybody-else fan…...And hoh OH BOI LOQI, GOOD LUCK, THE IMMORTAL JUST GOT VERY, VERY CURIOUS

And then after that concert the universe just fucks them up and the two had to meet in accident. A lot.

“Oh, it’s the midget from the concert—”

“SHUT UP YOU TALL DARK AND HANDSO---HANDS OFF MY POODLE--(cos yeah maybe loqi is walking his dog)

For some reason, Loqi attracts danger because for some reason we all creators apparently like to injure him a lot lmao

And for his luck, Cor joins to save the day! /o/

Like, I don’t know, some assault. And precious tsundere sunshine is shoved into an alleyway with the poodle (not the poodle!) while he was trying to get Cor off him, so that’s the two in troubles.Luckily, both manage to get rid of troubles, but Loqi takes a bad hit to the head that plain knocks him out.

And when he wakes up, Cor STUPID Leonis is sitting RIGHT THERE BESIDES HIM.IN HIS ROOM.

"Well. Good morning, Sleeping Beauty"

"..what"

"Took you quite a while. Don't worry, you didn't need stitches."

"...is this my room?"

"Well, yeah."

"How did you know where I- THAT IS HARASSMENT AND I COULD- SUE YOU YOU PERVERTED- OLD MAN, HOW DID YOU KNOW WHERE I LIVE!?"

"Well, you were knocked out, and I checked your wallet for some info, your parents' number or something"

"YOU CALLED MY PA-"

"And I saw your address in your ID so. Sorry for...invading your privacy, it's just your house was closer than the hospital and it wasn't a bad hit so---"

"DO MY PARENTS KNOW YOU'RE HERE OHMYGOD"

"Well yeah someone had to open the door. Nice posters, by the way."

Because by the time Loqi notices, apparently while he was knocked out Cor found his panic room where he has ALL his Cor merchandise. All the Cor posters. The action figures. The CDs. E v e r y t h i n g.*insert Loqi screaming internally*

And Cor being the nice guy he offers to sign those unsigned posters of him

"...is that my face on that pillo-"

"nO!!!"

"well THAT'S definitely me on that pillow, where did you get that? You sleep with it?"

"NO I BEAT CRICKETS AND BEDBUGS WITH IT---OF COURSE IT'S A PILLOW WHAT ELSE AM I GONNA USE IT FOR--!"

"...so you want me to sign-? :)"

"yeh :'("

Loqi half-gives up. Cor found his panic room, there’s no way he can lie anymore to this stupid handsome jerk. So Loqi just sits on his bed hugged to a pillow, face buried in it, while Cor comes in and out of the panic room bringing the most interesting merchandise he finds. Laughing. Asking over and over if he “signs this”, “this one too?”, “maybe this one, this one is cute.”

Lmao, Loqi’s parents, though.Because Cor has to leave at some point, he has to walk out the main door, and for that he has to come out of Loqi’s room, so it’s just unavoidable, the Tummelts meeting Cor.

“You have a nice house, thanks for receiving me.”

“Yeah...uh...thanks for taking our son home…”

“Fine, fine, keep going, Leonis.”

“So, you is this man your friend, Loqi?”

“N-NO! OF COURSE NOT, NO!”

“...so do you know him?”

“NO! I MEAN- yeah, but, not like know-know him, he’s- no! Let’s just leave, dammit.”

“...would you like to stay for dinner?”

“HE WOULDN’T.”

“I’d love to! :D”

It’s not that Loqi’s parents like him. It’s that they’re trying to figure who this man is and if they should call the police.He looks like a Lucian. What is their pureblood, noble, high society, beautiful Nif son doing hanging with...this...black leather-dressed, eyeliner “hobo” of a Lucian.((Hey, hey, Tummelt mama and papa, those clothes are rockstar, ROCKSTAR, not “hobo” >:( ))How does the romance start, though, huh. HUH. IDEAS. LET’S MAKE AN IDEA RAIN.

But in the end, even Cor charms both Loqi’s parents with his wit.

And Loqi, regardless of all the embarrassment, is blushing, happy and giddy.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

#corqi #cor leonis #loqi tummelt #cor x loqi #loqi #cor #ffxv #coonie's awesome writing #leonis #tummelt #corxloqi

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teatalksbooks · 5 years

Text

Murder is Bad Manners/Most Unladylike* by Robin Stevens

*The publishers are being cute again and changing the titles for oversea audiences...

Tea Recommendation: English Breakfast, with milk and sugar - this is a middle grade boarding school murder mystery! If you would like to read this and you are not a) 13 or b) in need of the anti-shock properties of milk and sugar-laced tea, forego it, and just make yourself a cup of nice plain black tea. It is also immensely important to acquire cookies for your bunbreak. Hazel likes chocolate and gingernut best, but I think I’d go with shortbread because, again, I am not thirteen.

I apologize in advance for the length - if you’re not interested in a lot of meta, skip to the end!

The year is 1934. Hazel, from Hong Kong, age thirteen and one year into her boarding school experience in England, loves learning, sweets, and her best friend, Daisy. Together, they form the Detective Society. It’s been all fun and games so far, with cases such as The Case of Lavinia’s Missing Tie, but then Hazel stumbles across the body of a teacher in the gym - and before she can show anyone else, the body disappears. Everyone thinks that Miss Bell has simply run away, but Hazel and Daisy know better, and are determined to solve the mystery and find the killer.

First off, I would like to thank @mirrormasque for recommending these books as the perfect antidote to the exhausting and stressful end of the school year. They are - sweet, well-written, charming, yet still complex enough to be interesting to readers above the intended age group. If you’re a fan of murder mysteries but struggle to find ones in the sweet spot between bleak and cloying, these ones land there pretty much perfectly.

What makes me love this book - and the ones that follow - so much is the way Stevens utilizes voice. Hazel, as a narrator, is perfect - she’s clever, observant, empathetic. But she’s also thirteen. What she sees, she often doesn’t understand, or doesn’t fully interpret, in ways that readers her age or younger will identify with.

Because of this, Stevens can be inclusive in natural, non-didactic ways. This book is replete with representation - Hazel is Chinese, there are lesbian and bisexual teachers, and there are students in lesbian relationships. In later books, and in this book to some extent, there are students with learning disabilities and students struggling with mental illness. While such inclusivity is a goal for many authors, it’s not easy to do smoothly, and that Stevens achieves it in a completely natural and unobtrusive fashion is impressive. That she manages to work in period-appropriate prejudices and simultaneously make it clear that being from another country or being interested in the same sex is also completely unexceptionable is astonishing.

As an example, when discussing the arrival of The One (the dashing new art teacher), Hazel writes in her case book, “You see, before this semester, the whole school knew that Miss Bell (our science teacher) and Miss Parker (our math teacher) had a secret. They lived together in Miss Parker’s little apartment in town, which had a spare room in it. The spare room was the secret. I did not understand when Daisy first told me about the spare room; now that we are in the eighth grade, though, of course I see exactly what it must mean.” Hazel still doesn’t truly understand, though she pretends she does, in the way of teenagers everywhere.

However, what her discussion of the labyrinthine relationships between the teachers reveals is this: as far as the school is concerned, this secret is no more astonishing than The One’s subsequent clandestine relationships with Miss Bell and Miss Hopkins, the athletics instructor. Any two teachers in a relationship is a bit of juicy gossip. Yet the adult world and the student world are inherently distinct; everything that happens in the adult world is exotic, but other standards apply amongst the students. There’s a clear distinction made between girls who have “pashes” on each other and girls who are genuinely in love - the first is accepted as part of normal boarding school behavior, and the second is a secret that can damage the reputations of the students involved - and both Hazel and Daisy are explicitly confused about what the difference is. Their lack of understanding and experience with regard to sexuality allow them to identify the hypocrisies inherent in the standards presented to them in a way that feels very natural and observational, rather than didactic.

This does lead to Hazel coming off as pretty immature, however. Hazel reads as a couple of years younger than her canonical age, and I’m on the fence about it. It’s necessary for Hazel and Daisy to be a little older than the target demographic because they are literally solving murders. However, Hazel’s voice is appropriate for the 10-12 age range, which is where the book is aimed. From an audience perspective, it makes sense, but as an older reader, it can be jarring. Her immaturity can be rationalized away - she’s a very sheltered kid, and it was a different time - but since the book also spends a certain amount of time working with the uneasy intersection between the adult and child worlds, it can seem a little counterproductive. However, it may also be key to Daisy and Hazel’s characterization, and to the game the book is based around.

It’s clear from the beginning that initially, the Detective Society is imaginative play. The year before, they had the Pacifism Society and the Spiritualism Society, and this year, since Daisy’s gotten into detective fiction, they’re playing at being detectives. Imaginative play is a huge part of childhood, but it’s also something that starts phasing out around middle school (and certainly high school) as adult life starts both intruding more and becoming more desirable. However, unlike the previous societies, the Detective Society is secret - only Daisy and Hazel are engaged in this game. It’s suggested that it’s because they’re best friends and they don’t want anyone else in on it, but there’s an implication, as well, that the other girls might not take it seriously. When, later in the series, some of the other girls do participate, it becomes clear that it wasn’t much of a secret - and that they weren’t especially interested in it. Their later participation is contingent upon the initial success of the Detective Society, and the later necessity (there’s another murder, of course) of participation (here, it recontextualizes the murder as a game for the other girls, and so makes it safe, as well as controlled).

That Daisy and Hazel are so invested in it is a sign of their immaturity; that Daisy is, as always, the instigator, is a key insight into their dynamics at the beginning of the series. The inequality of their relationship is obvious from the first - although there are only two members of the Detective Society, Daisy has declared herself the president - and Hazel the secretary. There’s no reason at all that Hazel couldn’t be co-president or vice-president of this two-person team, but Daisy does not even admit this as a possibility. Initially, I felt like this should rankle more with Hazel, but it becomes evident fairly quickly that the need for control is integral to Daisy’s character and Hazel is friend enough to let her have it unless the stakes are high enough to warrant protest.

That does not mean that their friendship is unproblematic. From the beginning, Hazel refers to Daisy as “perfect.” Not the perfect English schoolgirl - she’s careful to point out that though Daisy pretends to be the game-for-everything girl that everyone at school wants to be and, failing that, wants to be friends with, she is not, in fact, what she pretends to be. She is wearing a mask to fit in - but whether she’s wearing the mask or not, she still puts herself in a place of power over Hazel.

Storybook-schoolgirl Daisy is cream-and-roses pretty, old money, funny (but not too funny), always up for a prank and a midnight feast, and infinitely popular. In contrast, Hazel is the new girl, and even worse, she’s foreign. Real Daisy is sharply intelligent, impatient, secretive, and controlling. She calls herself Holmes and Hazel, Watson - and the comparison, as far as she’s concerned, is very apt. Take Sherlock Holmes and transform him into a British schoolgirl in the 1930s, and you get Daisy Wells. Why, at least in this first book, is unclear - we simply see that this is how Daisy is, and that Hazel accepts her for who she is, even when it means letting Daisy diminish her.

Hazel, as chronicler, is on the surface much like canonical Watson. Loyal, empathetic, and cautious, she’s as intelligent as Daisy, but less assertive. Part of that is because she knows that her acceptance at the school has been contingent upon her friendship with Daisy. Hazel is very aware that she is different from the other girls, and while she doesn’t dwell on it, it does inform many of her behaviors. She learns to don a mask from Daisy, to pretend that she is not as intelligent as she is, not as different. For her, being Daisy’s friend, instead of Daisy being hers, is a form of protective camouflage.

However clear-eyed Hazel is about Daisy, and about their relationship, Daisy’s consistent diminishment of her combines with her own uncertainty about her appearance and leaves Hazel feeling inferior to Daisy much of the time. Hazel was raised in an extraordinarily Anglophilic environment, and has grown up seeing girls like Daisy as the ideal of what a girl should be. Being Daisy’s friend puts her in constant comparison with Daisy - she is quiet, she is not athletic, she is not popular, and most of all, she is not thin and blonde and blue-eyed. While she is confident in her own intellectual capacity and perfectly happy contradicting Daisy when she feels Daisy has, once again, jumped to a conclusion, she is not confident in her body. I blame her dad for that, personally - he’s very sure that Hazel is the smartest, most logical, most morally upright child around, but oh boy does he love him some British everything. It’ll be interesting to see what Stevens does with Hazel’s self-image as she grows up more - in the last book I read, it’s starting to become more of a problem as romantic interests start popping up, and I imagine that in the other three books that are out that are NOT AVAILABLE IN THE US WTF, we get to see even more of that.

