#like this feels the moment in a video game where you can’t change the outcome anymore ❤️ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bluemoonstonesy · 2 years

Text

Between the Bedsheets

John Stones | Part Five

Between the Bedsheets Masterlist

warnings: jealous john and some smutty angst

Any reasonable thoughts that you have right now about yesterday’s encounter with John are definitely being drowned out by the sounds of laughter and cheers from the lads as they kick a ball between them, screeching wildly when they manage to nutmeg one another.

You’ve managed to gather a few of them to film what you’ve been planning, several of your coworkers setting up the table with the laptop ready for them to react to different goals after one another, turning it into five separate videos to be uploaded one after another over the next few weeks or so.

You didn’t go to John’s last night; you didn’t even get a chance to speak to him at all. However, you did consider sending him a simple text to make sure that he was okay. But decided against it, throwing your phone down onto the bed next to you and convincing yourself that he’d simply had a bad day and just needed to be left alone for a bit.

Whatever mood he was in seems to have vanished now. He stands in the middle of the group, laughing loudly at whatever Phil has just whispered to him. He’s smiling widely, and you can feel yourself getting slightly giddy just by looking at him. Yet whenever he catches you not so subtly staring at him from across the room, his face instantly changes to one that can only be comparable to what you see on the pitch at full time when too many goals have been conceded.

You really aren’t sure what’s gotten into him. They have a game tonight at the stadium, an important fixture against Tottenham to secure a crucial three points to extend their lead at the top of the table. Maybe it’s that - it has to be that.

“Rúben?” You shout towards the group, immediately getting his attention as well as someone else’s, “Can you come here for a moment, please?”

He nods happily as always. It’s rare to see Rúben upset, that wide smile seems to be a permanent feature on his face and his endless positivity is what you adore most about him. He quietly jogs over to where you stand next to the table, fiddling with one of the cameras with your back to him as he unexpectedly places two hands on your waist to scare you with a loud laugh. You turn around to scold him, but you can’t stay mad at him once you see that grin that you’ve grown to love over the past year or so.

But behind the smiling centre back, his fellow defensive partner doesn’t look happy whatsoever. Eyes like daggers piercing into both of you as he chews on his lip before turning his head away once he realises that you’ve been watching him for more than a few seconds.

And it’s like that for the whole afternoon. You get through filming the first four videos with Rúben, Phil, Riyad and Bernardo. They all go smoothly, and you’re pretty happy with the outcome of them even before sending them off for editing. But there’s a familiar presence who sits just behind you, observing the creation of the videos with narrowed eyes and lips pressed into a thin line. His usual energy is nowhere to be seen once you happen to find yourself close to him.

Once Bernardo has finished, he stands up from the filming table with a smile and you turn around to face the only teammate left to shoot his video.

“John, you’re up.”

He simply grunts in response, unenthusiastically pulling himself up from his chair and plodding over to the table with the open laptop, clips of different defender goals ready for him to react to.

It’s like a switch goes off as soon as the camera begins rolling and he’s back to his usual self, chatty and enthusiastic as he watches the screen with a grin. He waves his arms in front of his face as he talks, a habit that you always notice and you can’t help but stare at him behind the camera, not even taking in the words that he’s saying about the clips. You’re simply just taking in him.

Yet once you’re done around thirty minutes later, that same slight scowl appears back on his face as you switch off the camera and take it down from its tripod. You shoot him a questioning glance, but he simply looks away and makes his way towards the door, muttering a small “Thanks, see you later” that you’re certain was directed towards every single member of the social media team apart from you.

It’s eating away at you as you begin to pack away the equipment, wanting to know exactly why he’s being so off with you. It can’t be just a bad mood or nerves before a game because he’d be like that around everyone else, not just you.

You need to get to the bottom of it once and for all.

Instead of sitting in the stadium, you watch the game that afternoon from your office, typing up some last minute notes on your work computer whilst the game plays on your laptop next to it, looking over every few seconds as the commentary echoes throughout the room.

