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kaiowut99 · 3 months

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A Special Announcement~ | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special Re-Translation Project!

I've been itching to get around to posting about this for a few months now, but wanted to wait until I'd worked on enough for it, but also had the idea to create an announcement trailer to go with it for added good measure--after recording and editing clips for a couple weeks and leveling the audio last night, heremst we are! (For some clips, I forgot to turn off the PPSSPP emulator's DevMenu option so that shows up in the top-left, buuut I didn't feel like re-recording those, lmao.)

Details worth reading below the cut here, but tl;dr work has been in progress for over a year in between things, work will continue to be in progress for a while, and the release will happen when everything's ready, but stay tuned, fun's getting started etc etc~

So, I'm sure most of us are familiar with the as-yet-unlocalized-by-Konami TFSP, the seventh and last entry in the Tag Force series on the PSP that came out early in ARC-V's run (featuring the first five series which was a cool first), as well as the current translations out there originally worked on by the guys at XenoTranslations (omarrrio and ScrewTheRules/ClickClaxer01 at GBATemp handling the card and story/etc translations, respectively) and how there are... some issues with what's out there. Everything from the DM story mode being loaded with YGOTAS references (no shade to YGOTAS and much respect to LK/Martin for his ongoing work on it still making me laugh sometimes, ofc) to the off-the-cuff edginess of 2014-2015-era internet culture and the problematic (in some cases, derogatory) language that permeated it--though to its credit, some parts do have some level of translation attempted, but taken as a whole, it can definitely turn people off from giving the game a try and seeing what it brings to the table (which is still a good amount despite the corners Konami cut here/there compared to prior TF games).

I actually did attempt a translation of my own back in 2015 (if you've been following me for a long time, you might remember it lol), tackling the GX story text starting with Judai's heart events, but eventually put it on the backburner as I focused more on my GX subbing work and beginning to finalize everything (which I'm still doing). Sometime in 2022, a friend over on NeoArkCradle (the "anonymous YGO fan" in the opening screen) was poring over the story text and patching it up the best he could to remove the references and inaccuracies with more coherent work, and after a while of seeing what he was working with in the Discord, I was a bit blown away by just how inaccurate much of it was--so alongside him, and using the better tools available since then (including some really awesome work from both nzxth2 [who did a proper re-translation of 5D's TF6 not too long ago and was kind enough to release his tools for it] and our coding helper Xan1242 who we eventually reached out to for some help), I decided to *cracks knuckles* get involved and help give everything a more accurate and professional translation, much like I do with my GX subs, working directly off the Japanese text and files. I've been taking cracks at everything in between the GX episodes I've been finalizing going back to at least last January (and I'd used my little hiatus after finalizing GX Season 2's subs to really get at some other stuff throughout the game), starting with re-translating DM's story text but also properly translating other aspects of the game, from the character names (using the original Japanese names, including those of the TF-exclusive characters, partly since Konami made a whole mess of them in English TF1-5), in-duel dialogue, pack descriptions, and more to images with Japanese text (such as localizing the in-duel cut-in onomatopoeia as you see in the video above, or other little images throughout) using some Photoshop skills I've picked up. And it's been a joint effort, as said NAC friend and I have been bouncing off how we'd like to see this go between us to stay on the same page and all, while also checking with other translators there for second/third opinions as needed.

Our plan is to release two versions of a translation--one which uses the OCG [translated] card names in Story Mode, in-duel, and other text but not in the game's card system (mainly to deal with story-relevant notes like Osiris vs Slifer with the Gods or things like not-Utopia Hope being symbolic between Yuma and Astral, akin to how I do my GX subs), and one which uses the TCG card names in everything (like how the official subs go about it). While we're mostly working with the Japanese game files due to how the Xeno team went about decoding everything, we'll be using the card-system-related files from the fixed ISO provided by FLSGaming which fixed some issues that had been present there. And Xan has helped us with a plugin that will be used to apply our translations to the system files that were hard to edit otherwise (things like the character and recipe names, as well as the pack names pulled from for the Card Description screen), but more on how that'll work once this is ready for release, lol. At some point, I'd like to also look at HDifying textures and things, but that's definitely a bonus-level thing for after the main work here is done.

SO.

Currently, Story-Mode-wise, I've gone through everything up to Yusei's events--so Dark Yugi/Kaiba/Jounouchi/Ishizu/Mai in DM, Judai/Manjoume/Asuka/Misawa/Ryou in GX, and Yusei in 5D's have been fully retranslated, though I took initial cracks at Yuma and Yuya's events to get content for this video lol (I've also been intentionally holding off on as much ZEXAL as I can until I've properly watched the whole show so I have context). I haven't tackled overworld text yet, though (like pre-duel or the tournament-related text, which is all in the same file as all the story text). I've also been handling the in-duel dialogue as I go through the character stories, so also just up to Yusei, though I did take initial cracks at Aki's, Yuma and Shark's, and Yuya and Yuzu's for the video.

Other things tackled that were sprinkled into the video, along with some other notes:

Pack names and descriptions have been retranslated, though the descriptions may see minor edits closer to release for a little variety between worlds given the different characters at the shop. Character recipe names were also retranslated, with Yugipedia's translations for them used as an occasional second opinion, though ones based on pack names had to be abbreviated in spots.

Menu text, from the Options to Help screens and stuff in between, has been retranslated, as have in-duel text strings (so, you'll see a full "Activate Effect" instead of "Activate" or "Switch to Attack/Defense Position" instead of "Switch to ATK/DEF Position", etc--also fixed the "BATTELE PHASE" graphic typo, and NAC friend created a new translation for the "Turn Change" graphic for accuracy since ENG TF1-5 made that into "Next Player's Turn").

Database stuff, such as the Sound Test, Tutorials, Duel Missions, etc., have been retranslated closer to the Japanese text; originally I retranslated the Tutorial text via hex editor, with compromises done on quite a bit of it due to the space limits, but as Xan recently updated a text extractor tool of theirs to more cleanly pull out and reinsert that text, I've been going through and fleshing out those translations more (on my commutes to/from work mostly, to be productive lol).

As mentioned, I've been localizing/translating Japanese-text images throughout the game as I come across them, like with the in-duel onomatopoeia that come up during cut-ins or images in the shop/duel/etc screens using Japanese text, to make sure the game is fully translated.

The series logos, used during the title sequence and in the Series Select screens, were updated with translated fan edits shared on Deviantart (which we'll credit in the final release) for DM and GX, while the 5D's-ARC-V logos were edited to enlarge the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" text on them that was pretty hard to see originally.

The game's original opening sequence starts on an anti-piracy message before going into the Konami logo and then a "From Yu-Gi-Oh!..." screen before the opening animation for each series logo--the original team decided to use the first image to vent their frustration at Konami for not localizing this game, and while that's valid (to some extent), we thought we'd use the opportunity to dedicate this project to Kazuki Takahashi for inspiring our love for YGO and the place it's had in our hearts for all these years.

We'll be updating the names of cards that had TCG releases after the original patch was worked on/updated by FLSG to those corresponding names.

Xan has been working on many UI fixes for us to apply with this, among them 3-line dialogue box text as is used in the ENG TF1-5 games--once implemented for TFSP, I'll be going over everything to make full use of that extra space where needed, so things might not look as they do in the video by then.

Character bios will be worked on after I've done the story stuff, though I've taken initial cracks at it for Yuma and Yuya's bios for the video, along with translating the location/affiliation names ("Domino High School," "Satellite," etc).

Currently no release date is planned, as I'm working on this between my GX-finalizing work and actual IRL work, though we'll see how later this year looks as more work gets done--but as noted in the video, all things being equal, it will be released when everything is ready. I'll try to post regular updates or rambles now that this announcement's been made, lol, but do try not to constantly check in on a release date. 🙏🏽

All that said, I think that covers just about everything I wanted to put out there with this, lol. It's been fun to work on this so far and getting to see what I've re-translated in-game is definitely neat; looking forward to us being able to release everything when ready.

Stay tuned for more; the fun's just getting started!

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moonchildlov · 1 year

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ooo can I request a Steve x reader smutty where the reader buys special lingerie for after his mission and he just snaps and fucks the reader and rearranges her guts. like steve gets real horny

Oooh okay! Been a hot minute since I wrote Steve let me see what I can do :-)

18+ no minors! You have been warned

Mentions: Smutty smut as I could make it, praise kink, choking, rope bunny, dominant daddy Steve, possible angst, bit of breeding kink, spanking

Steve had been all over the place this month. Mission after Mission no breaks at all the man was exhausted. He doesn’t get to skip out like the others so it takes a toll on him and he always somehow was alone through most of it, sure he had his team but he had wants and needs….

Who would want him, he has been told he is too authoritative, too strict, uptight. However when he met you, you brought out a side to him he never thought he had. Something about you drove him crazy, he couldn’t stop thinking about you and even he couldn’t focus on missions sometimes. All he thought about was your soft skin, your scent, the way you confided in him for everything God he was in so deep he didn’t care. And not to mention you guys didn’t have sex yet…how was he able to last well until now…

“What about this one nat?” You asked holding up the purple lace lingerie set for Natasha to see. If anyone could help you find an outfit it was her or Wanda but she got stuck on the mission like the rest unfortunately and Nat stayed behind to run some other intel gave her a chance to spend time with you. Not to mention Steve was so adamant about you being safe someone always seemed to have to watch you. Even Bucky and Sam had to at one point which was full of the two of them arguing or all three of you getting into trouble. “Okay definitely buy that but ya need him to be on edge that man needs to be unhinged y/n,” she skims through other sets she wanted Steve to let loose and if that meant they could all escape another mission she was gonna find the right outfit. “This one,” she grabs a Navy blue laced two piece with black straps hooked to stockings with little bows on them.

“Jesus nat where the hell is the rest of it,” your eyes widened you rarely had the chance to wear lingerie and you had at times doubted how you would look in it. It made you a bit anxious to be this exposed especially with Steve he was so ripped and everything about him looked fucking photoshopped why he wanted to be with you, you let that thought fester for so long Nat could see how uncertain you were and she knew how much Steve admired you the man would drool unintentionally when you walked by she knew he was head over heels now he needed to unravel you. “Trust me,” she winks.

————

You came home when it was midday started cleaning around, cooked his favorite meal, you were even able to get a little nap in before you got up and took time to make yourself feel refreshed and confident when you put on the lingerie set. You hoped he would like it but more so on you and the fear he would reject you for some odd reason made you wanna throw it away but you took a breath and found a nice silk robe to put over it. You wanted this so bad the thought of him between your legs…damn made you wet already.