The relationship between the two girls is the most interesting part of the book for me, but the other characters are well-drawn, and the plot is solid. So far, I’ve always been able to identify the murderer before the girls do, but in my book, that’s a good thing - I’m thirty, and it means that Stevens is acting in good faith and putting in all the clues. A proper mystery has to be solvable by the reader - if the author holds back the one clue you need to solve the case, it’s cheating! The framing of the story - that it’s a case book - is cute, if not at all convincing, and the ways in which it is a case book will be appealing to young readers, though I find the interruption of the suspect lists to be a little annoying, since we’ve usually just discussed why we’re ruling a suspect out right before we get the list... explaining why we’ve ruled the suspect out.

In that the book is deeply respectful of its readers’ intelligence, it reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones, which makes sense, because Stevens mentions her as one of her favorite authors. According to Jones, writing for young readers is much harder than writing for adults, because kids are so deeply immersed in texts that they pick up on everything, whereas adults need things said two or three times to get it. That ethos is evident in this book is well - it does not condescend to its reader, and because of that, it is enjoyable for all readers, not just for the target demographic.

The last thing I want to mention, since I'm not going to do this for all the books in the series, is that the same thoughtfulness and subtlety about prejudices inherent in the time period (and today...) is also present with regard to historical events and movements in later books, especially the rise of the Nazi party and the remnants of imperialism. It’s pretty great!

tl;dr - a cute murder mystery with complex character relationships, a solvable but satisfyingly complex plot, and diverse characters! Highly recommend. Trigger warnings for murder, blood, unhealthy friendship, but honestly, it’s all appropriate for middle-grade readers.

Amazon - free to read with Kindle Unlimited!

Goodreads

#robin stevens #book review #murder is bad manners #murder is most unladylike #wells and wong #tw: death #tw: unhealthy friendship

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the-adventures-of-m-and-l · 3 years

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18th June 2021

I turned up at Miss L's just before 8pm... I wasn't really sure how the night would go, and whether we would have enough time to properly put into practice what I had planned for her... really, we could have done with a full day, maybe longer, but if nothing else, it would be a good trial run for many a future punishment, no doubt... She came to the door completely naked... I smiled and she explained that because she didn't know what we would be doing, she would just let me lead and she would take whatever plans I had for her, and whatever punishment, like the naughty girl that she was... we had already pre-discussed that anything she didn't want to do or felt uncomfortable with, we had a safe word for... but, she said she trusted me, and was so high with anticipation for our evening that I could pretty much do anything to her, and she'd let me... and likely enjoy it to... She had clearly gone to a lot of effort though... her long dark hair was styled with a slight waviness to it, her make-up was strikingly done; dark eyeshadow and mascara, bringing out her beautiful green eyes, and she smelled so good... she always does, but even more so than usual... I admired her beautiful body as she stood still for me, as I walked around her, taking every bit of her beauty in, as her heart raced in anticipation... I told her to go sit on her bed, whilst I got some stuff out of the car... I didn't want her to see, as it would spoil some of the surprises for later on... I organised a few things, and placed some stuff out of sight, and brought some things into the bedroom too, as she sat on her bed, all quiet and pensive... I noticed she had washed and folded my ill-fated trousers and they were on the bed next to her, with a handwritten note saying: 'Now 100% cum free, love, your Miss L'... she grinned, and I thanked her with a deep kiss as she remained sat... she tasted and smelled divine... I said: 'I hope you don't think you can avoid your punishment now?!' She giggled and said she was looking forward to it, especially as she no doubt deserved it for being such a naughty girl... I asked her to stand up, whilst we chose a suitable outfit... I knew what I wanted her to wear already based on what we were going to do... I chose a full body fishnet body stocking for her, as she stepped into it, and started pulling it on, moulding around her gorgeous curves... then I selected her a nice black leather choker collar, and I attached a black leather leash to it, tugging on it slightly to test it's tensile strength, as she stared at me deeply, her beautiful eyes melting into mine... I then rummaged in her underwear drawer, selecting a pair of black lacy panties... I asked her to put these over the stocking at which she flashed me a curious look... I mean, normally you would not wear underwear over a body stocking like this... I then gently laid her down on her bed, spreading her arms and legs wide, as I began to bind her wrists and ankles to the bed posts, making sure the ropes were tight enough to hold her in place, but would not dig into her... she has a four poster bed at her place, which is an added benefit in bondage play... Once tied and restrained, I explained what was going to happen... I said that she was a naughty, messy girl, who seemed to not be able to stop herself from cumming and squirting all over the place, even when forbidden to, and also doing so in and on other people's trousers... so, as she clearly loves to do this so much and so often, then tonight she will be forced to cum and squirt over and over and over again, until she either begs me to stop, gets to the point of exhaustion, or passes out... whichever comes first... Her reaction was a mixture of shock, awe, desire, longing, and mild anticipation, when I told her... I also added, that she wouldn't be allowed to have or feel my cock through any of it, at which point she gritted her teeth in frustration, and I just laughed... We started on the bed, with her restrained... I gently teased her with my fingers, feeling the wonderfully familiar wet patch appear on

her panties very quickly as she started to moan... I stimulated her senses a little by dragging a feather delicately and gently over her body, pulling her body stocking down under her breasts as I stimulated them with the feathers, her nipples starting to get harder as she writhed in her bonds... time wasn't on our side though, plus this was a punishment, not a sensual foreplay session, and I immediately went back to her pussy, which was very juicy and started to finger her hard through her panties, before pulling them aside and plunging them deep inside her gooey, warmth... she gasped in pleasure as I fingered her hard, deep and slow, as she came hard, crying out as she squirted all over my fingers... I carried on fingering her hard, as her wrists struggled in her bonds, as more and more of her juices poured out of her onto her and her bed as she continued to cry out... I removed her drenched panties, squeezing them into her open mouth, before rolling them up and sticking them inside, gagging her with her own cum soaked panties... she stared at me longingly with those beautiful green eyes again, her make up starting to smudge slightly through the tears... I kissed her on the forehead before walking over to her 'sex toy cabinet'... I pulled out the magic wand vibrator I had bought her, as well as a couple of dildos and a vibrator... I then slowly tore away her body stocking around her crotch, exposing her already glistening wet pussy, ass and thighs, as I grabbed one of the dildoes, penetrating her dripping pussy over and over as her moans were muffled by her panties gag... I penetrated her harder and faster as I massaged her clit with my fingers, as she squirted again, her body convulsing in her bonds... I moved the dildo to her ass, slowly inserting it, as I used the vibrator on her pussy in tandem with the dildo... it wasn't long before she came again, her cries muffled by her panties... I then swapped the vibrator for the magic wand, setting it to the lowest setting at first as I pressed it to her clit, as I worked the dildo hard and deep in her ass... she tried to writhe away and I loved to watch her squirm as she squirted again, the panties falling from her mouth as she cried out in frustrated ecstasy... I removed the dildo from her ass and made her hold it in her mouth, so she could suck on it as I concentrated on punishing her pussy with the magic wand... I turned it up, and pressed it hard to her pussy moving to her clit, as I slid my fingers into her juicy ass, massaging her asshole as the wand massaged her clit, making her cum again very quickly... as she clenched her teeth around the dildo stuck in her mouth, her eyes full of tears... she was getting so incredibly messy now, and her heart was pounding... not ready to give in yet? I asked slyly as she just glared at me through her tear and make up stained, dildo mouthed, but still so very pretty face... I gave her a brief respite from the magic wand, as I smacked her pussy with a riding crop... tenderising her a little as I enjoyed seeing her body convulse with every slap, through muffled cries... I removed the dildo, which was soaked in her saliva, carefully making sure to wipe it clean in her hair and over her face, before allowing her to suck and lick the dripping riding crop clean of all of its juices, before slowly inserting it in her ass, leaving it sticking out of her, as I turned the magic wand up again and pressed it to her clit, yet again, as I slowly penetrated her ass with the crop... she was now gagless, and her cries and moans were like music to my ears as she came hard again, squirting more of her delicious juices all over her and onto the bed... She lay there panting, the exhaustion starting to set in... I said that a change of scenery was in order, so flashed her an evil grin, before untying her... she was shaky as I helped her off the bed, yanking at her leash to guide her where I wanted her to go... I led her into the kitchen/dining room, and told her to stand in the corner whilst I prepared the room... I unfolded some plastic sheeting,

lying it on the floor and over her table... her eyes flashed excitedly and she bit her lip... I laughed and said that I wasn't planning on killing her... she grinned and said through panting breaths, no, just killing her pussy and ass, she hoped... I pulled her leash hard, pulling her towards me as I leaned in to kiss her hard... she then stared me deep in my eyes, and said that her body was mine and to do whatever I wanted with it... I said I know it was, and that I would, before guiding her up onto her table with her leash... I led her down, folding her right over herself her ass pointing up to the ceiling, her pussy angled towards her face, as I tucked her legs back pinning them down with her arms... I said that this is where the yoga lessons really payed off, as she laughed... I then checked she was locked securely and safely in position, and told her to stay still as I went back to her bedroom, pulling out a large, soft, silicone, double ended dildo from her cabinet... I returned with it, as I inserted one end deep in her juicy pussy, bending it around and stuffing the other end deep inside her mouth, and into her throat... I started to move her head back and forth hard onto the dildo as she took it deeper into her throat, the other end being held deep inside her pussy, finally forcing her to gag on it, as pools of saliva came running out of her mouth and over her body, as I rubbed some all over her tear and makeup stained face... I then penetrated her pussy hard and deep with the other end and she came hard all over herself, her pretty face dripping with her juices, as she screamed with a mixture of orgasmic pleasure and frustrated delight, and I kept on going, forcing her to drench herself again, her juices dripping from her hair and face... After watching her drench herself, my cock throbbing and straining in my boxers, I then said that all this cum was making me hungry, and went to the kitchen side where I had brought and laid out some things... whipped cream, butter; blocks of which were sat in a large bowl on the side, and bananas... I grabbed a handful of butter as I started to pack it in her ass, fingering it deep into her asshole, topping it up with whipped cream... I then used the big silicone dildo to penetrate her ass as I rubbed a mixture of cream and butter into her pussy, enjoying seeing how the butter and cream mixed and melted in her warm pussy and ass and dripped out of her... she gasped in pleasure as she came hard again, this time spraying butter and cream all over her face and body as well as her juices... She lay there panting still in her folded position, looking weary, but messily content... I unpeeled two bananas, as I started to penetrate her with them, one in her pussy, one in her ass, as they broke down inside her after a few minutes, mixing with all the other various fluids and substances in her warm, wet, orifices... I then fingered her ass, enjoying massaging the foodstuffs into her asshole whilst I rubbed her pussy and clit, easily making her cum again as she sprayed banana, creamy butter cum high in the air and onto her as she cried and trembled on her table, which was becoming very messy, but not as messy as her... I gave her no respite after cumming, and carried on massaging her ass and pussy with my fingers... I could tell she was getting exhausted... we had been at it over 3 hours straight and I had been pretty relentless, but she was clearly enjoying her punishment to a large degree, just as much as I was enjoying administering it... I packed her ass with more butter and cream as I fingered it deep again whilst I stuck a fresh banana in her pussy, penetrating her rapidly with it whilst fingering her ass... the banana broke down, so I stuffed it in her mouth, saying that she might need the energy, as I rubbed her clit as she trembled all over, trying not to break her position on the table as she violently came again all over herself... she was drenched in her cum now from squirting so much... I asked if she was learning her lesson, and she nodded meekly, her eyes trying