John is playing, and it’s like the universe is playing some sort of twisted joke on you since the camera seems to be zooming in on him a lot more than usual. He’s in deep concentration as Spurs get ready to take a corner, lips pressed together and eyebrows furrowed. The predictable Mancunian rain continues to pour into the stadium causing his hair to stick against his forehead as he wipes his face with his sleeve to momentarily get rid of the droplets against his skin.

Your heart beats in your chest as the ball is whipped into the box, nails nervously tapping against the desk as you watch the sea of sky blue shirts trying their best to defend the ball from entering the goal. But it’s to no avail, and your heart sinks as the very same ball almost tears the back of the net and the Spurs players run in front of the away end and pile on top of each other to celebrate.

City’s back line looks less than happy. Rúben is visibly cursing to himself and John looks the most pissed off that you’ve ever seen him. And the game doesn’t get much better for them after that. Kevin manages a pretty much unsavable equaliser from a free kick and it looks like things are going better for the blues. But in the last few minutes of the match, City’s number 5 goes in for a daring tackle in the box, and you already know how it’s going to turn out as soon as Harry Kane hits the grass below.

You audibly wince as the referee wastes no time in blowing his whistle and pointing towards the spot, blue shirts swarming around him in protest whilst John walks away with his hands on his hips muttering to himself in pure anger. You can’t even watch the penalty, resting your head on the desk and only looking up with tired eyes once cheers erupt around the stadium that are presumably from the travelling Tottenham fans.

Extra time is used to try and at least get that equaliser to snatch a point away from the opposition. But their efforts are deemed hopeless once the whistle blows for the final time to signal that the play was over, 11 sky blue shirts leaving the pitch with angry faces and slouched shoulders.

You don’t even bother watching the post match analysis, slamming your laptop shut and resting your head on your hands. The result was shit and you’re nothing short of sad for the boys since you know how hard they’ve worked for this game. But you can’t help but feel the most sorry for John. He’s already in a mood, and now he’s going to be ten times worse after the loss paired with giving away a match winning penalty.

After watching the rain continue to fall from the sky for a few more minutes, you eventually decide just to send him one text simply to check up on him - nothing more. But before you have a chance to unlock your phone to send a message, you already have a notification lighting up your screen.

[John] Come to mine tonight?

Your stomach begins to give off that familiar feeling that only he can cause. Maybe he doesn’t feel as bad as you thought. Sure, he’ll probably have to let off some post match frustrations. But you don’t really mind, getting to spend some time with him is more than enough, and seeing him under the dim bedside lamp is just a bonus at this point.

[You] Okay. 7 sound good? x

[John] Yeah.

Even over iMessage, his tone sounds off, but you’re becoming a little too good at convincing yourself that anything wrong with him is work related. He’s never acted hostile towards you, so why start now?

——

You knock on John’s door later that same evening, wrapping your arms around yourself and resting them underneath your armpits to momentarily shield yourself from the bitter wind that circles the sky.

Before long, he answers. He’s still in his training gear, hair fluffed up and eyes narrowed. John doesn’t speak a word, instead opening the door wider and walking away to allow you to get let yourself in for a change. You frown, the mood that he’s been in still obviously very much apparent. But you don’t bother to ask, sighing as you wander into the foyer of his much too large home and quietly shutting the door behind you.

“Go upstairs,” He grunts, making a beeline to the kitchen and turning on the light, still not even bothering to face you, “I’ll be up in a minute.”

You furrow your brows in confusion. He’s usually the one dragging you up the stairs to his room, pulling you into his strong arms as soon as the door is shut behind you as you giggle at his eagerness. But you don’t even bother to say anything, huffing to yourself as you trudge up the stairs and wait for John just like he’d said.

It’s unknown as to what John was doing in the kitchen, but he took his fucking time considering he was only just trudging up the stairs fifteen minutes later. You throw your phone down onto the bed as you hear his footsteps approaching, sitting up against the headboard with your clothes already on the floor and your modesty covered simply by a blue lingerie set. Maybe if you’re ready for him then he’ll lighten up a bit.