Steve was now headed back to his place Damn he was so exhausted. Maybe he could get you to massage his back again your hands on his back he gripped the steering wheel some trying to calm himself down the man was touched starved.

You were in the room reading when you heard the keys and the click of the door your heartbeat quicken setting down the book. “Babygirl I’m home…” you heard him say made you smile some. “Y/n something smells good…where you at baby…” he called out you didn’t respond before you ditched the robe and open the door. “Y/n are you asl-“ he turns to your direction the bag and keys slip out of his hand. “Welcome home captain…” you bit your lip some leaning in the doorway.

He was quiet his face at first seemed like he was disappointed “You not like it? I can go change…” you start to turn around before you feel a strong grip being pulled back “who and why are you wearing this Hmm…” his breathe against your neck you leaned your head to the side. “I just wanted to surprise you…”

“Well fuck I’m surprised and your in trouble,” he groans biting your neck running his hands down to your sides seeing the laced thong your asscheeks exposed practically. “Bad girl…so naughty your asking for it,” he smacks your ass causing you to whine in response. “Just wanted to please you captain…” you turn to face him a hunger in his eyes you have never seen. “Shh…” he hisses picking you up your legs around his waist before you know it you feel yourself hit the wall gasping some removing his jacket “your so good your gonna be good for me right…let me do what I want…” he starts kissing down your neck pulling down the straps of your bra ripping it off fuck unclipping he thinks to himself he is gonna have his way tonight he knows you want it. Your breasts exposed to him the cool air hitting them your nipples already harden he latches his lips on one rubbing the other with his chest you wrap your arms around his neck leaning your head back. “Steve…” is all you can mutter out. “Mm that’s not my name tonight sweetheart you call me daddy you hear me…or get punished…” he growls you definitely unleashed him. “Fuck yes daddy,” you nod submitting to him those fears of him not wanting you was out the window.

He moves quickly down you biting and licking down your stomach getting on his knees tearing off the straps your underwear he doesn’t care he is so lost in you wanting to hear you scream whatever he wants he needs it. “Mm ste-daddy please I wa-“ you stop in almost a squeal he is already latched on your clit quickly your legs over his shoulders legs spread apart. “Want what? Use your words since you wanna dress like a slut say what you want then…” he growls gripping your thighs licking and biting eating you out fuck you could cum right now but you need him in you “Fuck me! Please I need you in me,” you pant. “Mm beg more…” he uses his fingers not giving you a break. “Daddy please before I,” you tug his hair cumming it’s too late and you make a mess. “Mm you couldn’t wait huh…we aren’t done…” he comes up kissing you pulling on your lip how plump they are so intoxicating. “Steve I don’t know if I have it in me…” you say weak some already .

“Oh you got plenty more in you Babygirl…” he smirks something devious about it makes your pussy throb. He lifts you up carrying you to the bed plopping you down his shirt coming off and his pants cock practically popping out he was so hard…and big. “Mm,” you sit up wanting to stuff your mouth with him you’re confidence elevates “Mm I need to fuck you baby another time kitten,” his voice is deep you lay back your breathing hitches “it’ll fit baby…” he gets up going to his drawer “and I don’t want you in control I am…” he grabs silk ties and a blindfold. “Shit…” you watch him where did he get so…dark but you wanted it just didn’t know this side of him. He grabs your foot wrapping it around your ankle and again on the other side. “Too tight?” He asks wanting you to feel comfortable still so tentative. “No it’s good,” you nod feeling yourself submitting but safe. “Good let daddy do the rest,” he blindfolds you. Your breathing is heavy he doesn’t warn you before you feel him press into you “fuck..” he bites down on your neck. “Fuck yes daddy fuck me…” you whine it burns at first his cock in you “please you gotta move…” you push your head back. “God your tight you like that don’t you…my cock in you all tied up…” his thrusts are so rough not giving you any chance for a break he wants to fill you up.

“This is what you wanted for me to come home and fuck you senseless…wearing that damn lingerie fuck,” you hear him moaning and whining unable to respond. “Yeah that’s right let daddy fill you up fuck I’m doing it raw too baby I hope you took that fucking pill…l” he wraps his hand around your neck squeezing firmly. You are seeing stars at this point “yes I did captain cum in me fill me up…” you feel so close your walls clenching tears soaking through the blind fold before he takes it off “your gonna look at me when you cum you understand me,” he moves harder and faster. “Fuck Daddy! I’m gonna cum, I need to!” You breathe hard feeling yourself unable to hold back. “Come on let’s together come all over cock make another mess…” he struggles to hang on. “FUCK IM CUMMIMG!” The orgasm ripples through you and you scream out. “Oh fuck I’m cumming baby Ahh!” Steve rips part of the sheet you feel him fill you up it’s so good.

Once you two calm down he cleans you both up and lay on his chest he feels so bliss he needed that. “You better buy me another lingerie…” you playfully warn kinda mad he ripped it “Mm I will and I will rip that one off too…” he smacks your ass again you guys were gonna be up all night and he definitely was gonna take his day off tomorrow after tonight

#marvel #reader pov #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers smut #steven grant rogers #steve rogers #steve rogers fluff #captain america

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quokkawritesarchive · 4 months

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ACE OF HEART — SEUNGMIN. CHAPTER 1

⚾️ synopsis: new school year means new beginnings, right? you are a new student at prestigious seido high school with the goal to become the ace of the baseball team and win nationals. but to your surprise, some arrogant asshole kim seungmin is currently in the position of pitcher and ace of the team. how steel are your nerves and how long will it take you to steal his place?

pairing: seungmin x reader(afab) genre: baseball player au!seungmin, enemies to lovers, slow burn warnings: mean seungmin, reader has ego, underage characters, mention of daddy issues, reader has anxiety, A LOT of baseball terminology word count: 4.9k a/n: yall please appreciate my photoshop skills LMAO. i had to turn “11” into “1”, cause seung is the ace

chapter one | next . . . series masterlist . . . terminology

april — the second month of spring, the second month of the season of love. you hated april. not only because everyone around you seemed to find a relationship all of a sudden, but also because it meant the start of the new school year.

it was not an average school, but a prestigious seido high school with its own baseball team. located in tokyo, it was almost impossible to receive an acceptance letter. your screams were heard all over the house, when you opened it on your laptop. it took you an eternity to finish all trials, so you had zero hope by the end of them. but you succeeded. maybe it was just dumb luck, or maybe you were actually good at baseball. you kept telling yourself the latter.

the sound of endless chatter filled the courtyard as students were trying to figure out where to go, meeting possible new friends, and as well as old friends. senpais were giving glares to new girls, what made you want to vomit.

you were there too - standing in the courtyard, an email with instructions opened on your phone. new chapter of your life was about to start.

since you were a member of the baseball team, unlike ordinary students, you were given the opportunity to live in a dormitory. fortunately, the dorm has been divided into female and male part, so you didn’t have to live with nasty boys who won’t clean after themselves. but you’d have meet one of those type of guys on the field for sure. after all, baseball is a male dominated game.

“seido spirit dorm”

it looked more like an apartment complex. as you walked past the sign, you already noticed bats, basket with balls and other equipment. it definitely didn’t look like an ordinary dorm. it thrilled you with excitement, you’ve never felt so normal before. baseball was a passion of yours that no one around you understood. you’ve made it all the way on your own, and this simple scene with some equipment laying on the floor next to the room, made your eyes watery. you couldn’t wait to meet your roommates, teammates and the current ace. you were ready to learn a lot.

despite all the panic that was thrilling inside you, it wasn’t hard to find your room. you stared at the names on the sign.

“sanada rin

fujiwara aoi

l/n y/n”

suddenly, the door opened and two girls appeared in the doorway, welcoming you in.

located on the second floor, your room had a view right on the baseball field. your roommates turned out to be quite nice. two senpais - year two aoi and year three rin.

they quickly introduced you to the team, best players and the system that your coach uses.

the school was so popular, that current amount of players, including first-years, exceeded one hundred. obviously, everyone can’t play on the team, because baseball is an nine player game (not including the benched players). that is why seidou has two team lineups. first one consists of best of the best. while second one is for those, who are good, but not enough. and the rest, who did not make it even to the second lineup, need to work twice harder, to get noticed by the coach.

these were not a good news. you caught yourself getting anxious. but what about the acceptance letter and the trials? you thought that meant a guaranteed spot on the team. your roommates just laughed at your words, saying that with the number of overconfident players these restrictions are the only right option.

time flew, as you talked up until the midnight over a bottle of soju. it was not the smartest decision, considering that tomorrow was the first training and a meeting with the team at 8 in the morning.

of course, you felt drenched, squeezed out like a lemon, when you woke up. for a future baseball player, ace of the team, it was a bad habit of hating to wake up early in the morning. but you’ve decided to leave your thoughts about your future for now. it was time to leave the best first impression, so the coach would notice you in the sea of first years.

the cold morning air was refreshing. you shuddered as you tried to cover yourself in clothes more. the grass was still covered with dew drops and the sun has just begun to rise. despite your new friends in the faces of your roommates, you tried to stay apart and not stick to any people on the first day. you weren’t here to make friends, you were here to play baseball. and you wouldn’t let absolutely no one to distract you from the sport that you loved so much or your goals of going to nationals.

everyone was asked to line up, and the newcomers in the front row were told to take turns telling their name and the position they would like to play in.

oh you didn't like that. it felt like the coach hadn't even read the profiles of his students, since he was asking for everyone's names and dream positions.

finally your turn.

“watashiwa l/n y/n des! i want to play as a pitcher and my dream is to become an ace of the team! i have years of experience and a lot of potential. i am ready to show all my skills! thank you!” you finished your speech with a bow.

there were chuckes in the back.

“alright. thank you for your honesty, l/n y/n! let’s hope you will show your passion on the field as well.” coach replied coldly, crossing his arms.

if you had daddy issues, you'd start soaking over him, just like your roommates. he was definitely in his forties, but he was quite thin and tall, with a layer of trimmed beard and dark glasses on his nose.

did you say something wrong? the coach looked like he was unhappy about something. and those chuckles from behind hurt your ego a little.

after the roll call, you were approached by a group of guys who looked at least a year older. at the center of this not-friendly looking gang was a guy, apparently the leader and the ace, judging by the way how confident he looked, and of course the number 1 emblazoned on his chest.

“so you’re the kohai, right? aiming at ace position? how cute.” he grinned cockily, scanning you from top to bottom. “i bet you can only throw a fastball. am i right?”

“i don’t even know you.” you snapped back, turning around and getting ready to leave. you were already irritated because of failed introduction.