to blink the cum away that was dripping down off of her... I then unfolded her, and got her to squat on all fours on the table, pulling her around with her leash... I could see how much her arms and legs trembled, and knew she was nearly done, still I admired her tenacity and the will to keep going... she clearly likes punishment... I put the bowl of butter underneath her inbetween her legs as started fingering her pussy and rubbing her clit, inserting the dildo in her ass, as she moaned and groaned with exasperated pleasure still, but I could see how exhausted she was becoming... I forced her to cum twice more, as she squirted hard in the bowl beneath her, as I teased as much juice out of her as I could with my fingers... I then removed the bowl, and said she could sit down on the table... she did, gratefully, her heart still racing and her breathing heavy... I asked her if she thought that she had been successfully punished or not... she looked at me meekly, her cum and food stained face and body still so very, very sexy and nodded... I said, 'okay, I have one final surprise before you get cleaned up... close your eyes'... she closed her eyes, sitting there on the table smiling at first in expectation... as I poured the bowl of juicy cum and butter over her head as she shrieked in surprise, laughing as she watched it drip and run down her body, clinging to her drenched and torn body stocking... we laughed as I helped her down from the table, she immediately said through frustrated panting that she thought the surprise would be my cock... I kissed her filthy mouth hard and said, all in good time, as I grinned at her... Her eyes flashed with excitement again, as she went off to clean herself up... As she was showering, I cleaned up in the kitchen, and stripped her bed off... like me, she has a plastic undersheet, which I long learned was essential for messy sex, unless you want to keep buying new mattresses... She eventually finished showering, walking through, naked and glistening... She said that she couldn't believe how much butter and banana she'd just had to wash out of her pussy and ass... She stared at the bed, where I had a fresh leash and collar laid out for her... she looked at me, raised one eyebrow and said that she thought the punishment was over... I said it was, but this was for playtime... I asked her to get ready, take her time, pick out a nice outfit as we were going outside... it was almost midnight now and dark... I would make us a coffee whilst she finished getting ready, then I would be back to put her collar and leash on her... I made us coffee as she got ready, she then came through in a sexy short black dress, jacket, and stockings, shiny leather heels... it had taken quite a bit of control on my part not to whip out my cock and fill her with it during her punishment, and now looking at her all fresh and clean again, she was still so hard to resist... she came over and handed me the collar and leash, as I attached it, her eyes staring longingly into mine, as I leaned my face close to her's kissing her tenderly on the lips... she deepened the kiss as we enjoyed a moment of passion before we left... she asked where we were going, and I said the park... this was the same park that we had sex in and she had cum all over my lap... basically the first entry in 'trousergate'... I led her there, by her leash... her heart pounding with excitement and anticipation... it was very late by this point, so everywhere was dark and deserted... we walked slowly, as I guided her with the leash... we got to the park and we stopped as I sat on a bench and I gestured for her to kneel down in front of me, I unzipped myself and she eagerly leant over me, immediately taking my cock in her mouth, greedily and hungrily as she licked and sucked at the head, whilst stroking and rubbing the shaft with her delicate fingers, that betray such a firm grip... she started to take me deeper and deeper into her mouth, then started to tease it with her tongue... she said that she'd been wanting this all night, before taking

me slow and deep, enjoying and savouring me... I sat back enjoying her tongue and mouth spoiling me as I pulled at her leash, pulling her head down onto me tighter... before releasing her as she came back up, saliva dripping from her mouth as she spits it onto my cock... and takes me deep again... I stood up as she shuffled with me, on her knees as I held onto her head in one hand, her leash in the other... she stared me deep in the eyes and said: are you going to make me gag on your cock?... I smiled and said that I was going to make her gag on it hard... good, she said before greedily sucking on me, taking me faster and deeper and sloppier, I pulled on her leash forcing her into me, making her take me deep into her throat... I'm rock hard as I force her head towards me, pushing myself into her as she gags and chokes, moving back off me, as saliva spills from her mouth, dripping all down her chest and down her dress... I barely gave her a breather before forcing my wet cock deep inside her mouth and throat again, penetrating her throat hard as she gagged once again, all over my cock, saliva coating it and dripping from her mouth, I pull her leash making her take me deep again, holding her tight on to me, so she can't move away, as she gags a third time... my cock is throbbing and I'm close... I then told her to make me cum... she started to rub me hard and fast with one hand and then both hands, before sucking on me again hard and fast, she's insatiable and it felt so good... she knows exactly how to please me... she started to massage my balls with one hand, slowly but firmly, whilst massaging my cock with the other... I said that I wanted to cum down her dress, all over her breasts... she angles my cock as she rubbed me hard, making me cum, as I shot load after load of my warm cum onto her as we both watched it drip and slide down her body, inside her dress, as she sighed in pleasure... after pumping me dry, she then took my cock in her mouth sucking and licking me clean... I couldn't get enough... Once she'd finished thoroughly enjoying my cock, I helped her up, and took her hand... I suggested a walk, so she can enjoy my cum dripping down all over her, but she said she really needed to pee, so we'd better get back... she also said how much she'd been wanting my cum all over her so badly... I said I wanted her's too, but that she ended up getting it all tonight... She grinned and said she'd enjoyed her punishment so much, despite her pussy being a little tender now from all the stimulation and cumming so much and so often... she said no one had ever made her cum so much, or as well as I did and do... I was very flattered by that and said that I would kiss and lick her tender pussy better when we got back to her's... She said she'd love that, and was already getting wet thinking about it... I reached under her dress as we walked together, feeling a damp spot on her panties, starting to finger her slowly and gently through them, as we walked... she started to to moan softly, it wasn't far now to her place, as I continued massaging her panties into her as we walked... she suddenly stopped, crossing her legs as my hand was still pressed to her, as she convulsed, let out an exasperated gasp and started gushing... I thought no way had she cum that easily, I had barely touched her, but as she kept gushing through her panties, under her dress, over my hand, down her legs and stockings, I realised that she had peed herself... I just started laughing as she stood there, a puddle beneath her, a shocked expression on her face as she looked at me then back down at her puddle... and she finally started laughing too... I took her hand, and led her back, saying that we'd better get her cleaned up... she said that she couldn't believe that I made her pee herself... I laughed and said, 'Me?! This was all your doing and not part of any punishment I had planned!'... as we walked she said she could feel it squelching in her shoes and into her stockinged feet... she said her panties were so wet too, but I said that was no change

from normal then... She gave me a withering look and we laughed... when we got back, I helped her get her pee and cum stained clothes off, then stripped off myself, joining her for a shower, dutifully kneeling underneath her giving her tender pussy a thorough kissing, tongueing and licking as promised, as the water fell over and around us, as I caressed her thighs and ass, and as she rubbed her clit, cumming in my mouth and in my face... it was so good to finally taste her, after hours of making her cum... she always tasted so good, and this time was no different... We finished our shower, but were too tired to remake her bed, so we got some blankets and pillows, and led out on her big sofa in her living room... we kind of made a little fort together... I got her comfortable and then she fell asleep in my arms, as I held her tight...

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gabriellapatterson-blog · 6 years

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Jonathan fic 2: Jackass

A/N: Lmao this ones short, only 2k.

In kindergarten we were a happy family. My mom, my newbrown brother, and me. Jonathan. A short little nobody. We were happy for all of the years following. Then 10th grade started. I even had a crush and she liked me back.

“So what do you think of Gabriella Patterson?” I heard Emma ask from behind me in math.

“You don’t need to tell me her last name, I know who she is.” I replied and rolled my eyes. She was the cheer captain. I’d have to be deaf to have no heard of her.

“Sooo, what do you think of her?” Emma wondered.

“What?” I asked and turned to face her. Why was she bringing this up? Did Gabriella like me? Was she trying to see how I felt through Emma? Girls do that kind of stuff, right?

I mean guys do it too so I guess I should say people do that kinda stuff, right?

“She’s cute, she seems passionate about all of the clubs she’s in. I see her at soccer practice sometimes when they put the girls and guys teams together for like meetings and stuff.” I replied. Gabriella couldn’t like me she was always so awkward around me, I thought she hated me and just didn’t want to talk to me?

“Okay okay well don’t tell her I told you but she’s like head over heels for you.” Emma almost squealed.

I furrowed my eyebrows, “Stop pulling my ear Emma, she hates me.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes and turned to focus on my math packet, “Or at least dislikes me.” I added since hate was a strong word.

“No no no no. She’s just too scared to talk to you because she likes you so much. You should hear her swoon sometimes.” My face went red at the thought of it. She was just cute and passionate and so lively. I’d love to go on a first date and get to know her better.

“Well, anyways, she’s too shy to ask you out. If you wanna shoot your shot though meet me at this location after school to plot.” She said before slipping me a note.

After the school day I waited behind the school for Emma, she came about 15 minutes late I thought maybe she was playing a prank but I knew Emma well enough to know she wouldn’t do that, finally she showed up with a frapé in her hand. “Sorry, Nina wanted to get coffee’s before I dropped her off. Anyways, are you ready for plan ‘get the girls’?” Emma asked to which I smirked at her wild naming.

“Sure thing Emmy.” I said before plopping down to sit on the grass.

“So what’s this master plan of yours?” I asked after we had sat in silence for a moment.

“Get this, okay so it might be a bit too elaborate for you but so far the plan is-” she paused to hold her hand up to dramatically wave along with her plan, “-You ask her out.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. She likes you so she’ll say yes if you ask her out.” Emma replied before sipping on her coffee flavored milkshake.

“So when does this master plan go down?” I asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon after soccer practice, before cheer. They get out at the same time so you just have to wait around the girls locker room. She should change from soccer practice outfit to cheer then you can get her there.”

“Why then? I’ll look like a creep just waiting outside of the girls locker room.” I asked because it was true.

“It’s the best time because then she’ll gush to Nina and I about you asking her out and I can give that information to you.” Emma replied.

“And what do you get out of this?” I asked.

“The juicy gossip first. Because if it’s this way she won't even have time to tell anyone else about how she feels about you asking her out. Cheer is right after so she’ll come to me.” Emma replied with a smug grin which made me roll my eyes.

“Right, not what I meant. I mean what do you get from facilitating this?” I asked.

“Oh, Gabby being happy is all I want from this.” She answered with a smile and sipped more of her drink before her watch started beeping.

“Crap! I have to go, Gabby and I are trying to catch a movie! Good luck tomorrow!” Emma said as she rushed up and wiped some of the grass off of her and vanished as quickly as she came. What was the point of that? Why couldn’t she have just said this in math?

I walked home and reached my house to a sour greeting. An amublance and my brother on a stretcher. I ran up to my mom. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“We don’t know yet he’s just passed out and I didn-” Mom started to say but was cut off by crying. We both quickly got in the ambulance and made our way to the hospital.

Doctor Patterson sat on a chair. It was a little ironic to me that I was talking to the mother of the girl I was going to ask out tomorrow, However then I couldn’t focus too much on that with the worry for my brother, “We’re not fully sure what it is. Our best guess if a case of late stage cancer. There are some tests we can run to be fully sure but they’re risky given the location on his heart. This is an extremely rare case but not unheard of. There are some treatments we can give him but they’re costly and unpleasant especially for a child. I don’t expect you to make a choice between further testing or treatment quickly given his age and the region of the illness, but keep in mind that some treatments are time sensitive and the cancer is already late. A nurse should be in here in a moment to help you through those choices. I’d love to stay and do so myself but given our staff and the recent mass truck accident you’ll have to excuse me.”

My little brother is going to die. He’s barely lived and he will die at ten years old. Doctor Patterson made it very clear. There’s nothing we can do without money. We’re twos, we shouldn’t have these problems. But with the rarity of the cases there just isn’t common and cheap medical procedures to deal with it. We can’t just let Matthew die. Why does his life have to come down to a monetary value?

The next day I wasn’t able to get out the words to Gabriella. When I saw her all I saw was Dr Patterson telling us again that my brother was going to die. It really sucks when the mother of the girl you liked is your doctor. All I could do was ask for a pencil and make a run for it. Emma was going to be pissed.

We took out loans. I took a job. We sold our house and moved into a cheaper apartment. Soccer players don’t start making money till later once they’re recognized. I don’t even know if I’m good enough. I changed my profession to law and waited. We waited, my mom and I for anything. Any sign that Matt was going to be okay. But there weren’t any. We just had to keep hoping and dragging ourselves further into debt. The one halloween I made a choice that I’m not proud of, but I stand by it.

The knocking on my door was loud and uncontrolled. I could see from the upstairs that it was Nina something. A popular girl from school. She was friends with the two other girls in the cheer squad, Emma Lawrence and Gabriella /Patterson/. The name brought me back to that dull hospital room. I walked downstairs and opened up the door. I had heard she was mean but I wasn’t really one for rumours. So I looked a little up at the girl and listened to her drunkenly confess her feelings for me.

I didn’t feel a thing for her. Sure she was attractive. She was planning on being a model after school or so I heard. With her height and looks it was believable. But I knew almost nothing about her and thus had no reason to date her. But I did anyways. If she was going to be a model I could double our income and pay for Matthews procedures. The week after graduation we moved down to a bigger town and I proposed. We needed to act fast for Matthew. Her modeling career was taken off and she seemed to like me.

So now it’s been almost a year. I’m back home from my first year of college and everything is going as planned. A little behind schedule but still good. I walked up to Emma’s house. We had made pancakes, and we had almost kissed.

Thinking about it I should have seen it coming. Everything that I liked about Gabriella was also in Emma. Emma was lively and optimistic and passionate. She was a bit more air headed in common sense though, but also incredibly book smart. She was funny and witty and everything Nina was not. But that was not the plan. I need Nina so my brother can have even a small chance of living.

I walked up to Emma’s house and rang the doorbell, I need to talk to her about what happened. Make sure she knows nothing else like that will occur. She opened the door with her eyes red and puffy.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Did I do this? Well I can’t tell her to back off now.

She leaned forward on my chest and wrapped her arms around me, “I THINK JEREMY IS CHEATING ON ME!” She wailed as she started crying on me.