But he doesn’t, he simply takes off his shirt with a deep exhale and discards it onto the pile alongside yours before allowing his joggers to slip off from his legs and eventually join the heap of clothing.

He sinks down onto the bed, his face a mix of anger and lust as he simply stares at the wall in front of him. You hesitate before lifting a finger and running it along his now naked torso, “What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing,” He says after a short period of silence, turning to face you with a slightly softened gaze, “Come here.”

He opens his arm and you shift over expecting him to pull you in for a simple embrace. But instead, you’re rolled into your back and he straddles your hips before going in for a deep kiss. It takes you by surprise, but you certainly don’t complain, placing your hands either side of his face and allowing him to bite your bottom lip and not so subtly slip his tongue into your mouth.

It’s a rushed blur of two bodies tangled up in the bedsheets and before long, that sky blue lingerie set is practically torn off and chucked onto the floor with force by the central defender, the small wet patch on the panties very much apparent.

You reach into his boxers to stroke him, smirking to yourself as his eyes flutter shut and only widen once again once you fully pull them down his legs and add yet another addition to the quickly growing pile of clothing.

You’re pushed back into the bed, the pillows soft against your neck as John clambers over you once again, leaving harsh kisses down your collarbones that slowly trail to your lower half. His mouth makes momentary contact with your clit and you’re preparing yourself for him to put his tongue to use. But at the last second, he pulls away. You look up with furrowed brows, confused as to why he’s suddenly stopped. But before a single protest can leave your mouth, he’s shifting his posture and slamming straight into you without a second thought, your hips jolting upwards from the sudden yet pleasurable sensation.

He thrusts into you, both of you moaning in unison at finally being able to release both of your frustrations simultaneously - yet you’re still unsure as to what his are. You run your hands up his arms, gripping the tattooed skin as he works your body in the exact way that he knows you love.

“Bet nobody else can fuck you this good, ey?” He hisses. You look up and his eyes are almost black, mouth parted as his eyes focus on the way your body reacts to his cock being buried deep inside of you.

You freeze, but his quick rhythm soon enough brings your body back to life. His words swirl around your mind for a few moments, completely caught up in his sudden statement that makes you want to push him away. But your heart says you can’t, and you won’t.

“Shut up.” You can’t help but grimace at his tone, moving your hands away from his arms and instead gripping onto the duvet underneath you. It’s unclear whether he genuinely means whatever the fuck just came out of his mouth, or if he’s just saying it to spur him on - a thing of the moment that should be forgotten once the coil has snapped within you both.

“I’m serious,” He continues with quick pants, words coming out choppy and short. His hips continue to slam against your bare skin as his hands move down to grip your boobs, playing with your nipples as he makes eye contact with you, “They can’t, can they? It’s only me.”

You inhale deeply, holding back a moan. And for once, you refuse to let him have control over you, “It’s not like we’re together, John. So why the fuck are you so bothered?”

He doesn’t say anything else, and if anything, your words only spur him on. He somehow quickens his already rapid pace, making your head spin at the way he’s sending sheer euphoria throughout your entire body. You feel it building at the base on your spine, then in your legs. And before long, a few quick circles with his fingers against your clit are enough to send you over the edge, the moaning of his name from your mouth now tasting sour and unfamiliar after the words that he’s spoken.

Your face stays completely straight as he lets himself go a few seconds later, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly annoyed from the way he’s been acting. John groans in the familiar, loud way that you’ve heard many times from these encounters before. But now instead of finding it silently arousing, you have the slight urge to just push him off the bed completely.

“What was all that about?” You scoff as he cleans himself off with a towel from the bathroom, eyes on you the entire time as you pull the duvet back over yourself.

He parts his lips slightly, trying to find the right words to say, “It means nothing, just forget it.” He throws the towel onto the bed before wandering back into the en-suite with a scowl on his face. You hear the sound of the shower turning on, water echoing against the white tiles.