“i am your senpai, so i’d like to have your full respect.” he folded his arms across his chest, stretching out to his full height to show his dominance even more.

that made you look at him again. right, senpai. why do boys always keep using this as an excuse for their rudeness?

“i am kim seungmin, by the way. current ace of the team.” he turned around and pointed at his number on the back, as if you haven’t noticed it already on the front of the uniform. “i am just a second year, but I became an ace after two months on the team.” he squared his shoulders, braving himself even more.

you were about to reply with something like “so what? i will beat your so-called record, you won’t even have time to react.”, but you couldn’t. because he was your senpai.

“right. that’s what i was talking about. respect your senpais.” he smirked, patting you on the shoulder. you shrugged off his hand, making him let out a small laugh. “okay, we will see you around, i guess.”

not being able to say anything back you just stared at him, hoping that you would be able to burn a hole inside the number 1 on his back.

ugh.

and you hoped that you would be able to learn something from the current ace and even form some bond. maybe you shouldn’t have brought your goal up. but you wanted to show your coach that you were up to a good fight for a place on the team. you didn’t want to stay on the bench for the next three years, like your roommates. you were passionate and hardworking - that’s what led you in this high school after-all.

the training has started pretty light. after a warm-up and a few laps around the field, you were divided by positions. all fielders went to the field to practice and try assigned positions; first and second lineup players went to the pitching machines; the match of the season was already approaching, meaning that both lineups needed to be ready; and all the pitchers were gathered together with the second-year catchers in the bullpen. coach and his assistant were standing in the distance, planning on watching the new pitchers from afar. the main responsibility in spotting new talent among the newcomers laid on the team captain and current pitchers.

as you have already understood from the conversations, the team was short of pitchers right now. three other pitchers were third-years and will leave the team in half a year due to exams and graduation. of course, there was also kim seungmin who held the ace position, but no matter how talented he was, he physically could not pitch the entire match solo. the team needed a starting pitcher. the one who can open the match, confuse the batters with some unique pitching. this was your chance.

senpais looked scary. four pitchers, including kim seungmin, were giving everyone frightening glares, as if first-years were about to steal their spots right now. catchers on the other hand, did not care much about the upcoming rivalry. but they looked intimidating regardless, because of their layers of protection and masked helmets.

you uncontrollably shanked under the condemning gazes and you haven’t even shown anything yet. the atmosphere was tense and far from team spirit. the amount of rivalry within the team was shocking to you.

around three or four pitchers got assigned to each catcher. and god, you were sure that your catcher was the guy you saw next to that cocky kim. senpai kim.

the first-year pitches have begun. you watched everyone with interest, feeling like you were part of kim seungmin's gang.

first-years were really good. they had good ball control and different pitching types. you managed to notice a couple of cutters, of course a lot of fastballs, some were so fast that you only had time to flinch at the sound of gloves, sliders and even one changeup. and with such monsters you had to compete for the place on the team?

standing in line, you managed to get anxious and started overthinking. so when it was your turn, you could barely move your legs to get closer.

your fingers nervously clutched the ball in your hand. inhale and exhale.

out of the corner of your eye, you noticed kim seungmin grinning, his arms crossed over his chest. his gaze was burning a hole in you.

you decided to start with regular fastball, so as not to screw up completely at the first pitch. the key was throw the ball with speed and accuracy. pretty simple, you have done it plenty of time before.

“throw when you're ready, but don't delay it, there's a whole queue behind you.” catcher said. how thoughtful and generous of him. you shot a wry smile.

to relieve the tension you tossed the ball in your hand a couple of times. the anxiety finally got replaced with excitement. time to play.

you sensed the familiar feeling of the ball rolling off the middle and index fingers, creating a backspin.

it went right into the catchers glove with a loud slap. perfect accuracy. feeling the confidence again, you relaxed a bit, shaking off tension in the muscles.

it sounded quiet, but you still heard the arrogant. "i told you she only throws fastballs."

it took all your force not to look at him. can this kim “i am the ace” seungmin shut the fuck up?

feeling the need to show off and shut him up with your perfect pitching, you decided to throw a slider. you placed your middle finger directly on a seam, while the index finger went on the leather. both fingers were important at release to impart the necessary spin that would lead to a slider’s desired movement.

it’s a quite difficult pitch to learn and you still weren’t confident in it. the problem was that it’s not as straightforward as the fastball, and takes a lot more patience and a good coach to learn it. you probably should have chosen to throw another fastball to show off your accuracy and speed, but the desire to shut kim seungmin up was stronger.

getting into the stance, you lifted your left knee in the air, transferring the weight from the back leg to the front leg, generating force and velocity in the throw. as soon as you felt the ball leaving your hand you felt like it’s gonna turn out bad. you heart sank.

slider should be thrown as hard as possible, because of the speed change in the end. depending on your success, the pitch should move towards cather’s glove and drop during the last few feet. but something went wrong. maybe you didn’t throw it with enough force, maybe you messed up with the grip or maybe you were just nervous? the ball just flew to the right, not even in the strike zone, falling awkwardly next to the catcher. silence.

and then there were few giggles behind you. you felt your ears turning red. how did you fuck this up so badly?

you really couldn’t focus on your pitching. the feeling of his eyes burning holes in you was so distracting. you were holding yourself from turning right at him and yelling what’s been on your mind since morning.

“i am waiting.” catchers voice brought you back to reality. he was still holding a glove open, waiting for the ball, eyes looking at you, scolding through the mask.

you took a deep breath again, trying to collect your thoughts. alright, it’s just a simple pitch. forget about others and focus on your goal. your journey has already started, stop slacking off.

deep breath and you’ve got into position again, bringing your hands together. then, a quick kick of the leg and the ball flew out of your hand.

STRIKE!

with a loud slap the ball finally landed right into the glove, cutting the air.

you were so stressed, you didn’t notice you held your breath this whole time.

it was perfect. the speed, the fall in the end, the accuracy. it was…

“next!” catcher interrupted your thoughts.

he didn’t even leave any comments on your pitching. of course, he was a second or third-year already. probably, he didn’t give two shits about a new girl.

the corner of your eye caught a sight of kim seungmin again. your eyes met. he was still looking at you, even though you had already stopped pitching. did you make him nervous with your secret weapon? well, kim “i am the ace” seungmin, get ready to fight for your place.

you gave him a wink, getting an eye roll in response. it made you laugh a little. the displeased look on his face was a balm to the soul.

the training was over. the coach and his assistant said that in the evening they will announce the first-years who will become a trainee for the first and second lineups. it was time for lunch, and then your first school day was about to properly begin.

the schedule was cruel indeed. trainings were assigned in the morning and evening in combination with regular classes at school. baseball players had a special schedule - you had to attend classes in the afternoon. but even with the special arrangement of classes, you had no idea how you’d be able to survive like that. no wonder every player on the team has been rude as hell so far if they have no time to relax. what sacrifices do people make to become a professional player. and the graduates of seido high school were guaranteed a future career.

the dorm had its own canteen, which the baseball team could use for free. after taking a shower, you headed straight there with your roommates.

“i saw your pitching, it was good.” rin patted you on the shoulder.

the three of you were sitting at a table in the corner of the room. it was actually even better that you sat aside, because there was such a ruckus in the canteen. the guys were discussing something at the top of their voices, not holding back in their expressions. many of them didn't even bother to take a shower before lunch. it made you wonder once again why you didn't choose some kind of girls-only school.

“thank you!” you smiled. “actually, i panicked a bit because of the taunts and messed up. i wonder if it will affect coach’s decision.”

“taunts?” aoi asked curiously. “who’s bothering you already?”

“kim seungmin.” you sighed.

aoi and rin couldn’t hold their laughs. “okay. you don’t need to explain any further.”

you smiled as well. “has he always been… like this?”

“hmm…” rin thought for a second. “i was a second-year when he joined. at first i thought he was a nice guy. in fact, he was very shy, and then something changed in his attitude. but he managed to improve his pitching in a short period of time, which, frankly, is impressive. and then he became an ace, which was not surprising, because none of the pitchers we had could beat him.”

a shy guy who turned into an asshole. what happened to you one year ago, kim seungmin?

lunch was over. you said goodbye to rin and aoi and went to classes. to be honest, you could not care less about paying attention, especially when the biggest announcement of your life was about to happen in a few hours. whole time during classes you spent thinking about it. was your pitching good enough to impress the coach? will he count your failed attempt? will kim seungmin somehow sabotage your candidacy? you were fidgeting in the chair like crazy.

it probably looked funny how quickly you stormed out of the classroom. five minutes before the start, you were already standing on the field dressed in a uniform again. you were exhausted, almost falling asleep, but excited to hear the announcement.

as soon as the whole team was gathered and the coach arrived with his assistant, the speech began.

“good evening, everyone. i hope you worked your hardest in classes today, because as i remind you, your academic performance will affect your ability to attend trainings. anyway, with the help of my assistant, our team captain and our pitchers, we have complied a list of five player who will be accepted as trainees in the first and second lineups.” the coach’s voice echoed loudly across the field. “so. the first player who showed themselves at today’s training was-“

your breath hitched. honestly, you’ve never stressed so much in one day. this school will be the death of you.

loud clapping brought you back to reality. you looked around, hoping that your name got called. but no. some random guy walked out of the crowd, bowed and stood next to the coach. of course. and your naive ass thought you had a chance, especially after that failed slider.

everything repeated until only one place was left vacant. you’ve lost all hope, because every player that got chosen made an impression even on you. and you rarely acknowledged other pitchers.

“and the last candidate,” coach frowned. “had a really controversial reputation after just one day. but after some passionate discussion with my colleagues,” coach gave someone the look in the crowd. “i decided to change my mind and gave this person a chance.”

your heart skipped a beat.

“please welcome our last trainee, who has shown great potential and a good slider-“

no way.

“l/n y/n!”

you eyes widened. despite the fact that you hoped to get accepted, you were still surprised to hear your name.

still feeling like you were in a dream, you walked out of the crowd and headed forward under dozens of stares from your teammates. you bet that kim seungmin was the first one to burn a hole in you.

the coach gave you a slight nod and gestured to get in line. you saw two warm smiles in the crowd. aoi and rin. for a second, you felt bad. they had both been on the team for so long, but the chances of them being on one of the lineups were so little. and you doubled their chances in one day.

the coach said a few more encouraging words and let his assistant to step in. batteries were about to be announced. each pitcher was going to be judged not only based on individual skills, but also on the ability to work in a battery.

and here you were - anxious again. you didn’t disagree with coach on this, but still. your chances of getting an actual spot depended on your catcher. what if he is an asshole? what if he-

“takigawa aki and l/n y/n!”

you looked around, searching for someone to approach you.

oh, hell no.

it could have been anyone. anyone on the team, there were plenty of good catchers. but no. it was him, the guy who catched your piches in the morning. the friend of “i am the ace”. without protection, he looked much thinner, but still tall and intimidating. you saw dark brown hair and glasses, that you hadn’t noticed before. to be honest, you recognized him by his scolding eyes. he would actually be quite cute if he wasn’t kim seungmin’s friend.