I sighed and pet her head. “Alright, let’s go in and talk.” I said. We both slowly moved into her house. She plopped down on her sofa as I went to get her a glass of water.

“So, why do you think he’s cheating on you?” I asked.

She slowly picked up the cup and took a sip. She then paused for a moment before carefully phrasing her next words, “Well, I saw him kissing...another girl.” She said.

I nodded my head, “Yup, I mean I may be no genius but that seems like he’s cheating.” She looked up at me a little angry.

“Right right, bad time for jokes. So, what are you going to do about it?” I asked.

She thought for a moment, “Well, I have to break up with him. I think.” She said.

“You think?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well-” She paused for a moment and huffed, “-I just don’t know if it’s worth it. To be alone. You and Nina are going to be getting married- for whatever reason-, and Gabriella’s off possibly getting engaged to a prince. And what am I doing, ending a relationship because I was cheated on. I mean what if no one ever will really love me? I’m still just that fat ugly girl I’ve always been.” She sighed. My eyebrows furrowed.

“Emma that’s not true now nor was it ever. Even when you hadn’t changed to be how you are now you were still a magnificent girl with a magnetic personality. No relationship is better than having a shit one.” I replied.

“Take your own advice then, Jon.” She huffed as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.

“My relationship is not shit.” I defended. Yes it was an arrangement for money but it wasn’t unbearable. It was what I needed to do for my brother.

“Why are you with Nina?” She asked again. I knew if I told them they’d try to help. Emma would probably do about anything to help me, it’s just the kind of person she is. I don’t want to derail her life.

“It doesn’t matter.” I tried to brush it off.

She glared up at me, “Jonathan you’re going to marry the girl and you’re trying to tell me the reason you’re with her doesn’t matter? Bullshit. I’m your friend. I’ve been your friend for awhile now. Tell me what is up? This isn’t like you. You wanted to be a soccer player, not a lawyer, and don’t give me that well I like reading why not do law bull, reading books is entirely different. Your family clearly tried to get money all the sudden, you couldn’t ask Gabriella out, you switched your main occupation, you got engaged to that snake? Why?” She asked.

I stood up and paced as she walked trying to come up with some kind of excuse. I couldn’t deal with this anymore. With all of the stress, all of the lying, the constant pressure from Emma, “Because my brother’s dying okay!” I yelled which seemed to make her go quiet.

“Oh…” She paused and looked up at me, “What’s wrong with him?”

I sat back down on the sofa, “He has a tumour on his heart. It’s extremely rare, treatments cost too much for even twos.” He scoffed a laugh, “Really made us realize how little we actually had when we had to sell everything.”

“You could have asked me, I could have found something to give you or some way to help.”

“What would you give me Emma? Your moms got the one of the worst paying jobs for a three, you’ve been saving up for college, anything you could give me would either have been a drop in the pond or too much for you to give. This is my problem and I need to handle it. I couldn’t ask Gabriella out because she reminds me too much of her mom, I couldn’t be a soccer player because there's no guarantee of money in that, we sold everything trying to pay for his hospital bills where he’s been since they diagnosed him. Just dying more as each day passes. So yeah I’m going to marry Nina for money. Call me unethical or whatever, I don’t care. I just want my brother to live.”

Emma pressed her lips together as she scooted closer to me on the sofa, “I’m sorry.” She said.

“Just- please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to have a pity party thrown wherever I go.” I sighed.

“Jonathan, I get where you’re coming from. But this isn’t a place to be prideful. You should let people know. I bet they’d want to help.” Emma said. I knew she wouldn’t understand.

“Jon, you need to break things off with Nina.” She said.

“I can’t. It’s for the better I’m with her.”

“You don’t love her.”

“You’re being naive.” I replied as I looked down at Emma on the couch.

“You’re being a jerk to both yourself and Nina.”

“It’s what I need to do and if you can’t understand that then I think I should leave.”

Suddenly she gripped my shoulders and got on her knees sitting on them over my lap so I couldn’t leave. She now looked down at me.

“Stop being a jackass.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. Not with her looking down at me. Her nose being so close to mine, I just wanted everything in my head to shut off. Just for a second. I needed to give in to what I wanted, something I hadn’t done now since I was 16.

A hand went to Emma’s neck and I pulled her down so our lips would connect. My hand then moved to cup her cheek as one of hers ran through my hair. Suddenly she pulled away. Her face pale.

“You need to leave.” What?

“What?”

“Just go.” She said as she got off of my lap. I then stood and left as I was told. What the hell was up with that? What did I just do? Is she going to tell Nina? I mean that might end the engagement. God I just ruined everything didn’t I? Why did I kiss Emma? Especially when she was so upset still about Jeremy. I must really be a jackass.

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evenstevensranked · 6 years

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#11: Season 3, Episode 11 - “Hardly Famous”

An off-brand Harry Connick Jr. comes to town and holds auditions at LJH for a new performing arts school! Seeking change in her life, Tawny decides to audition and kills it! Louis’ world crumbles around him at the thought of her transferring -- to the point where he’d do anything to get into that school. ANYTHING...

This one opens with a handsome and famous guy by the name of Barry Hudson Jr. (who’s definitely supposed to be a “Great Value” Harry Connick Jr.), arriving at LJH in a freaking chopper lol. Of course, Ren is right there alongside Principal Wexler to welcome him! We learn that he’s there in search of talented recruits for a new performing arts school dubbed the Sacramento Arts Conservatory for Creative Youth a.k.a. “SACCY” (pronounced “sassy,” of course.) This is a very important moment because Barry asks Ren if she’ll be auditioning and she says “Um, no. I wish I could, but auditions are only for 7th and 8th graders,” yet Ren is still a student at Lawrence. This is subtly confirming once again that LJH does, in fact, include grades 7th-9th! Meaning Louis and his friends have moved up to 8th grade. I wonder why they never made a big deal about that or acknowledged it clearly? I feel like it would’ve been a good plot point for an episode or at least a passing comment like “We’re EIGHTH GRADERS NOW, guys! We’re no longer the Scrubs of the school. We’ve got the fancy bathroom with assorted toiletries!” I could totally see Louis saying something like that as a callback to Easy Crier, lol. Oh well. The common misconception that they stay in 7th grade for the whole series lives on...

Hello, Not Harry Connick Jr. Nice to meet you!

Ren is scheduled to be Barry’s “coordinator” for the duration of his stay, I mean... who else?! Actually, I’ll tell ya who else... State Senator Eileen Stevens shows up outta nowhere and gushes over Barry, claiming to be his biggest fan. Ren claims to be a big fan too, which is kinda weird? If he is based on Harry, he would’ve been around 36 at this point in his career and Ren is like... 15. But then again, Wexler mentioned that Barry is a Broadway star and we know that Ren is into opera and theater. So, maybe that makes sense. Anyway, Eileen mentions that she sponsored the bill that funded SACCY which is pretty cool imo, but she ends up fangirling and offers to give Barry a tour of the school as an excuse to spend time with him because she’s State Senator Eileen Stevens and can do whatever she wants.

It cuts to Tawny and Tom in the hallway chatting about SACCY. Tom’s planning on auditioning with a tap dance routine, but Tawny says he should sing instead because that’s really his “strength.” We’ll get to THAT later, lol. Tom is excited about the idea of going to school with ~sophistated artistic~ kids. Tawny tries to argue that there are kids like that at Lawrence, but right about then is when Louis and Twitty come walking over holding a “gum blob” made up of used gum they’ve collected from every nook and cranny around the school. Very sophisticated, indeed. Needless to say, Tawny and Tom are disgusted.

Tawny and Tom both tossed the blob into the air after realizing how many diseases it might be carrying and Louis is about to have a heart attack. Also this screenshot makes it look like Shia doesn’t have legs below the knee? I’m perplexed.

At lunch that day, Louis is taunting Tom about wanting to go to SACCY and how embarrassing it would be. Twitty agrees and says “Everyone in that school is gonna be walking around in tights and feathered caps! Does that sound like fun?!” Tom slowly replies “Well..... What color’s the feather?” which cracks me up. There’s an immediate collective groan from Louis and Twitty which is great. Tawny defends Tom’s desire to attend a school where people “appreciate the beautiful things in life,” which... being talented and going to an arts school isn’t a prerequisite to appreciating the beautiful things in life but ok. Louis says that he finds used gum beautiful and Tawny has had enough.

It cuts to the audition room where everyone is setting up. Eileen returns with Barry after giving him that school tour which ran overtime because she didn’t know where anything was. Wow! Eileen also took this opportunity to invite Barry to dinner. Yikes!

The auditions start up and we get a montage. Louis and Twitty are sitting in to support Tom, but spend their time making fun of the other auditioners while they wait. You might’ve seen these gifs floating around the interwebz:

As you can see in the first one, Tawny is so over their antics. I love how they’re not even discreet about it tho?! Like, what the heck that’s so obnoxious to do while someone’s auditioning -- especially in a small classroom. I would’a kicked them outta there so fast!

It’s finally Tom’s turn to audition and Doris (who is played by Fred Meyers’ real-life mom, btw!!) is there to accompany him on piano lol. He performs “Dear Old Dad” which is about wanting to marry a girl who is just like your mom. Oh, my lord. Tom’s relationship with Doris is such a strange one. I can’t tell if it’s innocent or a ridiculously inappropriate obvious in-joke like Miranda Sings and Uncle Jim. Either way, he completely butchers the song and it’s fantastic. Part of me always assumed it was a song written for the show and the other part of me always hoped it was a real song. I never bothered to google it until today and I’m oddly happy to discover that it’s legit. After the audition, Tom casually says “So long, suckers!” as he walks off arrogant as all heck arm n’ arm with Doris. He thinks he’s got it in the bag. I can’t. Remember how Tawny said that singing is what Tom is best at? Imagine being so untalented that singing horribly is your strong suit.

It had to be gif’d because Tom is always quality content.

Louis and Twitty are about to peace out now that Tom’s audition is over, when suddenly... Tawny’s name is called as the next auditioner. AWWWWW, SNAP!!!! The slopski’s hit the fanski now, guys. The juicy drama has arrived. Tawny’s auditioning for the theater department and explains that her reasoning for doing so is because she’s “ready for a change.” Twitty is all “Dude, I think she’s serious,” and Louis retorts “OH, YA THINK SO?!” I love sarcastic Louis, man.

Tawny proceeds to perform the most melodramatic monologue from fictional production “Fried Green Magnolias” HAHA. (An obvious humorous combination of the films Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias.) I have no idea how Margo Harshman kept a straight face when she hits the reveal “...he wasn’t just a turtle. He was my best friend” line. To be honest though, this scene is a great example of the stark contrast between the talent Disney Channel was churning out back then in comparison to now. Margo is playing a character within a character who’s also playing a character in this scene and she is selling the hell out of it. Whereas newer Disney actors can’t even pull off a regular ‘ol crying scene without looking like they’re laughing. So, yeah. Tawny kills the audition and everyone’s raving about her performance. Louis is immediately torn up about Tawny wanting to leave LJH and the fact that she’s pretty much a lock to get into the school.

My heart.

Louis approaches Tawny later that day and congratulates her on a great audition, but he’s clearly itching to know why the heck she wants to leave when Louis ~the love of her life~ Stevens is right in front of her, damn it! But of course, he’s not gonna come right out and ask that. Tawny is pretty dead set on transferring if she gets in. Louis beats around the bush saying things like “You realize what you’ll be leaving behind, right....? Like... Pizza Stick Thursday! And, ya know that water fountain on the 2nd floor? The water isn’t even brown anymore, IT’S JUST TAN!” Tawny is unimpressed and says that it’s gonna take a little more than “almost clear water” to make her stay. I always got a kick outta this, lol. She explains that she wants to be around people who care about things. So, basically, her decision was motivated by being fed up with Louis’ immaturity. You can tell that Louis is crushed about this. I love it. We’ve seen time and time again that Tawny’s opinion means the world to him.

It cuts to dinner that night at the Stevens house where Barry Hudson Jr. makes his grand appearance. Eileen and Ren are dressed to the nines and continuing to fawn over Barry. The best part of this bit is when Steve finishes preparing cheese and crackers and announces “I just cut some cheese in the kitchen. Why don’t we all go in there!” I love Tom Virtue. The tables eventually turn though when Barry recognizes Steve as Steve “Stiffy” Stevens (which is definitely another innuendo) from his football days when he played for Michigan State. Apparently, that’s Barry’s alma mater and now he’s the one totally fanboying.