“just call me aki. i don’t wanna see your grimace every time you’ll address me as senpai.” was the first thing he said when he approached you.

you chuckled. aki was straightforward indeed.

it was honestly impressive how you managed to create such a reputation on the first day.

“i have a question.”

“what is it?”

“are you friends with kim senpai?” you highlighted the last word, making aki chuckle. “cause i think i saw you next to him in the morning.”

“yes, you are right.” he admitted. “he is a good friend of mine, but i don’t really agree with how he treated you on your first day. gladly, you managed to get a spot as a trainee.”

aki seemed to be better than you predicted. maybe you really should stop overthinking.

“listen…” he cleared his throat. “wanna go practice a bit after we’re done? i know it’s your first day, but it’s better to start soon, so you’ll have an advantage. your slider was good, i think you just need more practice and a good coaching.”

“you think so?” you repeated shockingly.

aki nodded. “you are being too harsh on yourself. you are just a first-year, you aren’t supposed to know every pitch and be good at it. so… are you down or no?”

“count me in.” you smiled.

evening training was light. the coach was not so harsh on you on the first day. instead of pitching, you worked on your batting. it was the first time you used a pitching machine and you were terrified the whole time.

after the end of the training session, you waited for aki, and the two of you headed to the gym inside, because it was already getting dark and cold. your muscles felt so stiff. why did you agree to this again?

aki turned out to be a great coach. he explained you the basic of pitching in a way you’ve never heard anyone explain before. then he pointed out the mistake you made in the morning and why your slider failed. it was exhausting to throw over a hundred more pitches, but aki said it was a good start for your stamina training. as a pitcher, you had to be ready to throw that ball at least a hundred times per match, while standing under the burning sun.

even if you were dying when you finished, you still felt motivated. after all, it was your first day and you’ve already made so much progress.

on dying legs you made it to your room. the clock showed 11 in the evening. only having enough energy to walk to your bed, you laid on it and immediately fell asleep without even changing your clothes.

you overslept. fuck. you overslept on your second day and the first day as a trainee. yesterday’s workout really took its toll on you. the evidence of this were your sore muscles. and you still had to take a shower… gosh! you were a mess.

that’s how you ended up hiding behind a wall, thinking about the ways out of this situation. the coach was giving an introduction speech to the trainees and checking on older players in his usual strict manner. you couldn’t just walk out in this atmosphere. what could you even do?

“shit! they’ve already started.” sudden voice came behind you, making you squeal.

you turned around and faced the man himself. kim “i am the ace” seungmin was standing face to face next to you, as frightened as you were. what a surprise. never though you’d see the golden boy like this.

his voice was low, face swollen and eyes half-sleepy. he was still yawning, as if he just rolled out of bed and came here first thing.

“what are you doing here?” you raised an eyebrow. “aren’t you the ace? the best on the team?”

“shut up.” he leaned against the wall, still hiding from the sight of others. “it’s none of your business. i just fell asleep really late.”

“ah, right.” you rolled your eyes.

so now you were stuck in this position with him out of all people. great.

“anyway, why are you here?”

“what do you mean why? i am a new trainee, weren’t you at the training yesterday?” you gave him an evil look. this guy.

“ah yes, i already forgot.” a cocky smile slowly morphed onto his features. “wow. so you are late on your first day as a trainee? you have a big attitude wherever you go, huh?”

“you fu-“

“shh!” he put his hand on your mouth to muffle your approaching yell. “be quiet! they will catch us!”

you slapped his hand, making him to take it away from your mouth.

“i don’t wanna hear your notations, especially, when you are in the same position as me right now.” you clicked your tongue, turning away from him.

“well, our head coach is extremely strict about being punctual, and you’ve just got selected as a trainee. i don’t think we are in the same position, darling. you’d better listen to the discussion of your candidacy that happened in the office yesterday. and now you are about to show up late. worst case scenario, he will find a replacement for you and forget your name forever.” kim seungmin gave you the cockiest smike.

that’s bad. very bad. the wave of anxiety hit you again.

“should i just go there and beg for forgiveness on my knees? i think he will understand.”

“no, just calm down. a tardy is a tardy, even if you apologize. it won’t make your sentence lighter.” he shook his head. “however… what if you sneak into the line without anyone noticing?”

you looked at him suspiciously. what is this guy on?

“look here.” he gestured you to sit down next to him and you both cautiously peeked out from behind the wall. “take a good look at how they’re lined up. coach is talking to every player directly from far end to the close end. once the first row is done, it goes back to the far end of the second row. while the farthest guy is answering coach’s questions, everyone will be looking at him.”

“i still can’t believe i’ll be able to sneak in like that.” you whispered.

“take that chance and run quickly. you’ve got it.” he assured, looking right at you.

“what about you though?”

“i will be right behind you.” he patted you on the shoulder.

“are you sure? wouldn’t we be in bigger trouble if we fail?” you still weren’t convinced enough by his plan.

“don’t worry.” he grinned. “i did the same last year.”

“you’ve done it before?!” you almost yelled in surprise, but quickly lowered your tone.

“just trust me.” he said.

with that he talked you into it. you scooted a bit to the left, getting ready to run as soon as the attention would be on the guy in the second row.

“watch closely. we have one chance.” the ace gave you a thumbs up.

“alright, next is…”

you saw the coach turn his head in the opposite direction.

“c’mon!” kim seungmin almost shouted, signalizing you to go.

holding your breath, you crouched down and started running. the plan was working perfectly, you thought. the coach did not even pay attention to what was happening behind his back. a few more steps and…

“AAAAA! she came late and is trying to sneak into the line!”

you froze in disbelief. kim fucking seungmin was screaming behind you like some kind of alarm system. everyone, including the coach, turned around and looked right at you.

if you don’t get kicked off the team right now, you definitely going to beat his ass.

a/n (2): i’d really really really appreciate your feedback! i want to know what you think about this chapter. and please reblog, because likes do nothing to promote the post!

i wanted to leave this chapter as an introduction to the school, side characters and “y/n”, because i don’t wanna leave that unexplained. i promise that next chapter will have more interactions with seungmin!!

masterlist | taglist

TAGLIST (OPEN): @helloliaaaa @ghostbladee @jihnyah @lonelylandofan @fun-fanfics @anifxa

#skz x reader #kim seungmin #seungmin x reader #skz seungmin #skz series #ace of heart #ace of heart series #baseball #seungmin baseball #skz smau #seungmin smau #stray kids #stray kids smau

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thedreadvampy · 5 months

Text

We had our team Christmas party/goodbye Ruth do today. and I need to show you what my friend at work made me for a leaving present because even for him it's a work of mad genius, I was just sitting there like WHAT. WHAT IS HAPPENING.

so you know, I get leaving gifts from my team, it's lovely, notebooks, pens, gift card, fond farewells, it's lovely, people say nice things about me

then my friend Zain says "I also got you something"

Now the thing to know about Zain is his party acumen is legendary. every year we're all resigned from the off to losing at Secret Santa because his gifts are insane. last year he made his secret santa a custom play set of one of our services in a branded box with tiny props. this year he made a custom Ken doll and box representing our colleague and it has a tiny collection bucket and a "collect them all!" sticker on the back where he'd found pictures of Barbies and Kens that looked like the rest of the Fundraising team. we'd just got done with a quiz where he made a custom video package, a Family Feud round with buzzers, and TWO Photoshop picture rounds. once. ONCE. we asked him to facilitate a team meeting and he wrote and animated a theme song. the man is insane. everything he does is so thoughtful, so labour intensive, and also so off the wall weird.

so I'm intrigued. especially since all he's holding is an envelope.

he says "I got you something. It's kind of an experience."

and hands me this letter.

(there's a bunch of good bits in here but I will particularly note that "It's going" has been his perpetual refrain for months every time I ask how it's going, to the point he usually doesn't even bother saying it any more.)

ok. I am confused. what is. THE DEVICE.

he puts THE DEVICE on the table. he hands me 4 cardboard floppy discs.

THE DEVICE is a large cardboard box. You will observe that THE DEVICE has an LED on the front. You may also observe that THE DEVICE has both a button. and a set of speaker holes.

this is because upon pushing the button on THE DEVICE, it makes a jaunty startup noise and an AI voice launches into a full minute setup speech before instructing me to load the included floppy discs into THE DEVICE. during the period of silence as I feed them into the slot, THE DEVICE says things like "ow, careful!"

THE DEVICE then makes loading noises, and instructors me to open THE DEVICE to see the contents of the discs.

inside the box, there are 4 gifts, each corresponding to a floppy disc and also to a conversation we've had at some point in the last 2.5 years.

this, of course, is in reference to my infamous Blobbyland post, and indeed to the fact that Zain, who is 3 years younger than me, actually FOUND OUT ABOUT MR BLOBBY from me taking about my popular Tumblr post

Gawrsh.zip references a conversation about Goofy dying in Kingdom Hearts, the first video game I remember finishing

EIGHT MONTHS AGO Zain asked me what my top 5 films of all time were and I said easy, Mirrormask, 10 Things, Angels In America, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Fury Road, boom. He's been just HOLDING THAT INFORMATION IN HIS HEAD FOR MONTHS.

the last one is my favourite. I was like oh no what could be in this poster tube cause what's left of the floppies is NIGHTMARE.EXE.

at my Halloween party last month, to which Zain was my only work friend who made it, we watched Nightmare on Elm Street and Zain, who had recently watched some video breakdowns on it, was pointing out humorous background details. and in the sleep therapist scene, both he and Tim pointed at the screen and started shouting TRAM CATS!!! and we were all losing our shit

the thing is there's a Very Weird poster in that scene. and now. now it's in my house also.

anyway I legit almost cried this may be the most unhinged and lovely gift that anyone has ever given me. I'm going to miss working with this weirdo so much.

#red said #OH i also won the quiz. by half a point. so i have a trophy also!

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ethanesimp · 3 months

Text

Tangled Hearts

Pairing: FWB! Ethan Torchio x Photographer! Fem Reader

Summary: As much as you want to deny it, you want to be more than friends with benefits with Ethan.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: Kinda smutty but no actual smut, Ethan is a lil bit of an asshole in this, at least I think he is. There's also a lot of swearing, bc there is, and mentions of conflicts with parents.

Masterlists & Taglist

A/N: So uh... it's been a long while since I last wrote on here. Idk if people still read these but here you go! I missed writing dearly. It's also me just messing around, trying to get back into the writing habit again. Might add a part two if you guys like it cuz I've got some ideas. This is also inspired by a request I got a while ago, however it's like the events that happened before the request, if that makes sense.

═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══

A month left of the contract. That’s the very thought that has left a deep-seated sense of anxiety in your brain the more you let yourself think about it. For the past eleven months, you have been living the dream of traveling around the world with Måneskin and being their photographer. It was a job you would have never imagined having but one you are glad to have found.

It had been as much of a jump of faith for them to hire you with such little professional experience under your belt as it had been for you to accept the job. You left behind everything you knew for the opportunity to finally make a significant jump in your career that would make a difference in your future whether or not they renewed the contract for another year.

Then love made its way into the picture to mess everything up. Nothing could have prepared you for what you experienced during that first photoshoot alone with Ethan, the band’s drummer. The intimacy of the moment and the deep conversation shared as you set up your equipment was one that wouldn’t be forgotten easily, especially not when you got so close that it eventually led to the best night you had ever had while in Texas the night before a show.

Once the initial shock of what had happened wore off, you made a mutual agreement to keep it casual, despite the knowledge that whatever existed between you was anything but that. It worked nonetheless, for a long time, so you didn’t even bother questioning just how ephemeral it would be.

Your schedule, as well as the band’s, was full to the brim, leaving little to no time to think about your feelings with all the exciting things that had been going on around you. Until everything stopped and there were no shows or collabs to photographs.

Every single emotion pushed to the back of your mind has resurfaced as you sit alone in your bed for the first time in a while. It is the first night in a long time that you will be able to sleep in your bed instead of at a hotel or inside a cramped bunk on a bus. The whole thing takes you back to reality and helps you sober up from all the adrenaline quicker than you would have liked.

After such a long time away from your family, being back in your childhood room feels unreal. So does hearing your parents talk downstairs while you try to busy yourself editing pictured you’d taken at the last show. You want to take your mind off of all you have left behind and everything you would lose once your contract expired, which doesn’t happen as you look at the picture open in Photoshop. It is one of Vic spraying Damiano with the champagne she had opened to celebrate the end of the tour.

You smile to yourself as a bittersweet feelking makes its way into your heart. You know the band rarely keeps the same photographer around for more than a year and it has felt unfair to ask Ethan if you would be any different, if maybe they had grown to like you enough to keep you around for a little longer. So you just assume and accept that you will suffer the same fate as all the others before you.

The thought saddens you as you look up from your laptop and take a look around your room for the first time since you had arrived. On one of the walls hangs a picture of a college friend of yours you had taken for a photographic essay during your second semester. Close to it, you had placed one of your mother, which makes your heart ache as you look at it, knowing you would never be as close to her as you were when you took that picture.

Your parents have never been content with the idea of you being a photographer, especially not when both of them are engineers and have always envisioned a similar future for you. However, when you decided to go to college, they had been over the moon about it, despite you studying a photography-related degreee.

Sadly, all that happiness came crashing down when, during your fifth semester of college, none other than their manager reached out to you after finding your photography blog. He had gone on and on about how they needed a young and creative photographer in order to capture the band’s flare after their fame sky-rocketted.

You obviously accepted the job and put a pause on college for some time. Your parents had been against your decision and had stopped speaking to you for the first two months or so of you leaving. They eventually came around but things aren’t quite the same anymore. That is why you have found shelter in your room to avoid them and their hurtful comments they think they’re being more casual about.

You hate the situation you’re in much more than you’d like to admit, but what you hate above all else is feeling like an intruder in your own home when it used to be your safe place. You feel hot tears slide down your cheeks as you keep looking at that picture of your mother, asking yourself if the job is worth all this.

You haven’t even found an answer to the question when your phone buzzes. You pick it up from the bed and open the message, which happens to be from Ethan.

You hesitate while typing your next message. You want to tell him you miss him, but you fear it makes your feelings for him far too obvious. You’ve always wanted to be more than just his friend with benefits, but your fear ir far stronger than your desires. Still, without giving it more thought, you type out the two word message and send it through. Any worries fade away as you read his response.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

You shift your balance from your heels to your toes as you wait for Ethan to open the door. After you replied to his text, you didn’t waste a second to drive over to his house, completely ignoring your parents’ complaints.

When he opens the door, you feel a wave of relief wash over you at the sight of him. His dark eyes and easy smile do their usual trick and help you forget about everything else. Then, you feel your breath hitch when your eyes scan over his clothes.

Ethan is dressed in a loose-fitting white button-up shirt with the first few buttons undone, giving you a small glimpse of his toned chest. He pairs it with tight black slacks and polished black shoes. He looks absolutely stunning... as always, you think.

You meet his eyes after a few seconds of gawking at him and soon realize how absolutely fucked you are when you see his long hair is nicely gathered in a bun that sits at the nape of his neck, just how you like it.

That absolute fucker. You absolutely despise how attractive he looks, especially when your thoughts go straight to a few nights ago. You remember your hands tangled in his hair, completely ruining his bun. You remember pulling at it while his head was in between your legs, then while you were having sex. And now all you want to do is hide as you feel your cheeks heat up at the memories.

He lets out a hearty laugh, succesfully snapping you out of your little daydream.

“You’re staring.” Ethan says teasingly.

You roll your eyes at him, “You wish.”

He shakes his head and steps aside to let you in, “It’s nice to see you too, by the way.”

You let out a soft laugh, “We literally just saw each other yesterday.”

"Says the one who told me she missed me. Besides, it's always lovely to see you." He says, in such a relaxed and casual manner, as if it doesn't evoke any emotions within him, while it stirs up everything inside of you.

His place is small and tidy. There are books and plants here and there, scattered in random places all around the kitchen and living room, accompanied by the faint smell of vanilla coming from a lit candle.

Ethan catches you off-guard by wrapping his arms around you in a hug after closing the door behind you. Driven by instinct, your arms wrap themselves around him as you let your face rest on his shoulder for a few seconds.

You pull away enough to look him in the eye. He looks back at you with nothing but warmth in his eyes. Then he plants a gentle kiss on your lips that makes it so much harder for you to believe he has nothing but sexual feelings towards you. How could he kiss you with such gentleness if that were the case?

“I wanted to get out of there so fucking bad.” You mumble as an attempt to quiet down your thoughts.

Ethan gives you a knowing look. He’s the only person who knows everything you have sacrificed to follow your dream. He always tries to reassure you that you had made the right decision, but believing him never gets any easier. Especially not when the price you had to pay was so high.

“You’re always welcome here, dolcezza. Offer still stands if you want to stay until we’re back on the road.” He expresses. When Ethan had first brought the idea up, you had been so shocked to say anything. It’s still hard for you to understand how he is so casual about asking you to move in, yet turning into something other than fuck buddies is too much for him.

Rather than focusing much on your thoughts, you focus on observing him unscrew the cork on a bottle of wine that had previously been sitting inside the fridge.

“Being back here is so strange,” You say as he pours wine into a glass for you, “I didn’t spend a lot of time at home while I was at college either, so it kinda made me think I wouldn’t feel much different than how I did then...”

The words slowly die down in your throat, and your attention drifts away to the bright light over the kitchen counter.

“Hey, hey,” Ethan says gently as an attempt to get your attention. He leans forward to cup your cheeks, “All this you’re going through isn’t easy. I get it’s probably much more overwhelming when all this negativity is coming from your parents of all people.”

You place a hand over his and close the distance left between his lips and yours. The kiss is a comforting sign of understanding between you both, a silent way of saying that everything will be alright.

You tangle your hands in his hair to bring him closer to you, to feel more of his lips on yours. He smiles softly at your actions and reacts by brushing his tongue over your bottom lip, which you reciprocate almost right away.

This moment between the two of you feels like none you’d had before. You have grown familiar with messy quickies squeezed into every free space that could be found in your busy schedules. Unlike then, there is no recording session, interview, or show to stop you from taking your sweet time together.

Knowing he can, Ethan enjoys every kiss and touch with you, extending them as much as his body allows him to. He lets his hands slowly wander under your shirt as you break the kiss to catch a breath. His hands warm up your skin as they make their way up your waist and he lets out a soft chuckle upon noticing you were wearing nothing underneath your blue sweater.

“Something tells me you don’t just want to watch the movie.” He laughs as his lips trail down to your neck.

You laugh too, “I actually do, but this is pretty great too.”

He pulls away from you completely despite your protests and starts walking towards his room. You follow him with an eager smile on your face, happy to let him fuck away your worries.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . ﾟ☆º:. ───

You’re still wrapped in a curtain of bliss after the intimate moment you’ve had. Between his soft pecks and warm hands you slowly let go of any sort of worries that had still been clinging to your body and mind. Instead, you let all of your attention fall on the words that easily fall from his lips like calm rivers.

“You’re beautiful, sweetheart.” He murmurs through parted lips before they keep on sucking on your exposed neck. You do nothing but hum in response, basking in the pleasure his attention brings along.

He can’t keep his hands and lips off you. You’re already so overstimulated that you cannot even think straight anymore as he draws shapes on your back. So it happens, in only a few seconds and with a phrase that anyone but Ethan would’ve been happy to hear, you lose it all. While he places kisses along your collarbones and gently massages your breast while his free hand holds yours, you mumble out words you won’t be able to take back, ever…

“I love you.”

At first, his dark eyes look into yours with surprise and a slight touch of happiness, words still processing in the very back of his mind. Then, any trace of gentleness and adoration that had been previously present, vanishes. You lose the warmth of his hands against your naked body when he stands up and puts a distance between you that feels infinite.

You see his face harden as he leans down to pick up his shirt from the floor, your heart falling to your stomach as you watch him get dressed. He avoids your eyes, which you suspect is much more painful than if he were looking at you.

That moment of silence seems to stretch out into what feels like an eternity. You don’t know what to say, and by the looks of it, your words have also rendered him speechless.

You feel the need to get up and try to reach out to him. To try and make up an excuse that explains why you said it, but your body doesn’t move. You just wait impatiently for him to speak first.

“Please get out.” Ethan says coldly, your heart shattering as you search for any trace of that warmth that used to be in his eyes just seconds ago. But his expression remains neutral and void of emotion. An expression you have never seen before.

“Ethan, please,” Your eyes start getting watery as you plead. Your body finally responds and allows you to stand up and walk closer to him as you put your sweater back on. “Please, I’m sorry.”