The dinner turns into a nostalgic football sesh between Barry and Steve, leaving Ren and Eileen totally ostracized lol. Louis interrupts and pulls Ren aside to talk. This is really where the episode starts tugging at the heartstrings. Louis pretty much begs for her to help him get an audition for SACCY. Ren immediately knows that the real reason he wants to audition is because of Tawny, she thinks it’s sweet of him -- but all of the slots are already taken. Louis will not take no for an answer and we get one of the greatest moments that foreshadowed Shia LaBeouf’s future. He shouts “JUST DO IT, REN! If ya say ya can, ya can!!!” I made a Vine about this and it was my Vine claim to fame with nearly 1M loops. *takes a bow.*

Ren ends up working some magic and gets Louis an audition the next day. Oh, man. This is so great. Louis drags Twitty into it and the two do a totally improvised interpretive dance narrated by Tom. Tom also has an incredible line before they start the audition: “I’d just like to take this opportunity to say that although I was not selected to attend SACCY, I bear no ill will towards Barry Hudson Jr. or any member of his family.” He says it in the most menacing and creepy voice. TOM IS THE BEST. Louis and Twitty begin their audition and, well... It’s one for the books...

youtube

I’ve flip-flopped over how I feel about this scene. I used to be in absolute stitches, then I thought it was cringy for a while, but now I’m back to dying laughing. This is definitely one of the best moments ever, lol. Doris rocked that banjo solo.

Tawny is me when she witnesses the audition and accepts the fact that she’s unconditionally in love with Louis and the great lengths he’ll go to in order to stay close to her. She kinda melts there for a sec. Same.

Later that day, Louis comes to terms with Tawny possibly leaving and decides to be mature about it and wish her good luck. But Tawny lies and says she didn’t get in. “It’s okay. I don’t mind staying here with.... my friends. :)” she coos, and the emotional piano kicks in as Tawny heads outside to catch her ride home. I’d like to point out that Tawny has a goofy picture of Louis in her locker here. Precious. She also has a photo of her and Popular Mute Tad Taylor from the Sadie Hawkins Dance too! As well as a photo of the first show The Twitty-Stevens Connection played together. Ahh. I love these tiny details. Again, it makes the show’s universe feel more authentic.

Just then, Louis runs into Ren and rants to her about Barry Hudson Jr. not knowing what talent is! (“Uhhh... You really stunk up there,” / “No, no, no. Not me! Tawny!”) hahahahaha. He’s so confused as to why she didn’t get in because “her audition was awesome.” Ren agrees and discloses “yeah, that’s why she got accepted. But she told me she wasn’t going...” Louis puts two and two together and runs after Tawny in true rom-com fashion. I’m a sucker for this. He catches her right as she’s getting into her mom’s car and the lil lovebirds share an ~emotional~ glance across the parking lot.

THE MOST UNDERRATED DISNEY CHANNEL PAIRING OF ALL TIME RIGHT HERE!!!! What a love story, tbh.

And that’s it!

The final minute bit is Louis deciding to give up the gum blob and pass it down to Beans. Undoubtedly because owning a gum blob is immature and Tawny makes Louis wanna be a better man basically. Gotta love dat development.

Note the sad clown painting on Louis’ wall! He painted that back in Season 2′s “Ren-Gate.” Such a small detail I never noticed before. Love it!

This was always one of my favorites. I love this episode. Mainly because of the Louis/Tawny storyline, of course. I thoroughly enjoy seeing hopeless and confused Louis here doing everything in his power to stay close to Tawny and ultimately grow up a bit in the end. The dinner with Barry is probably the lowest point, but it doesn’t go on for too long so I’m not bothered by it. This is just a solid episode all around. It’s got character development, ace comedy, emotional weight, and a few great quotes!

Thanks for reading! We’re officially hitting the Top 10 now and I cannot believe it. Wow.

Don’t forget about the Disqus comment section below ;)

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purkinje-effect · 6 years

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The Purkinje Effect, 21

Table of Contents

“Such extensive damage.”

Carrington muttered to himself indiscernibly as he looked Geek over with various ginger palpations and medical devices. As the doctor scrutinized him, Geek sat obediently on the edge of one of the stone coffins, which had been simply left rather than move it when the Railroad had relocated its base of operations to this crypt. The stethoscope was ice-cold when it went to his chest and back to listen, but Geek didn’t really mind. The doctor clicked his tongue several times in disdain for the costliness of the treatment Geek had accepted so readily from Tinker Tom. The sample of excretion the doctor took from Geek’s scarred skin singed the swab, and he murmured in displeasure before trying again carefully with the side of an aluminum-barrel fountain pen. Geek watched while he did something with it, but couldn’t make out what he was doing.

“I’m surprised you’re even standing. This looks superficially similar to ghoulification, but I can’t reasonably assess the condition of your internal organs to verify that. What I can safely say is that you have definitely mutated. That dark mess you made seems to be a metal excretion achieved through a thiolated salt solution. Simply put, the diluted sulfuric acid from Tom’s serum infused in your bloodstream and a chemical reaction took place which leached all kinds of metal from your body via your sweat glands. Lead, iron, aluminum, even traces of uranium. That sludge in the floor will become a rich metal slag once the sweat evaporates. Did you all mean it literally when you said you’d eaten a Synth? Absolute revulsion aside, if you meant a Gen I or Gen II, that didn’t even have living tissues in it. No part of the earlier models isn’t toxic to a human being.”

Geek had watched Carrington gesticulate in near-exasperation without comment, taking in all he had to say.

“Mutated huh? Mutated... further.” He let out a heavy sigh, and picked at his now vacant right eye socket. “You wanted the whole story? I haven’t pieced everything together yet, but I’ll tell you what I have of it. I’m from Vault 82. South-Central Mass. I haven’t figured out what exactly the experiment was, but I know we was guinea pigs, an’ I know it had to do with feedin’ us goo for every meal. I just can’t tell ya whether the food dispensers screwin’ up was all according t’plan. I’ve got real cynical about all this shit over the years... I know for a fact I’m not the only one of us that started supplementin’ his diet with whatever appealed to him. The doc in Worcester called it pica, eatin’ all the things I personally can rattle off’s been on the menu, past hundred years or so. The food paste stopped bein’ enough on its own, when it was supposed to be a master-food with all the vitamins and junk anybody needed. Maybe it wasn’t the machines. Maybe it spoiled. Who knows how long the experiment was supposed to go on.”

“Why do you say your nutritional dependency was a mutation?”

“I’ve eaten a thousand different things, ate ‘em solid. An’ they never came out... undigested. I’ve been digestin’ everything I’ve eaten. Makes sense how I sweated? ...the metal. But it makes me wonder if that’s what use my sweat will serve me now, or if I gotta keep gettin’ more a Tom’s shots to detox.” Geek looked up knowingly and pointed at Carrington to catch him before garnering commentary, recognizing a gap in his story. “But y’know what I ain’t been digestin’? Actual fuckin’ food.”

“You... might try some normal food now.” Deacon had come up to them after changing back into his casual white dress shirt and slacks. “Ease into it.”

“You’ve mentioned preservatives before bein’ a factor in all this,” Hancock started, having been sitting in the doctor’s chair with his arms crossed the whole time. “Mister Intel might have a point. Maybe prewar food ain’t totally off-limits to ya. Fancy Lads are about as much of a nonfood as it gets. An’ you were eating on that tub of shortening. Usually easing into eating food again after being critically ill means lots of soup, but for you it might mean just bridging back to what you’re supposed to be eating.”

“You’re not entirely wrong to speculate such,” Carrington nodded, brow wrinkled as he looked over to Hancock briefly. He’d forgotten he was there, he’d been so quiet. “People who are born into a settlement with higher caliber food sources, like Diamond City with its multiple quality restaurants, tend to do very poorly adapting to wasteland fare. But wastelanders who’ve been long accustomed to RadBug for protein, tato for their starch staple, and shelf-stable prewar food--they tend to be able to eat anything. I’ve read in medical journals, as well, that cultures with lean diets adjust abominably to high-fat cuisine, and vice versa. You might have been unable to stomach unpreserved foods because you were shocking your system. Which... brings me to the other half of my prognosis.”

“I... just might try it. There’s no tellin’ whether Tom’s shot might’ve complicated the range of what I can stomach.”

“And that’s exactly what I was getting at. I likely couldn’t pry the exact ingredients of the injection from Tom, but I know there’s bacteria cultures in it. Part of what makes the human digestive tract so successful is a symbiosis with key bacteria. Honestly, before you mentioned confidently that you were digesting the things you’ve swallowed, I thought perhaps the issue was that the toxins of what you were ingesting had killed yours off, but now I only feel more confident in theorizing that if you were mutated, so were the bacterial cultures that live in your stomach and intestines. You have adapted to eat the way you’ve been eating, that’s for certain. But whether the bacteria in Tom’s injection will end up competing with those inside you, only time and tests will tell. Antibiotics can be complicated to predict.”

“Does this mean bloodwork?” Geek flinched. He didn’t want to know whether his blood was still neon pink after all this.

“Yes, but to be perfectly fair with you, it’s going to be slow-going. I’ve only got the time at the moment to have this discussion because your dramatic arrival with my prototype has frozen progress in HQ.” Carrington tourniqueted Geek’s upper arm with a length of rubber, and easily found a vein. Steeled for the stick, the pink ghoul readily let the doctor draw four vials. As predicted, the blood nearly looked like hot pink milk. They both reacted poorly to the sight. “Once business resumes as normal, I will only have so much time to scrutinize your exact condition to give you a definitive diagnosis. I’m still not positive you’re not terminal, but this once-over gives me the reassurance to turn you loose to take stock for yourself of how your body reacts to its mutations.”

“...So you’re still tellin’ me I’m on forced leave.”

“You’re not even hired yet!” Carrington massaged his temples with one hand and grunted, then pulled composure into his shoulders, and snapped the rubber off Geek’s arm. The doctor then capped the blood samples to deposit them temporarily into a medical tray nearby. “But yes, I’m not even considering taking you on until you see whether you can function a week from now. I can tell your body’s still eliminating toxins. You’re going to continue sweating, and this sweat is caustic. There’s a good chance you’re going to accumulate further damage.”

“Can’t get much worse,” Geek rasped jokingly, messing with the hair he had left. “Sweat don’t really burn me much, but I seen what it did to that cotton ball. I’ll be careful.”

Carrington handed him his jumpsuit and armor, having gotten to the end of his patience with his impromptu patient. Exhaustion dripped from his dismissal.

“Have a care, will you?”

“Do my best.” Geek didn’t put his coveralls back on just yet, dumping them into Hancock’s objecting lap. He purposely kept hold of one of his shoulder pieces. “Before we leave, though, I gotta talk to Tom.”

Approaching the eccentric from across the room, Geek interrupted Tom scrutinizing something on the terminal on the desk at which he sat. The man mumbled to himself, eyes dull with information.

“Tinker Tom?” he started. Tom jerked up from his train of thought and came to.

“Hm? Oh, it’s you! You really mean it, that you feel better? That’s definitely the first time that’s ever happened with my serum.”

“Yeah,” Geek smiled. “I think so. Sorry to interrupt. I’m about to head out, but I had to do two things first. One, I had to thank you. Your treatment was unorthodox, but I think it was exactly what I needed. And two, Carrington mentioned you’re the quartermaster?”

“No need to thank me,” Tom beamed, slouching back in his desk chair. “And that’s correct. You hittin’ me up for goods? I don’t know what all I can rightly part with, since you’re not a bonafide agent yet, but I’m sure I have something juicy.”

“I ain’t lookin’ for handouts, especially not after how much y’helped me out with my health. I need somethin’ to keep myself occupied while I take this week to recoup. How much leather can y’spare? I’d like to upgrade my armor.”

“Man, me an’ my boys have got better than leather! You should come and see me when you pass the test. I will fix you up.” He sprung up and began digging through the metal shelving that lined the walls of his sprawling corner of the crypt. “What kinda customizing you thinking about in the mean time? Dense plate-layered? Deep-pocketed? Maybe somethin’ pneumatic? I got all kinds of toys. Great stuff to act as a stabilizer layer. A jar a wingnuts, makes great studded armor...”

“I already got all kinds a pockets.” He surreptitiously pulled out several hundred dollar bills where Tom could see the denominations himself, for emphasis. Tom blinked. “You gotta point, though. Mods seem more useful’n addin’ more layers. Got any mods that’d keep my arms an’ legs from... gettin’ broke so easy?”

“--I’ve got just the thing.” He produced a long wooden box after rooting around a bit, dropping it excitedly on the desk. “How does the guts from power armor legs sound? The components are compact enough to incorporate into greaves. This pair just hasn’t gotten used for it yet.”

“It sounds like you’re just about as crazy as I am.” Geek grinned stupidly, eyeing the box and tucking the bills in the bib pocket of Tom’s overalls. “Mmh. Can I part you with two or three tool aprons, too?”

“Oh man, that’s the kinda leather y’wanted? You really are a pocket fiend.”