There’s a part of you that feels pathetic at the sound of your wavering voice as you ask for forgiveness. An unmistakable desperation in your tone that you wish would disappear and a sharp pain in your heart that you want to ignore.

“I said get out.” You watch as his expression shifts into what you mistake as anger, but it’s nothing more than pure heartbreak.

“Please don’t, let’s talk about this. You can’t just kick me out before we do.” He’s still looking away from you, which makes you feel like your words are being dismissed by him.

“I can, and I will.” Ethan says firmly as he buttons his slacks.

“Come on, did our relationship mean nothing to you?” You say those words as a last attempt to bring him back to his senses. At first, you think it works because he’s finally looking back at you, but what he says next makes it clear that’s not the case.

“We are not in a relationship, we never were.”

“Fine, fuck this shit! I’m tired of just being someone you fuck whenever you’re bored anyway.” You see his whole expression soften at your harsh words. Ethan tries to reach out but you notice he debates on it before letting his hand fall back to his side.

Everything went to shit so quickly with those three little words. The friendship you have been building up for years has just been ruined in less than ten minutes and you have no idea what the fuck you’re supposed to do next.

“You know that’s not what this is! You’re so much more than that, you’re my best friend!” His voice is much gentler than it was, but you don’t notice it because of the anger that’s building up at his words.

“Well, you have a shitty way of showing it. Best friends don’t do whatever the fuck we do!” You turn your back to him and start collecting the rest of your clothes and car keys.

You feel his hand on your shoulder as you dress up, but you shrug it away, “Don’t. I’m listening to you and getting out of here.”

A part of you hopes he’ll go after you, but this is no romcom, so he doesn’t do anything to stop you and lets you leave.

#ethan torchio x reader

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hoodharlow · 1 year

Text

Just Us

AN: Miriam is in her groupie era 😌😌😌 and Jack and Miriam found out about something that happened four years ago

Requested? No

Warnings: mentions of Sydney Sweeney and allusions to smut

Word Count: 3.9k words

"I can't believe this is the first time you fly me in first class." Miriam told Jack as she settled in her window seat.

"This isn't first class. We're in business class." He said, sitting next to her in the aisle.

"Oh that explains a lot," she mumbled, unimpressed at the seating.

Jack and Miriam were currently boarding a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Miriam had finally finished filming and joined Jack down unda for his Australia and New Zealand shows. She had a few weeks off before she went to Atlanta to go film a mini series with Aaron Taylor Johnson. She auditioned for the role back in May and didn't get a response until a few days ago. Her mom was also cast and was going to play her mom. Miriam was excited because she always wanted to work with her mom. Even if their characters don't have the greatest bond.

"I like these." Jack commented, bringing her hand up to inspect her nails. "When did you get them done?"

Miriam gave him an unamused look and pulled her hand back. Jack knew when she got them done, he was on facetime with her the entire time.

After she finished filming, she made a stop in New York before heading to meet up with him in Paris because they were flying from there to Dubai to Perth, Australia. In New York she met up with her nail girl, who apparently was also Jack's nail tech before the couple even met, and got her nails done. She decided on getting a nude almond-shaped nails with black, white and grey swirls. It had been months since she got acrylics. She had a month off before filming and wasn't going to be doing anything too demanding.

She also got some blonde highlights for shits and giggles. What she wasn't expecting for them to cause so much controversy. When she landed in Paris she went straight to where Jack was performing. People filmed them hugging, not knowing it was her, and quickly assumed Jack was cheating. The crowd was split fifty-fifty when it was time for him to go on stage, half getting into his performance and the other half not happy to be there. It wasn't until the following morning that everyone saw why people were upset. All the gossip sites ran with the story so Miriam posted a selfie with 'in my Shakira in the La Tortura mv era' because her hair resembled Shakira's hair in that music video to her Instagram Stories. On her actual Instagram, she posted with Urban, photoshopping them over the Olsen Twins in a picture of their movie 'Passport to Paris' poster because he was the only close to her hair color.

"You swear you haven't seen them wrapped around your dick the last few days." She said, opening her Mrs Fields cookie tin.

She was at a small shop in the airport and bought the largest size box. Those were her favorite cookies, besides the ones Claudia makes for her. In her opinion, they could give Crumbl a run for their money.

"Not gonna lie, I'm still getting used to your hair and I was trying not to think that it reminded me of Urb's hair from a few years ago." He said, biting into a M&Ms cookie.

"You're thinking of your best friend while I'm sucking you off?" Miriam made a grossed out face.

An elderly woman gave them a judgmental scoff as she walked past them after hearing Miriam. Jack snorted, making Miriam roll her eyes at him.

The flight was roughly two hours long. They, Jack and Miriam, The Homies (who were touring with Jack) and their respective teams landed around noon. They waited until the other people in flight got off to get off. They went through a separate way to get to baggage claim. Once they went through airport security and everything else, they were in a shuttle bus en route to the hotel they were staying at for the next three days.

Miriam was texting her parents to check in as her and Jack rode the elevator to their suite. Even after moving out, her parents insisted on knowing wherever she went and needed constant updates from her. She would have called but the time zones still confused her so she sent them a text in case it was the middle of the night.

"You sure you don't wanna go see Aitch right?" Jack asked as the doors opened to their floor.

Like Jack, Aitch, his British rapper friend, was also doing festival shows and concerts down in Australia and New Zealand. He had a show in Melbourne tonight and after his show, Aitch was having an after party. He invited Jack and co a few days ago when they were in Sydney for Splendour in the Grass. Urban and the guys agreed, but Jack was still undecided which meant so was Miriam.

"I'm following you around. If you wanna see him, we can go. If you don't wanna see him, then we don't have to." Miriam said, taking the keycard out from inside her phone case.

"Good because I'm taking you out." He nodded, holding the door open for her to go in first.

He had already booked a private tour at an art museum and a private dinner for them at the hotel's rooftop. The hotel had an igloo dining feature since it was winter time in Australia. It was for them to celebrate their one year anniversary. They never agreed on an exact date, but they became an official couple some time in late July of last year. One thing they agreed on was that they've been exclusive to each other the second they met. Jack wanted to do something nice for Miriam because she deserved it and because they haven't had alone time in a long time.

"Where are we going?" She asked him curiously.

"Damn, I can't surprise you?"

"I mean yeah, but I just wanted to know if we were going to be outside." Miriam said, shrugging off one of Jack's many winter coats.

She had been living off his suitcases because she didn't believe Claudia when she told her that Australia and New Zealand were actually cold between June through September. Miriam genuinely thought it was going to be similar to Florida in the winter and packed a lot of summer clothes. When she landed in Perth she was shocked that it was cold like in San Francisco. Luckily she did some shopping in Sydney and got some basics like leggings, jeans, and a few long sleeves.

"We're gonna be indoors then we'll be outdoors." He said hugging her from behind. He kisser her neck, dry humping her as he said, "Then my dick is gonna be in and outta you."

Miriam’s feet were killing her. She had the genius idea of wearing six inch Christian Louboutin strappy heels to a museum where she and Jack got a three hour tour of the entire museum that was the size of a mall. In her defense it was the only pair of shoes that went with her outfit.

She wore a black with clusters of small red flowers bustier and skirt set that had came with fingerless gloves that went up passes her elbows. The set was originally an ill-fitting maxi dress that was very loose in the chest area when Miriam bought it. She altered it herself creating a fitted cropped bustier and maxi skirt that went with her height. With the fabric she cut off, she made the long fingerless gloves.

"This concludes our tour, I hope you enjoyed it." The tour guide told Jack and Miriam.

"We did thanks." Jack smiled at them.

The tour guide led them to the entrance and thanked them once more. Miriam sat in the nearest chair and sighed contently.

"You good?" Jack asked her.

"No, my feet hurt from all that walking." She pouted.

"Who told you to wear them to this?" He asked.

"Certainly not you because you wouldn't even tell me where we were going." She muttered.

"I'mma order an Uber then get our coats." He said, typing away on his phone.

Miriam nodded and handed him the two slips the coat person gave them when they checked in their coats. She was twisting in her seat, cracking her back, when she realized she was sitting in front of the gift shop. She quickly got up and texted Jack that she went inside the gift shop.

She loved buying books from museums or places she's been to. She also collected a bunch of fashion history books. Miriam just loved having them around her house. Not only for aesthetic purposes but also because she loved immersing herself in them and learning.

She found the main one for the museum and several other ones from specific exhibitions. She also grabbed a few books about plants, animals, and flowers. She paid and nearly ran into Jack at the entrance.

"All set?" He asked her, taking the bag so she could put on her giant coat.

"Yeah," she nodded, zipping her coat all the way up to her chin.

"Our uber is three minutes out." Jack said, reaching for her hand.

They exited the museum and stood in the pick up area. Not long after a black SUV pulled up. Jack approached the car and asked who they were here for. When the driver answered with his name, he motioned Miriam to go in.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and read an email her mom sent her while her and Jack were on their tour. She clicked on the attachment. It was a draft of an article Sydney Sweeney did for the Hollywood Reporter for her Emmy nominations. A lot of actors do interviews after getting nominated as part of an Emmy campaign to get the academy to vote for them. Miriam also got nominated for her role in the mini series she did with Jenna Ortega, but she wasn't doing any Emmy campaigns. She was just honored to be nominated.

Miriam skimmed the article, rolling her eyes where Sydney defended Cassie for fucking her best friends abuser. Her eyes landed on a paragraph where Sydney talked about how it's unfair about people having connections being able to walk in while she had been busting her ass for years. She went on talking about how she isn't privileged enough to take six months off from working to travel with her rapper boyfriend like a certain actress who looks like her mom. Sydney went on about this certain actress for a few more paragraphs, shaming her for coming from a rich family, but ended with her being happy that she actually got a role her and the certain actress were auditioning for.

Miriam frowned. There's no way Sydney was talking about her. Sure she fit most of the criteria and they both auditioned for a role that went to the blonde actress. But why did Sydney even mention her? Miriam literally minded her business and knew her place when it came to auditions. She was fully aware and acknowledged the privilege she had because of who her parents are.

She went back to the email and read what her mom sent her. It was a summary of the article, explaining that it was going to be published, but the author had worked with Isabela and sent her a draft of the article as a courtesy. Her mom also asked if she wanted to make a statement regarding what Sydney said. Miriam replied to her mom, asking her to leave it alone. She didn't have the energy to start some unnecessary beef with someone that doesn't affect her life.

She felt Jack shake her shoulder. "Bro, I've been calling your name."

"Huh?" Miriam blinked at him.

"We're back at the hotel." He said.

"Oh shit." She mumbled, scooting to the door. She turned to the driver and thanked them.

Jack placed his arms over shoulders and guided them to their suite. He was dropping off their things before heading to the roof for their private dinner. He could tell something was on Miriam's mind. She never missed a chance to talk about what she bought at places. He deduced it must've had to do with what she was reading on the drive to the hotel.

"You okay?" He asked her gently.

"Not really," she sighed, hugging herself. "My mom got an article sent to her that Sydney Sweeney did and she spent a good chunk of it shading me because of who my parents are."

"What the fuck? Why?" Jack frowned.

"Because I don't need to work and it's unfair that she can't afford a gate around her house and she needs to stay booked to afford it." She said in a snippy tone.

"Come here." He said, opening his arms. Miriam begrudgingly walked to him. He hugged her tightly and kissed her temple. "Fuck her and fuck who else has shit to say about you. You're one of the most hardworking people I've met in the industry. You're actually aware of the privilege you have unlike several people we know who thrive off it and act completely shocked that they and their families have connections. I'm sorry that she came for you unwarranted like that. I can't speak for you, for obvious reasons, but I want you to know that you're a fucking badass, Miriam. Last year you filmed three movies and a tv show and this year you won your first Oscar and Grammy and you just got an Emmy nomination. That shit doesn't come solely for being the daughter of people in the industry. Those awards and nominations are a result of your hard work. Sure your connections helped you out in the beginning but in the end your talent why you deserved it. I don't want you. I don't want you feeling bad. Okay?"

"Okay.” Miriam nodded tearfully.

Jack wiped the tears and leaned down to kiss her. "Let's get going. Our reservation is in fifteen minutes."

They went down to the lobby, there was a separate elevator that led guests to the restaurants and lounges in the hotel, and took the elevator to the rooftop bar. Miriam’s face lit up when she saw the igloos. They were a dozen igloos, each the size of one of those sheds that Costco sold that look like mini homes. Though these were shaped like igloos.

Jack checked in with the hostess and they led him and Miriam to an igloo for two. Inside there was a small velvet couch with a coffee table in the middle. Across from that was a small dining table with two chairs.

"Any drinks to start the night?" They asked Jack and Miriam.

"Water for now." Miriam said.

"I'll take sparkling water." Jack said.

"I'll bring those in a bit. Here are the menus." The hostess said, placing them on the dining table.

"Thank you." Jack and Miriam said in unison.

The hostess nodded and walked out of the igloo. Miriam shrugged off her coat and placed it behind a chair before making her way to the couch. Jack did the same and took the menus so they could look at them. He sat next to her and draped her legs over one of his thighs.

"This is nice." Miriam said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah? Not too cheesy?" Jack asked nervously.

"Oh it's corny as hell," she said, making him laugh. "But that's not a bad thing. I rarely got to do dates like this in the past, so I really appreciate this. And it's also a change of pace. The past few weeks we've been jumping from location to location, going to show after show."

"I know we've been together the past few weeks but I feel like we haven’t spent time together. Just us, you know." He said, placing his hand on Miriam's knee.

"Aw you're a big ol' shoftie." She said, kissing him.

"Don't say that you're gonna ruin my street cred."

"Bro, you're a white guy from the suburbs. You don't have street cred."

"Shut up."

Miriam cackled.

A server came by with their drinks. They took Jack and Miriam's orders. Jack got a steak with a side of veggies and mashed potatoes. Miriam ordered the pan fried chorizo and ricotta gnocchi. They also ordered fish and chips for their appetizers.

"Oh, so my friend Malia is in Auckland and I haven't seen her in a while. Is it okay that I invite her to your show?" Miriam said, dipping a fry in tatar sauce.

"Yeah, what's her full name so I can have Neelam add her to the list. Calum and Claudia are also going, right?"

She nodded, covering her mouth to chew.

"Cal just finished touring and they're meeting Cal's mom there." She took a sip of water and mumbled, "my friend's name is Malia Obama."

Jack choked on his bite of food. "Did you say Malia Obama? You know the president's daughter?"

"Our families go back." She shrugged. "My parents endorsed Barack in both elections and they all became friends sometime in between. My family and I even attended that dinner where Malia gave Sasha a thumbs up when they met Blake Lively's husband."

"Who don't you know?" He asked her genuinely.

"Gabriel Iglesias."

Jack laughed loudly, shaking his head.

The rest of dinner was peaceful. After they ate, a few servers cleared the table and brought out a dessert charcuterie board with a small fondue pot. They also had a drink tray with hot chocolate with things for them to customize their drinks. Despite eating all of that in a span of three hours, that didn't stop them from wanting to fuck.

"Get naked." Jack said, kicking the door shut. "But keep the heels on."

***

"That's too petty, Claudia." Miriam said, taking her phone from her best friend.

"I mean she did spend half of her article talking about you." Malia pointed out. “It was like she was looking for an excuse to mention you without really mentioning you.”

"See, Malia agrees with me." Claudia said, snatching Miriam's phone.

They were backstage at the Trusts Arena where Jack was going to perform. A few days after Sydney Sweeney's article was released, Miriam had received news that she was going to replace the blonde actress in a sapphic romcom starring Hailee Steinfeld as her love interest. It was the role she mentioned in her article that she beat Miriam.

Now Miriam was deciding on what should be her caption for her post. Claudia and Malia were suggesting she take the petty route and caption it with 'I have never ever been happier'. She decided to post a picture of her and Hailee Steinfeld from the 2018 Met Gala with 'Can't wait to work with you Hails <3' to her Instagram Stories.

"You're no fun." Claudia said, reading the caption.

"I'm not risking it. This is probably gonna be the only chance I get to make out with Hailee." Miriam said loud enough for Jack to hear.

"What's this about you making out with people that aren't me?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

"It's for work." She reassured him.

Jack eyed her suspiciously. "If you say so." He turned to Malia and the couple that couldn't keep their hands to themselves. "Y'all good? Is there something you want us to get?"

"I'm good, thank you." Malia said.

"We're good too." Calum answered for him and Claudia.

"When was the last time the three of us hung out?" Claudia asked Malia and Miriam.

"Like four years ago at Outside Lands but Miriam ditched us to hook up with some guy who was making her laugh at Future's after party." Malia said.

"Yesss," Claudia nodded. "Miriam was laughing at everything he was telling her. I remember the guy was obviously trying to get a Miriam but he was nice enough to make small talk with me and Malia. He asked me what I was studying and I was like education then he was like–"

"That's where the money is." Jack finished for her.

"Yeah, how'd you– no!" She exclaimed. Claudia opened Calum's jacket and grabbed her phone from the inside pocket. "There's no way."

"What?" Miriam asked.

"Jack was the guy you fucked." Claudia said, quickly scrolling through her snapchat memories.

"Claudia por favor." She laughed in disbelief. Miriam turned to Jack. "Were you at Outside Lands back in 2018?"

"He performed in the morning and Drama got us into Future's after party." Urban said, opening a bag of chips. He pointed at Jack. "This fucker ended up leaving with some girl who couldn't stop laugh– holy shit! You guys fucked."

"We did not. I would have remembered Jack." Miriam said.

"He didn't look like this." Urban patted Jack's cheek affectionately. "He couldn't grow a beard back then."

"Man fuck off." Jack murmured.

"I have like twenty videos of that party." Claudia said.

She played the first video. Her and Malia were vibing to the music while Miriam filmed them. A voice in the background, clearly Jack, began talking to Miriam. She burst into a fit of giggles after one cheesy joke. The video ended with Claudia taking her phone back because Miriam was filming the ground and laughing. Claudia played another video where Jack, who appeared in the video, was promoting his upcoming mixtape Loose and telling them that it was coming out in a few days. In the background of that video Miriam was swearing up and down that she was going to listen to it. The last video was of Claudia and Malia saying that they were waiting for their designated driver to stop making out and the camera flipped to Jack and Miriam heavily making out.

"Yo, does this look like Jack?" Urban asked Quiiso, who happened to walk past them.

"What do you mean? That is Jack." He said. "He never took off that Generation Now chain back then."

"Now, who does the girl look like?" He asked.

"Miriam." Quiiso answered. He took a double take. "Ain't this the time Jack hooked up with a girl at Outside Lands and he was devastated that he never got her name at Future's after party."

"Aw you were devastated." Miriam gushed, nudging Jack's shoulder.

“Not anymore.” he murmured as his cheeks turned red.

The topic changed and eventually The Homies went on stage. Then it was Jack’s turn to perform. A few hours later Jack and Miriam were back in their suite. Miriam was in bed replying to Claudia because she and Calum dropped Malia back at where she was staying and that they made it to where Calum’s mom’s place was. Jack came out of the bathroom in some pj’s with its accompanying long sleeve, drying his curls with a towel.

“That was Claudia, she said everyone is back home.” Miriam said, rolling to her side to connect her phone to the charger.

Jack hummed in response and climbed in bed. He opened her legs so he could lay in between them. He liked laying on Miriam because she would play with his curls.

“I still can’t believe we hooked up all those years ago.” he said, opening the one button that was fastened on her silk pajama top. He kissed between the valley of her breasts. “I would have remembered your cackle.”

“What cackle?” she asked, pushing him off so she could take off her silk pants.

“‘What cackle?’ You know damn well which one.” Jack said, pulling down his pajama pants. He brought her hips close to his. “Now let me fuck the giggles outta you.”

Taglist: @cherryxcreme @heavyhitterheaux @carma-fanficaddict @youngharleezyxo @youngharleezy @babyharleezy @that-90s-girllll @alinaharlow @whywontyoulovemecami @meyocoko @harlowcomehome @nattinatalia @webinurcloset @gassyandsassy1 @jackharloww @awhore4moree @noescapricho-essentimiento @a-moment-captured

#jack and miriam #jack harlow smut #jackharlow #jack harlow #tw sydney Sweeney

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bcdrawsandwrites · 7 months

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[ID: The first image Psychonauts fanfic banner on a black-to-gray gradient background. On the left in white text it says “Prompt #7: What Have I Done?” On the right is a bright red animated figment of an open Psycho-Portal with scribbles inside.

The second image is a Bad Things Happen Bingo card. Various prompts are marked with a half-brain (prompt requested but not filled) or full-brain (prompt requested and finished) symbol, while the “What Have I Done” prompt specifically is marked with a full brain symbol. /end ID]

And now after NOT taking multiple months, here’s the next fic in my @badthingshappenbingo challenge!

I am currently NO LONGER OPEN FOR REQUESTS. I have enough to work on to get a bingo! I MAY decide to reopen prompts later if I want to keep going after finishing these fics, but for now, requests are closed!