The two went back and forth spitballing concepts for a while, but Hancock came up to interrupt, arms full of Geek’s things.

“How long am I supposed to sit over here with your purse while you chat up this mad scientist in your underwear?”

Geek took them from him apologetically.

“We can continue this in a week,” Tom insisted, understanding Hancock wanted to leave. He shooed off the two of them pleasantly. “I’ll be schemin’ up something special for ya. Have fun on vacay, my friend.”

“I like somebody that’d spoil you.” Hancock chuffed and patted Geek on the back as they let themselves out the back way. Down the stairs, and through the waterlogged, unpaved patch. “I gotta find a way to spoil ya worse, though.”

“And just what exactly do you call what you n’ me did at the quarry?”

Hancock barked and grinned at him.

“The beginnings of a fine friendship.”

#fallout 4 fanfic #hancock #fo4 fanfic #carrington #tinker tom #hair loss tw #needles tw #deacon #geek #fo4 oc #fallout 4 oc #fallout 4 #the purkinje effect

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iesharael-blog · 5 years

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1/5/19 Happy New Year

ok im gonna be honest... I dont remember the past 5 days other than i’m sick and can barely breath and i mad the mistake of going to the movies with some friends. i wanted to see mary poppins again so me and 4 friends were gonna go, well after we already planned that, one made me really uncomfortable when he was drunk messaging me and not accepting that i did not want a relationship with him. even going so far as to say he hates my ex simply cause he got me first. so im gonna call these friends A B C (as well as D and E to explain backstory) and explain who they are with a little key so i can give the story without being revealing of identities and what not.

Me - [fem] myself. I’ve know them for a little over 20 years and they tend to be a complete child and was treated as the child of friends back in high school and cared for as such. highly susceptible to emotional manipulation especially from people they trust

A - [fem] my best friend since 5th grade who i fondly refer to as my mama bear. my amazing protector of both physical and emotional battle grounds. the very person who’s house i ran to when i needed time away from my parents to figure things out before asking for therapy.

B - [male] twat i met my junior year who i started calling dad at some point and has since become completely unstable. very egotistical and leaves arguments if he isn’t winning constantly playing the victim card.

C - [male] guy who i was randomly introduced to through his younger brother adding him to a discord server i run as an attempt to shut down my ex for daring to call the unholy texts that are The Harry Potter Series “mediocre” (i also have his phone number randomly cause i used to know his twin) and has been friends with B for a while even going so far as to have a running joke of them being in a relationship even tho they are both straight.

D - [fem] B’s ex who i refer to as step mama and who tends to be fairly motherly towards me

E - [male] dude i was friends with in highschool and who was good friends with B

My Ex - [male] still on very good terms and he is very caring towards me. he tries to make sure im doing whats best for me and not letting anyone manipulate or harm me

ok that was bigger than i expected but im sick im not thinking straight so this gonna be a bit weird and long... ok heres the story:

so im all like “hey i wanna see Mary Poppins again!” and B and C are like yeah lets go! with B immediately stating how he had planned to see it with B before they broke up, already putting a slight damper on the thing but we got past it. a day or two after i end up with me and B agreeing (timestamp 9:30) to message on discord between 11-12 as well as set up a server for us and his little sis to play on. (the wait was for him watching doctor who with his family) so i shower and puzzle and finally with no word by 11:42 i message him asking for when he thinks he will be on to which i get the message “I don’t know I’m really drunk it’s gonna be a blast “... and now a transcript of what followed next copied word for word (well privacy edits) time stamps (and spelling errors) included:

ME Last Sunday at 11:44 PM

but i guess mary poppins day discusion will wait for tomorow

me and your sister agreed on doing ftb sky adventers

B Last Sunday at 11:45 PM

Btw

Hehe

I shouldn’t say it

ME Last Sunday at 11:45 PM

say it

cant say btw then not say it

dick

B Last Sunday at 11:46 PM

Well

Uhm

ME Last Sunday at 11:46 PM

yes?

B Last Sunday at 11:46 PM

I’m unhappy with [MY EX]

Because I was maybe going to ask you out

I can say this because I’m drunk

ME Last Sunday at 11:47 PM

omg lol (in the this is a funniy situation way, not laughing at you)

thought you were repulesed by me? yeesh [B] keep your story straight

after all i did like you a bit before i met [MY EX], but hes always nice and youre... drunk nice

so eta for server mister cassanova?

B Last Sunday at 11:51 PM

No I want to be nice to you sober too but for some reason I get scared so I hide behind lies

Idk a while

Tonight

ME Last Sunday at 11:51 PM

you dont have to be scared, im just shocking

B Last Sunday at 11:52 PM

Well if we go to Mary poppins

Even with [C], who I’d like to be there

Maybe a mini date?

ME Last Sunday at 11:52 PM

no.

B Last Sunday at 11:52 PM

Aqwww

ME Last Sunday at 11:52 PM

sorry but i cant date again not yet

B Last Sunday at 11:53 PM

I’m gonna be sad

ME Last Sunday at 11:53 PM

i told you why me and [MY EX] broke up

B Last Sunday at 11:53 PM

But when I’m sober I’m going to regret most of this

ME Last Sunday at 11:53 PM

its not good for me to be in a relationship rn

B Last Sunday at 11:53 PM

I know

Well

Actually

ME Last Sunday at 11:54 PM

look if things dont work out with [MY EX] once my brain is on the path to fixed then we will see, until then dont wait up for me

B Last Sunday at 11:54 PM

I think you do need to be with at least someone because when you are depressed and thrown out of it you need someone to relate to and talk and make you feel comforted and loved

Time alone isn’t the answer

ME Last Sunday at 11:55 PM

except i have friends for that hon

B Last Sunday at 11:55 PM

Yeah

You dooo

ME Last Sunday at 11:55 PM

you dont need a relationship relationship

i have a [A]

B Last Sunday at 11:55 PM

Well

Is she helping

Are you loved

ME Last Sunday at 11:55 PM

i talk to her about everything mental

i talk to [IRRELEVANT MALE FRIEND] about physical questions

creepy right? well this kept going with me getting more and more uncomfortable and refusing to accept that i dont want a relationship (a quote from B in reference to my ex: “ He might be your daddy, but I’m your daddy” tf? and yes he bolded) to the point that i was just sticking around so hed put a server up for the pack. then a bit before 2 o’clock i say that im gonna get off at 2 cause that when i had planned to, to which he (im not sure if intentionally) manipulated me into staying on till 3 o’clock because he would tell me about a personal thing i was curious about. finally 3 o’clock comes around, we call and i hear the story and once the server is up he tells me hes gonna go play league with some people (note random online people not irl people he supposedly likes) and will be back in 20 mins. i figure what the hay ill wait. 40 mins later he says hes not getting back on... obviously im furious. (screen shot of convo i sent to someone day of to explain without having to retype - im red)

next day comes and im uncomfortable and C ends up buying minecraft so he can play with me on the server, we get in call with a now sober B when he gets on and i confront him about the messages even sharing screens for proof (i learned its best not to 1v1 argue him cause im easy to manipulate) and he claims to not remember it but whenever C is away during the call he says things that sound slightly suggestive. at this point id like to note that i have a full recording of me scrolling through the messages as an unlisted video on my youtube channel and have sent it to people who with no prior suggestion have described it as “rapey” and warned me against him. my ex in particular warned me that i am very susceptible to an abusive relationship rn due to my mental state and that he seemed very unstable. at this i decided to invite A to go to mary poppins too since she would be a good protector of me should anything happen and to have a more familiar presence there.

now here is the juicy part. so D was talking to C where C was complaining how clingy B was becoming and how creepy he was being towards me so she quickly messages me on snap warning me that he is a ‘manipulative possessive jerk who will see me as nothing but an object to conquer and get mad when you are unhappy’ after hearing this i rembered B’s story about D cheating on him with E before D and E got together and started to wonder how true that was. me and D had a lovely conversation following that about my singular past relationship and her current one and blah blah blah.

MOVIE DAY: (C canceled the night before so now it is just me B and A going) we get picked up by A and all seems well with everyone being friendly and B seeming kinda cautious. i think hes regretting the convo so i decide to be nice. the movie was great and we decide to hang in the mall after (i made a build a bear). so while we were hanging at one point he scared me when after he provoked me into my light face wacks (cat play pretty much, wouldnt damage the most fragile ice) he grabs my hand to stop me and me thinking “oooo game fun!” i start to dig my nail into his hand to get let go of but instead of him reacting how i expected (letting go so i can escape) he looks at me with the scariest most serious face ive ever seen and (this part still scares me) says “you dont want to go down this path” he finally lets go and i go sit by the hot topic earing displays while A and B look at buttons then when B sits next to me while A waits to pay he basically called my claw abuse. (like what? you grab my hand hard enough that it hurt when i was doing the same playful banter weve done for years and apparently im the abuser cause i do my standard get away strategy of hurting the hand thats holding me? what did you expect me to do? just comply and calmly stand there with my hand held above y head in yours?) after we leave hottopic we are in the car and somehow we get to the topic of the drunk conversation.

so im talking and trying to explain how uncomfortable he made me( and how i was afraid to be alone around him and how i had been scared remembering that he not only knows where i live but where the spare key is!!!!) and i dare use the word “rapey” ... lets see if i can get a definition for yall but first ill say how i use that word - “rapey. an adjective to describe a situation in which one party becomes uncomfortable and afraid to the point that they feel if this continues they could be raped or otherwise hurt/abused in the future” - and now the second definition from urban dictionary: “Rapey A guy who's creepy, and hugs or kisses inappropriately. He has a rapist lure. You don't think he would do it but definitely gives off that vibe. i.e. creepy hugger at the office.” - now i apparently made a huge error in daring to use that word to describe the conversation where he would not accept me saying no to a relationship (and at one point asked me my ex’s dick size - which i did not give) and continously stated how using words liek that could end up getting him in jail. A and i look at eachother incredulously and try to argue with him a bit but ultimately decide to just get back to the point and bring it back to how uncomfortable i was and how he needs to change his attitude and appologize but he keeps bringing it back to that word. fianlly im close to tears and mutely hugging my yoshi in the front seat and the whole car goes silent. A offers that i sleep over tonight which i decline knowing im sick and need my bed and we talk a bit about my ex and goign out for ramen with him sometime. once i was home i removed B from discord snap and steam and will remove him next time im on league as well. he was removed from my server and i left any i had in common with him. i am done trying to forgive him.

on a brighter note i got sims 4 cause C bought it for me since i couldn't refund his ticket i prepaid for and im learning how to get better from this stupid dry throat. hopefully ill be better by Tuesday so i can go back to work at the library!

thanks for reading! <3

i know this was a long one and probably makes half sense cause of the code letters and the fact that i am writing this while very light headed <3

0 notes

thelastpitchbender · 6 years

Text

Memory | Chapter 2

Summary: Link must relearn how to be a Champion before he defeats Calamity Ganon – but first, he needs to stop setting fires and backflipping off of cliffs. It’s too bad that his attempts to be a responsible hero keep getting interrupted by dumb things like owing people money, remembering hardly anything about who he is, and Yiga Clan assassins trying to kill him.

Rating: T for language, violence, dark stuff, and dumb, bad humor.

Read on: FanFiction | AO3

Chapter index here.

Chapter 2

In Which Link Tries to Pay His Debts

Link and Princess finally reached Woodland Stable just before dawn. He hadn’t trusted himself to stay on the horse at a gallop when he was so hungry and exhausted, so he had left the pace up to Princess and hoped that the horse would make some kind of noise to let him know if there were any monsters around.

Link was startled out of his half-asleep state when Princess came to a halt. Panic shot through his mind. He fumbled behind him for the handle of the claymore.

But the Goddess had been with him. He blinked blearily, recognizing through a haze of exhaustion that they were at the stable. Smart horse. That was why he hadn’t simply traveled to the nearest shrine with the Sheikah Slate. Princess was too valuable to leave out in the wild. He would have to be returned to Princess Zelda when Link finally destroyed Calamity Ganon.

About to fall asleep on his horse, Link lost his train of thought. A good thing, too. Else he would have started dwelling on the Calamity and on Princess Zelda. He was just being stupid, he thought scornfully. The blood moon always put him on edge and made him overly emotional. He needed to sleep.

Somehow, he managed to stumble inside the stable, where the owner Kish was reclining on a chair, yawning. “Oh, hey, Link,” he murmured, glancing at the other sleeping patrons. “Your usual?”

Link just yawned and nodded. Kish gestured to the bed behind him. He would doubtlessly force the twenty rupees out of Link when he woke up.