This prompt requested by @jaywings, who also beta-read, as did @portalcartoon! (Also thanks to @mechmolar who's been animating my gif frames since Photoshop stopped working for me.)

Prompt: What Have I Done Characters: Ford Cruller, Lucrecia Mux, other Psychic 7 members Warnings: Implied death/murder, implied drug use

---~~~---

The first time Ford sees her on that warm summer night, the rest of the world turns fuzzy. Her eyes catch his immediately, and his heart flutters, his face flushing. She hasn't even spoken yet, and already something about her is making him smile like an idiot. It takes him a moment to realize Otto has been talking. With a jolt and a stutter he asks Otto to repeat his words, but his friend's voice only fades into the background once again, and Ford's gaze is on her once more.

He can't help but notice, she's smiling too.

—-

Otto is saying something, but he can't hear him. The world has turned fuzzy, and all he can see is Lucy's smiling face in the photograph on the table, and the letter in his shaking hands.

—-

The first time Ford sees her powers, he can only stare in awe. His and Otto's attempts at hydrokinesis had resulted in mere bubbles and splashes, which they'd had fun fooling around with, splashing each other when one wasn't looking.

Lucy is not fooling around. With a mere thought, she commands the water as though it were an extension of her outstretched hand. She moves with grace and precision, yet with enough power that their previous mining efforts are dwarfed in comparison. Massive waves wash away dirt and stone and other minerals and draw heaps of glowing crystals to their feet, leaving not a droplet behind.

—-

Bob and Helmut link trembling hands, and a nearby vine beckons Ford nearer.

The television screen is small and colorless, and the figure in the distance is barely discernible. But her command of water is unmistakable, even though it is people, not stones, that it brings to her feet.

—-

The first time Ford enters Lucy's mind is among one of the first times he has ever entered a mind. It is frightening yet fascinating as he sets foot on a giant quilt that undulates like gentle ocean waves. Buildings made of patchwork resemble a town from a faraway place, like something out of a picture book. Though he is attacked by the same small creatures he had seen in Otto's mind, this world is vastly different. Some of it is locked away to him, however, and he urges Lucy to open her mind more, eager to explore this uncharted territory.

—-

They have explored the Gulch, their psychic powers, and each other's minds, but the war room is entirely uncharted territory. The government was never supposed to be involved, and yet here were politicians representing every country Ford had ever known and then some, all of them begging their little friend group to please do something. They speak of the horrors this "monster" has committed, and one points out that they have no idea what she will do next.

But they say that Ford and his group of psychic heroes—surely they must know what lies in the mind of this madwoman.

Ford and the others exchange worried glances. He knows what he put into her mind... but none of them know what has happened to it now.

—-

When Ford continually pushes Lucy to open up more, he feels no deep worry or fear. Over the years they'd known each other, they had explored each other's minds, probing into the depths, looking for what new wonders there were to find.

Memory Vaults remain open, frolicking through the mindscape with their mouths agape. Exposure to certain substances sooth Doubts and Regrets and make Censors sluggish to act, allowing for more ease of exploration. New doors open, allowing for more and more depths to explore.

In spite of her dulled inhibitors, Lucy expresses her fear sometimes, unsure if they're pushing each other too far. But Ford assures her that all is safe, here. Nothing can reach them here in the Gulch, and he puts her hands in his own, assuring her that she can trust him.

They are far from any troubles.

—-

The helicopter takes them far, far from the Gulch. The ride is silent and tense, no one saying a word, even over telepathy—or none of them speak to Ford, anyway. Bob and Helmut stare at their interlinked hands, Cassie and Compton huddle close, and Otto looks blankly ahead, his face unreadable.

None of them meet his gaze.

—-

Her horrified gasp shatters their peaceful morning. Lucy stares at the newspaper for an eternity before it drops from her shaking hands, and her sister's name leaves her trembling lips.

Ford's immediate thought is to comfort and reassure her, but she's already packing her bags, deaf to his words.

His words of comfort soon turn to pleas to stay—everything's changing too fast. Their minds are different. She doesn't know what will happen. (He doesn't know what will happen.) But she insists that she must leave, she must help her sister, and nothing he can say will sway her.

It's when she leaves, taking off riding on a wave, that it strikes him that they'd never taken the time to close up their minds. But he tries to reassure himself—he knows her. She won't let anything harmful into her mind, and they'll see each other again, once this is all over.

—-

The first time Ford sees Maligula, he does not recognize her. He's not alone, as all of them stare at her in horror, wondering at the identity of this monster standing before them.

It's not until Bob calls out to everyone that this is Lucy—that this is their friend—that recognition sets in, and nearly brings Ford to his knees. This is it—this was Lucy who brought those people to her feet, who wiped this country off the map, who let this terrible darkness into her heart—or out of it.

...But she hadn't done that alone.

It was Ford who had begged her to open those doors in her mind in the first place.

And he stands before Maligula, a single horrified thought running through his mind:

What have I done?

#ford cruller #lucrecia mux #psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #bad things happen bingo #psychonauts 2 spoilers #my art #my writing #this took me months to get myself to write it #not that it was hard to write it was that I was like... majorly overthinking the entire fic #the actual fic was 500x easier to write than I thought

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findingnemosworld · 7 months

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𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 - 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐬

・𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲: 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬

( 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐨 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬."𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲? 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬?" )

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬.

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!!

Her mother had always said that when you are in love with an individual, the person you can’t truly picture yourself out – chances are, there will always be someone lurking in the back to keep you two apart and in this case, for both her and Sergio, it was two individuals that she had come to realize weren’t as pure as they were.

Vance and Serena, their mutual friends who at first seemed quite friendly we’re slowly beginning to shed their true skin as time went on, she had known Vance since she was a teen and Sergio had known Serena thanks to their mutual circles – what started as quite the innocent friendship had slowly transformed into a toxic cycle of he said she said, a cycle that had unfortunately dampened the obvious bond between her and Sergio.

And how she did uncover it, you may ask - it was thanks in part to an interesting revelation made during a party attended by them, she did not mean to eavesdrop yet as she heard her name being mentioned, she couldn’t help but stop and listen.

" I can’t believe it worked! Sergio is such an idiot " an excited Serena exclaims. " Those photos were so easy to photoshop "

Her eyes widen, recalling the day Sergio confronted her over relationship with Vance, showcasing photos that had taken her by surprise as they were clearly photoshopped, she scrambled to pull out her phone and record the interaction.

" They both are, can you believe how easy she was to trick, a few charming words and she’s falling right into my trap? " Vance chuckles.

" As long as she is far away from Sergio, that’s all that matters - I have been trying for months to get him to fall for me, and she just thinks she can swoop in and take him, not on my watch " Serena states with a condescending expression, " Keep her as far away from him as possible until I get what I want from that idiot "

" And you do that as well, once we get what we want, we’re off and we leave them be and never come back " Vance said.

She paused the recording and runs off to look for Sergio, she looks around until she found him chatting with one of the other guests, without a word uttered she walks over and grabs him by the arm, startling him as he followed her out into the balcony, " What do you want? " he asked.

She turns to face him, her eyes cold and emotionless. " I’m aware that you do not want to talk to me and that’s fine but … " she opens her phone to open the recording, " Listen to this "

Sergio frowns in confusion before his expression quickly shifts, listening to the entire recording and just before it ends, he asks " What is this? "

" The truth, if you choose to not believe it that’s on you " She states before walking away and leaving the party.

To say that Sergio was confused would be an understatement, could this truly be the truth? he spent weeks on end trying to make sense of things until one day, while Serena was visiting him, he overheard her talking and just as she turned around, her eyes widening and the phone drops from her hand, " Sergio " she she whispers.

" I knew it " Sergio states with a dry chuckle.

" Sergio let me explain " Serena tried to reason before a yelp escaped from her lips when he grabbed her wrist, " Sergio please, I love you "

" No, you don’t " Sergio shakes his head, his eyes burning into hers. " You wanted my money which you won’t get "

Fear courses through her veins before she blurts out, " I’m pregnant "

A hysterical laugh erupts from Sergio’s lips before he said, " Let me guess, it’s Vance’s child "

" Wh… What? No " She shakes her head.

Sergio laughs once again, " Don’t give me those sad eyes, you were fucking him the whole time, Y/N showed me proof "

Serena’s face hardens, " She’s lying, that bitch is lying she’s always been jealous of the fact that I managed to get you "

His grip on her hand tightens, " Don’t you ever call her a bitch, the only lying bitch here is you, so pack your bags and leave! Better yet " he states, dragging her out of the house. " You’ll get your shit delivered to you "

Meanwhile, Vance stood in Y/N’s home moritified by hearing the recording she had, " I can explain " he states.

She smiled, " No you can’t, I knew you were lying, I just had to find the perfect proof "

Vance stumbled over his words, " She made me do it "

" Sure she did, no wonder you two are so close, you’re cut from the same cloth! Tell you what, you have two options, pack your shit and leave or the entire internet is going to be graced with every mistake you’ve ever made in your career " She states with a calm tone.

" You don’t have anything " He tries to deflect.

With a deadpan look, she pulls a stack of paper from under a book she had. " As a matter of fact, I do "

" Y/N … I love you " He pleads.

" No you don’t, you wanted to help her get money so you two can run off into the sunset, well now you can do it, broke " She said. " Get out of my house "

A month had passed since the incident, neither she nor Sergio had contacted one another out of fear and pride, fear of admitting that they’ve been deceived and pride of not wanting to admit just how wrong they’d been to one another. One night, as Y/N was making dinner for herself, she hears the doorbell ring, confusion itched across her features as she wasn’t expecting any visitors.

It wasn’t until she opened the front door that her eyes widening, there in front of her stood Sergio.

" Hi " He whispers.

" Hi " She said with a soft voice.

Not a single word had been uttered next, Sergio simply pulls her into his arms, using his free hand to shut the door before he tightened his embrace on her, soft sobs escape his lips the moment he buried his face in her neck, she stood there frozen before gently caressing his back, " It’s ok " she murmured.

He didn’t utter a single word, instead remained in her arms until his body was calm, he pulls back, she immediately takes the chance to wipe the tear stains from his cheeks. " Hey, it’s ok "

" I’m sorry I didn’t believe you at first " He murmurs.

A soft smile adorns her lips, " I am not mad at you, I’m mad at how easily we’ve been deceived by them "

" No more baby, from now on I’m all yours and only yours " He gently said before kissing her lips. " I love you so much "

She smiles, " I love you too "

#sergio ramos #sergio ramos imagine #sergio ramos fanfic #sergio ramos angst #sergio ramos x reader #sergio ramos one shot

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