His sleep was pleasantly deep and dreamless, but when he was dragged out of unconsciousness by some sort of commotion outside, his eyes were crusted shut and there was a foul taste in his mouth. “Fi’ more minuss,” he mumbled into his pillow.

A loud shriek startled him fully awake, setting his heart racing. Link bolted upright and snatched up his guardian sword, looking wildly around the inside of the stable.

Nothing. There was no one to be impressed by the sword, either. Link huffed and peered out through the open doors of the stable at the shadows cast by some nearby trees. It was around noon.

The shriek sounded again, and Link wanted to laugh. Oh. It was just an obnoxious bird in one of the surrounding trees. His paranoia born of being a warrior wasn’t always helpful, it seemed.

Just as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, his muscles screamed in pain and seized up, and his stomach let out the largest grumble he’d ever heard from it. Link took in a sharp breath and wondered if he shouldn’t just go back to sleep and let the world carry on without him. No moblins, no starvation, no Calamity Ganon. Sounded perfectly agreeable to him.

Then his stomach grumbled again, and he decided that there was to be no more sleep anyway until he ate. He may have been blessed by the Goddess Hylia, but he was still a mortal Hylian. A poor, sore Hylian, endlessly abused by his destiny.

Someone owes me for all this,he thought decisively as he sheathed the guardian sword and strapped the claymore to his back. I want a royal chef at my command. Perhaps at a small estate somewhere around here. He thought for another second. And a dog. I want a dog.

Link hobbled out of the stable and glanced around. It was a beautiful day outside. Shifting patterns of shadows dappled the ground as leaves rustled in the breeze. But the stable grounds were curiously empty, he noted with an uneasy frown. The paths around the front of the stable were undisturbed, the covered crates to his right were unbroken and unmoved, but there was no one around, not even on the wooden deck to his left. Even Kish was absent from his typical place behind the counter.

It was just his paranoia, he reassured himself. There was no reason to believe that everyone was in danger all the time. Well, besides the tinyproblem of the Calamity. But that was different. Still, Link found himself unable to fully relax.

Link’s gaze was eventually drawn to several crisp, bright red apples just sitting out on a stack of crates, ready for the taking. Who did that? Everyone at the stable knew Link would eat them all. He made a beeline for the apples, stomach clenching painfully, trying in vain not to seem tooweird about it.

He’d snatched up an apple and taken a massive bite, luxuriating in the delicious, juicy sweetness of its flesh, when someone shrieked his name from behind him.

Link whirled around. “Whuh?” he yelled through a mouthful of apple, a bit flying out onto the ground, right hand going for his sword.

He had to look down before he saw Shamae, a girl of about five or six who shared the same braided dark hair and wide eyes as her older sister Breen. “Did you bring more balloons?” Shamae asked. Her voice had only one volume: loud.

Link had to pause for a second to choke his mouthful of apple down, then he grinned broadly. “You bet I did. Killed a bunch of octoroks just for you.”

Shamae squealed in delight. “Let’s play with them!” she shouted. With much more enthusiasm than Link felt.

But he only shrugged, unable to stop himself from feeling at least a little bit pleased that Shamae liked him. He liked most kids. They were fun. “Sure, let’s do it,” he said.

Link patiently herded the little girl back the way he had originally come, pausing for a second to glance at two figures on the road headed towards the stable. One of them was clearly Beedle; the traveling salesman’s silhouette looked just as round and bulky as ever. The other was less distinct. Probably some average traveler.

“Hey, let’s prank that guy,” Link said, pointing the traveler out to Shamae. “We’ll spook him with flying barrels when he gets here.”

Shamae hopped a bit and clapped her hands. “Let’s make the barrels fly way up high!” she shouted.

Link grinned. “Okay, but we gotta be quieter. And we should hide behind that tree.” He pointed at a tree that stood on the opposite side of the wood deck, alongside the shore of Pico Pond. Shamae nodded her head vigorously in agreement. Link picked up one of the barrels clustered around a table and carried it over to the fence. He was about to toss the barrel over the fence when he heard Kish calling out to him.

“Link, did you pay me yet?” The stable master was making his way over to him from the direction of the pond.

Shit.He owed Kish more than just the 20 rupees from the night before. He’d racked up a tab from the several nights he had spent here. Especiallyfrom that night he had splurged on the extra nice bed.

Dammit, he knew that had been a poor use of his money.

Link surreptitiously slipped his hand into his wallet. He had only the purple rupee he’d gotten the night before and another red rupee. He owed Kish a hundred rupees. And he knew that Kish knew he was coming up with excuses not to pay it.

Kish was close enough for Link to see his raised eyebrow, and he panicked. “One second, I gotta talk to Breen first,” he blurted. He pressed the octo balloons into Shamae’s hand and barreled past the stable owner without bothering to look at how angry he probably was.

The best place he could think to go was the shrine across the pond, and soon enough, he spotted Breen sitting in front of it. Link strolled over to the shrine at the other side of Pico Pond, trying his best to seem casual. The shade cast by the reddish, craggy cliffs ensconcing the pond and the pleasantly cool breeze whispering through the trees were a welcome relief from the midday sun. He’d started to sweat under his tunic and greaves. Sky blue was not a good color to get sweat stains on.

Breen’s eyes flicked to him when he was about twenty feet away from the shrine, and she gave him a halfhearted wave.

Before he could stop himself, Link blurted out, “Dinraal’s fire, who died?” Wait, what if someone had died? Goddess, his big, stupid mouth–

Breen’s eyes widened, and Link hastily backpedaled. “Oh, Goddess, I didn’t mean that, I’m so sorry – “

Breen cut him off, a slight glimmer of humor in her eyes. “No one died. You’re fine.” Her good mood was gone as quickly as it came, and she turned her gaze out to the pond again.

Link hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to her, leaving a healthy few feet of distance. He watched the blue glow of the shrine reflected and rippling in the clear waters.

“It’s my dad,” said Breen, voice barely above a whisper.

Link started slightly. “What?”

“I told him that I want to travel around Hyrule. Or take a trip to Lanayru, at least,” Breen said. “He said it was too dangerous.”

Link had to agree. If Breen knew how to fight, if she was willing to accept the risks, then he wouldn’t mind, but he was much better equipped to fight monsters than she was and he still had trouble. He then glanced over at Breen, who seemed on the verge of tears. Link instantly sobered. “I’m sorry,” he said uncertainly.

“My dad said I’ll be taking over for him one day,” Breen sniffled.

He couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to be that trapped. If her father told her that her role in life was to own a stable, was there no other way for her? Her destiny wasn’t to – Oh. Maybe he understood better than he thought. Maybe he did understand what it was like to feel trapped by a destiny he felt ill-equipped for.

He made a decision. He would help Breen get to Lanayru.

Link jumped to his feet, prompting a panicked look from Breen. “You’re not going to fight anyone, are you?” she cried.

Link gave her a lopsided grin. “Only monsters.” He then jogged off back toward the stable, quickly throwing together a plot in his head that may or may not have been insane. Spotting a soldier’s spear leaning up against a rock, he surreptitiously grabbed it. It was cheaply made, meant more for frightening off a bokoblin than for actual heavy combat, but it would still be useful. He liked spears.

The traveler was almost to the stable. Link realized it was Molo, the guy who always wanted to loot Hyrule Castle but couldn’t find the courage to do it. He was wearing his usual expression of casual disinterest. Beedle was in the process of setting his massive pack down on the ground, and watched them with some interest. Kish was nowhere to be seen yet, thank the Goddess.

“Hey, Molo,” Link called out. “I have an idea.”

Molo looked at him with a frown, pushing his blond hair back from his face. “I can’t really right now – “

Kish was heading around from the back of the stable, and it was obvious when he’d seen Link from the dark expression on his face. Link briefly prayed that Mipha wouldn’t have to see him getting beaten to death by a stable owner.

“You keep saying that you want to go to Hyrule Castle, right?” Link asked, loudly for Kish’s benefit. He roughly grabbed Molo’s arm and dragged him away from the stable, into the sparse forest across from it. “You still need that cash and cachet, right? Well, I can help you take care of the cash part. As long as you help me.”

Molo pulled himself free, rubbing his arm and giving Link an aggrieved look.

“Look,” Link said quietly. “I don’t know how much you know about Breen’s traveling ambitions, but I’ve seen enough of Hyrule to know that she should see it too. Safely, of course,” he amended. No need to mention that he wanted to avoid Kish’s wrath.

Molo sighed, internally warring with himself. “Fine.”

Link clapped his hands. “Good. There’s a camp of bokoblins a little bit down the south road. We strip their camp of anything useful, including bokoblin fangs or guts, and then we sell everything to Beedle. Easy enough.”

Molo looked at him aghast. “That’show you make your money?”

Link just shrugged. “Cash and cachet.”

Molo let out a sharp breath. “Right as always, bud. Let’s do this.”

“How do I look?” Link asked Molo, his voice muffled by stiff fabric.

Molo hesitated. “And just where did you get that? Don’t get me wrong, it’s super cool and all, but…”

Link adjusted the bokoblin mask on his head so he could actually see out of the eyeholes. “It’s a bit of a long story,” he said in between adjustments. “I got it from this guy named Kilton. Looks funny. Has a flying monster-themed shop that’s only open at night. He uses his own currency called mon. I also bought a moblin mask from him.”

Molo peered at him. “I think you’re making that up, bud.”

“No! I – “ Link sighed. “Never mind.”

“Do you think that’ll fool them?” asked Molo as he strapped on his broadsword and shield.

Link nodded solemnly, the mask’s snout flapping as he did so. “Bokoblins are very, very stupid monsters.”

Molo looked unconvinced, but didn’t press any further. “So let me get this straight – the plan is that you infiltrate the camp and steal all their weapons. And I’m hiding behind that tree over there.” He pointed at the tree.

“Right,” Link said.

“And…you pass all of the weapons to me.”

“Also right.”

“And thenwe attack them.”

“You nailed it.” Link adjusted the mask again. It kept slipping down his face. He imagined it looked much like he was melting, and that was not conducive to being sneaky.

“Isn’t there…a better way to do this? Like, can’t we just jump out and kill them like normal people?”

Link frowned. “You could.Or you could do it the fun way.”

Molo thought for a second, and then nodded. “You’re right, bud. If I can’t learn about different combat strategies now, how will I ever survive Hyrule Castle?”

“That’s the spirit,” Link said. He pulled out the Sheikah Slate and studied the bokoblin camp from their position among the trees. The camp was right out in the open, next to the road. They had a couple of lookout platforms, but only one was manned. (Monstered? Link filed that one away for further contemplation.) The rest of the bokoblins looked like they were having some sort of feast celebration around the main campfire. Link’s stomach grumbled loudly upon catching sight of the heaps of grilled meat the bokoblins were tearing into. “Ugh,” he muttered.

Molo glanced at him. “What is it?”

“I’m hungry,” Link groaned, aware he sounded like a whiny kid but unable to stop himself.

“Well, then why don’t you – stay with me here – kill the monsters now, before all the meat gets cold?” Molo’s tone of voice dripped pure sarcasm.

Link very much wanted to argue with that, but he opened his mouth, then shut it again. “Fair point,” he conceded.

Molo abruptly shoved him out of the woods, hissing, “Good luck,” at him. Link staggered a few paces, then caught his balance, unsure of what to do next. Should he try to imitate a bokoblin’s bow-legged gait? But then Molo would mock him forever. This was a true conundrum.

Link settled for a slow normal walk towards the fire, but doubts started to cloud his mind with every step. What if Molo, the wannabe Hyrule Castle looter, was actually right? What if this actually was a really, really stupid plan? What if –

A blue bokoblin’s gaze settled on Link, whose every instinct screamed attackas a sudden burst of fear hit him. He forced himself to keep walking, and the bokoblin turned around, uninterested. He let out a breath he wasn’t fully aware he had been holding. He had no reason to be scared, he told himself. He could easily take on this camp by himself.

He sat down by the campfire, leaning against a log, and eyed the bokoblins warily. They weren’t…screeching, necessarily, but the noises they were making were still shrill, if at a lower volume than normal. Was this how they communicated? Link found himself overcome by morbid curiosity as the bokoblins all chittered at each other while making hand gestures.

After a little while, it seemed to be one bokoblin speaking and gesturing at a time, with the others sometimes interjecting with loud screeches and a bizarre hopping dance that Link could only interpret as the monster equivalent of knee-slapping laughter. He began paying more attention to the hand gestures, given that he had a slightly better chance of interpreting them.

The bokoblin across the circle from him was…bludgeoning something to death? That seemed about right. Now it was stabbing something with a spear. The bokoblin dropped to its knees and actually did a pretty good imitation of a terrified Hylian, which got the other bokoblins all excited and making too much noise. And then – oh. Oh, Goddess. He really hoped that wasn’t what he thought it was. That was disgusting.

It was like watching a fully-functional Guardian patrol its territory, spider legs moving about. Link couldn’t look away.

The monster storytime continued around the circle for quite a while, and when Link was certain he wouldn’t get murdered at some point, he finally had the presence of mind to inch his way over to the weapons. They were propped up against another log perpendicular to his, about ten feet away. The bokoblins were engrossed in another elaborate account of pillage and murder and didn’t notice when Link slowly got to his feet and picked up a boko club, which had been “enhanced” by way of strapping fangs and stones to a hunk of wood with fraying bits of rope.

Link hesitantly walked backwards, then glanced back at the tree line, where Molo was waving him forward with an impatient gesture. Link looked back at the group of monsters, heart pounding in his ears. He was admittedly much more nervous than he should have been, and he wasn’t quite sure why. Was it the audience? Link shook his head, dislodging his doubts like spider webs, and gently tossed the club to Molo, who fumbled at it for a brief moment. Link cringed, seeing in his mind’s eye the reactions of the bokoblins when the club thudded to the ground. But Molo managed to snatch it back to his chest, and Link let out a breath.

He crept back to the fire, feeling somewhat more confident by now. He was about to reach for a broadsword leaning against the log when he realized that the eyes of the bokoblins were on him.

Link froze. The bokoblins were not moving, apart from some twitching ears.

For one brief, terrifying second, Link was absolutely sure the monsters were about to rip him apart with their bare hands.

Then the striped one, the leader of the group, flapped its arms impatiently.

Link blinked. Did it…want him to tell a story?

Some of the blue bokoblins started shifting around, and Link made a decision.

“Um…” he muttered under his breath as he cast around in his mind for a suitable story to tell. He had always been terrible at charades every time the children of Kakariko or Hateno asked him to play.

He gestured around at the camp and then mimicked the monster imitations of Hylians, hoping it would convey the point. The bokoblins nodded sagely.

He pretended to stab at a Hylian with a spear, which got the bokoblins chattering in approval. Link grinned under his mask, and stumbled backwards while fake sobbing, falling on his ass after a few steps. He rolled his arms to mimic the action of falling off a cliff, bouncing repeatedly on the way down. The monsters all screeched in laughter, dancing around the fire in their clumsy way.

Link let out a relieved breath. Goddess, he could not believe this. No one else would, either.

Then he noticed one bokoblin who was not joining in on the party. It was watching him closely, head tilted. Link could almost see the question mark above its head as suspicion dawned on its face. Link’s blood ran cold.

The bokoblin suddenly screamed, pointing at Link. The other monsters stopped, heads snapping to face him.

“By Hylia, this better not be the way I go,” Link muttered.

The bokoblins charged, and like that, Link was surrounded.

He panicked. Mipha had healed him just yesterday, and he didn’t have the energy to summon her spirit again. He was still running on fumes, half an apple the only thing in his belly, and as monsters around him pointed spears, leveled clubs, and threw rocks at his head, Link did the only thing he could think to do in the heat of the moment.

He dropped into a crouch, hearing a shriek as a stone aimed between his eyes flew and hit another bokoblin instead. He planted his palm on the ground and screwed his eyes shut. His breath came out in gasps. He felt the earth below him and the sky above, felt out the movement of the air around him, and repeated his usual mantra. Please, Revali, don’t be a jerk this time.

The very air exploded into motion around him, tearing his bokoblin mask off, and he snapped his paraglider out and let the wind yank him into the sky. Link spotted Revali’s pale green outline flying circles around him as the angry and confused monsters dwindled below them.

“Whatwas that monstrosity you were wearing just now?” Revali asked, pretty damn casually for such a near death experience.

Link leveled a glare at him. “It was working,” he hollered past the gale that was carrying him up.

Revali gave him the perfect amount of side-eye and tilted his head up just so, conveying casual arrogance, and he opened his stupid mouth –

And then he was gone. The wind halted, and Link was suspended above the camp.

Link sighed, feeling oddly bereft. Time to get back to business.

The physical distance had brought mental clarity as well, and Link realized that with Molo hanging around, it was best to play it safe for now. He folded the paraglider and went into freefall, pulling out his royal bow and nocking a bomb arrow with practiced movements. There was little need to aim when the monsters were all in a clump, waiting for him to come back down; the bomb arrow found its mark.

Link pulled the paraglider out again, letting the force of the blast and the ensuing updraft from burning grass buoy him. Most of the monsters were staggering about, dropping burning weapons from scorched hands. It looked pretty ugly down there, and Link readied round two to put them out of their misery.

But as he drew the bowstring back, he spotted a Hylian running around the camp and hacking at monsters. He did a double take.

Just what in the name of the Goddess did Molo think he was doing?

A furious hiss escaped through his teeth. Link hastily stowed the bow and pulled out his soldier’s spear, angling his fall for a blue bokoblin before he could hit the ground and break all his bones.

He jammed the spear through the bokoblin’s neck but held on, letting the momentum carry him forward in an arc until he hit the ground rolling as the bokoblin crumpled.

Link tried in vain to pull the spear back through the corpse’s neck, but the spearhead had gotten snagged on the spine or something and he couldn’t pull it free. There was a blur of movement in the corner of his eye and –

Molo was standing there, gasping out ragged breaths with his bloodied broadsword in hand. A red bokoblin was bleeding out at his feet.

Link stared mutely for a second, and then whirled around to eviscerate a blue bokoblin that had been trying to sneak up from behind.

Link let pure instinct carry him through the rest of the fight, cutting down weak and burned monsters with clumsy swipes of the claymore. Exhaustion dragged at his limbs and narrowed his vision to a tunnel, and he half feared that he would not make it out this time.

He tripped over a discarded boko club and fell to his knees in the dirt. He couldn’t get back up again. Link closed his eyes, letting the din of the battle fade away. He felt curiously empty.

Zelda, forgive me.

Something hit his shoulder, and he nearly sprawled forward onto the ground. He couldn’t help thinking that it had been a good run. If the literal incarnation of all evil was too much for him, well, was that really his fault?

“Bud!” Molo was yelling, Link eventually realized. “Please don’t pass out on me. I’m not carrying you back to the stable.”

Link made a vague gesture with the little energy he had left.

“Help me out here,” Molo said irritably.

“Meat,” Link groaned.

“Ah,” said Molo. “You do look pretty wiped.”

Link wanted to scoff at “pretty wiped,” but he settled for snatching the meat out of Molo’s hands when he retrieved it. As he scarfed the burnt meat down, he started to feel a little bit better. “Blessed by the Goddess Hylia with an infinite stomach,” he vaguely remembered being called before. One hundred years before. The memory was as distant to him as Princess Zelda was now.

“Naydra’s scale, you seem really out of it.” Molo was also tearing into a hunk of meat, casting the occasional concerned glance his way. “What happened?”

The Calamity happened,Link wanted to reply sourly. But that was a whole new chest of rupoors to open, and Molo would never believe him.

That wasn’t a chest he wanted to open, frankly. It was better that he buried the memories. Better that he forgot the burning and the death and the utter hopelessness that still crept up on him once in a while.

Link scowled. He’d spent the whole afternoon trying to forget about the blood moon and the fears and anxieties that came with it, and now this stupid fight had to go ruin things again.

“I was supposed to eat yesterday, and I never did,” Link said instead of what he was thinking. Well, it wasn’t a lie.

Molo raised an eyebrow at him, clearly wondering just how stupid he was. Better stupid than about to give up and leave Hyrule to ruin, Link thought, kicking at a pebble.

“Hand me another piece, would you?” Link asked Molo, gesturing at the dwindling pile of roasted steak. The meat was unseasoned, but surprisingly well-cooked and flavorful for such a primitive campfire. Although that might have been his hunger talking. He could eat the most disgusting of dubious foods if it meant it would bring him back from the brink of passing out.

Molo complied, staring at him with wide eyes. “Wait, when wasthe last time you ate?”

Link just shrugged, his mouth full. His energy was coming back in leaps and bounds, and now Molo was the one who looked exhausted. When Link had finished, he jumped to his feet, declaring, “We’ll be rich men by the time we get back to the stable.”

Molo gave a dubious look at the scattered fangs and horns that had been left behind when the bokoblin corpses had vanished in a burst of sickly purple smoke. “You think?”

Link hesitated. Maybe this hadn’t been as good of an idea as he thought it was. His “send Breen to Lanayru while also paying Link’s debts” fund was not getting off to a good start.

Molo huffed, clearly understanding Link’s dilemma. “Don’t forget I saved your life, bud.”

Link forced a smile. “Oh, well, I was going to give some of the money to Breen anyway. I don’t know if she told you about her traveling plans…”

Molo propped his head up on his hand. “She did. I guess I can consider this a noble effort at fundraising. What else are friends for?”

Link’s smile faltered. Friends.He had friends. Didn’t he? Breen was a friend. The ever-enthusiastic Prince Sidon was a friend. But he couldn’t hear the word without seeing blurry images of Daruk clapping him on the back, Mipha cradling his arm gently as she healed it, or Princess Zelda’s sunny smile. Those memories were lost to time immemorial now, alive only in his mind. He couldn’t think about his friends without thinking of all the bloodshed and death that surrounded them, or of how he barely remembered them at all. Link weighed potential responses on the spectrum between sincerity and sarcasm. None seemed like a good fit for what was really going through his mind. He chose to remain silent.

Molo apparently hadn’t noticed Link’s angst. He was shooting him annoyed looks as he gathered up dusty fangs and claws. Link groaned and rose to join him, muscles still screaming in pain.

Link and Molo made short work of the camp, clearing it of all potential valuables and dumping them into a burlap sack Molo had brought along.

When the sack was full, Molo tied it off and thrust it at Link. “Apparently, you’re all better now, so you get to carry it,” he said, deadpan but with a slight bit of envy in his voice.

Link made a face as he held it at arm’s length in a delicate grip. It smelled much the same as he imagined man-pig Ganon from the legends to smell: not good. It was unfortunate that bokoblin guts sold for a fair bit more than their claws. He would have to take a long, long bath in Pico Pond when he got back to the stable.

The pair followed the dirt road back to the stable in companionable silence. But that silence wasn’t going to last very long, Link realized as Molo cleared his throat.

“Uh…So that wind thing? What was that? And, uh, how did you do that?” Molo asked.

Uh oh. How in the world was he supposed to explain this in a way that didn’t make him sound crazy?

Seconds ticked by. Molo raised his eyebrows, expecting an answer.

“Well, you see…” Link rambled. “Uh, I saved this spirit, and he let me use his power. The wind thing you just mentioned.” Close enough.

“Couldn’t what’s-his-face the Rito Champion do that?” Molo asked thoughtfully, as if trying to recall a childhood bedtime story. Actually, Link was sure that was exactly what he was doing.

Ooh, Revali would lovebeing called what’s-his-face. Link would have to remember to tell him that the next time he called up a gale.

“What’s so funny?” Molo muttered.

Too late, Link realized he was chuckling. “Revali would be so angry with you right now,” he said before he could stop himself.

Molo frowned. “Revali who?”

Link snorted. “The, uh, spirit. Who gave me the wind thing. I know it sounds ridiculous.”

“Not as ridiculous as you pretending to be a bokoblin,” Molo shot back.

“Hey, it worked! They really liked my story!”

Molo shook his head. “It waspretty funny,” he admitted.

Link grinned, good mood restored. He found himself admiring the surroundings, marveling at how even with the kingdom of Hyrule in ruins, the wilds could be so pristine and beautiful. He supposed that the relative lack of Hylian interference was part of that, but he could see Hyrule Castle through the trees, see the dark corruption wreathing it, and he wondered if any of the wildlife noticed it at all. Life went on, he thought, as he spotted a deer watching them from the trees and songbirds flying above them.

But the influence of the Calamity was very real. Link felt the same uneasiness he always felt around enemies sweep over him, and he threw a hand up. Molo and Link both froze. They were just around the corner from the stable. The birds were silent, unnervingly so.

And then he heard a scream, and the crash of breaking pottery.

Link broke into a sprint, hearing thudding footsteps offset from his own as Molo followed behind. By the time he rounded the corner, he had an arrow nocked and at the ready, pointing toward the first enemy he saw.

Figures clad in red jumpsuits were prodding Kish toward the stable’s entrance with a vicious-looking sickle. Breen and the old man Ashe were already tied to the posts that supported the stable’s walls. A couple of the assailants turned to look at Link, sunlight glancing off the ivory masks that covered their entire faces. The blood-red upside down Sheikah eye glared at him in place of an actual face.

The Yiga Clan.

“Ha, I knew it!” Link yelled.

#fanfic #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #memory #link #molo #woodland stable #bokoblins are fkn dumbasses #goddammit yiga

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