“Well it obviously does mean something, or else you wouldn’t have fucking said it!” Your tone is now resembling his, following him into the bathroom as he steps into the cubicle, steam clouding the room as you stand with your arms crossed over your chest.

“I said forget it!” John yells, his back to you as he audibly sighs. You huff at his response. You want to know exactly what he meant by his words. It’s plainly obvious to anyone that it wasn’t just something said in the heat of the moment.

You spend a few moments just watching him in the shower, water dripping down his perfect body that you know all too well. Usually, you’d be admiring him from afar, waiting for him to signal for you to join him in the cubicle. But now, you’re simply watching him with no emotions, blank face as your mind wanders to another planet.

“I’m going home,” You suddenly shout with a shake of the head, hoping that he can hear you over the running water, “Like I said, we’re not together so why do you care?”

John goes to answer with something that he hasn’t even fully thought of yet. But the bathroom door slams behind him before he even has a chance to open his mouth.

You quickly pull your clothes back onto your body before he has a chance to get out of the shower and start yet another confrontation. He’s making your head spin like nobody else ever has, and you’re beginning to hate it. John hears you storm out of the bedroom, knowing that you’re probably less than happy with him right now and to be honest, he doesn’t fucking blame you.

He slams his fist against the transparent screening, the plastic shaking at the force as he drops his head into his hands and wonders where he’s meant to go from here. John can’t help being jealous - especially when it comes to you. But maybe this time he should’ve hidden it a little better.

#between the bedsheets - john stones #john stones #john stones imagine #john stones x reader #john stones fic #football imagine #football fic #man city fic #england nt fic

142 notes · View notes

angellbarnes · 3 years

Text

Forgotten Love - part one: a familiar face?

series summary: You’re new to the Avengers. In joining the team, there’s a lot that no one yet knows about you. And there’s some unusual tension between you and a certain brunet. Under a pseudonym and with completely fresh start, and background, you hope for a chance at a new life. A better life. But how long will it last before someone figures out the life you’ve hidden away?

chapter summary: It’s early days as the newest recruit. But that doesn’t mean it’ll come easy.

pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!reader

words: 1k

warnings: nope. none.

A/N: Oh my goddd I’ve been gone for so long😬 I suddenly took a long Tumblr break because I had a lot on my plate and recently I’ve been on and off it a little more. But I’m back now (🤞🏼) and hopefully will be writing a lot more. And to me that also means a change of scenery sooo I redid my theme and I kinda love. Anyway this is part one of a new series I’m calling ‘Forgotten Love’. Please like, reblog and comment and let me know what you think!

series masterlist

Out of breath, you push past your tiredness as you throw punches into the bag, which is now taking as much of a hit as your mind has in the past 24 hours. A day. You’ve been an Avenger for a day and could never have anticipated how it was going to go.

With all your attention going into your punches, you hardly notice Bucky entering the gym.

“Never usually anyone in here this early.” His deep, calm voice somehow startles you from where you are lost deep in your thoughts. You abruptly stop and hold the bag still, turning to where he was setting himself up at the pull-up bar.

“Didn’t think anyone would show up.” You reply, now conscious about carrying on.

“Well, don’t let me stop you. Looks like you were putting that bag through hell.” Despite what you think was an attempt at a joke, his face remains still, and he begins his workout.

You get back into your fighting stance, bringing your hands up and evening out your breaths. Without looking back, you start to feel like there are eyes on you. Not just from him. From everywhere. Trying to concentrate on what’s in front of you, you take a deep but slightly shaken breath. Then without a second thought, your body leading your mind, you grab your water bottle and are out of the room within five seconds.

“This is the new recruit you were informed about. I trust you will all make her feel welcome.” Fury said. “I think she’ll be a real asset to this team.”

“Tony Stark. Pleasure.” The famous Iron Man held out his hand, a friendly grin across his face.

“Emily Quinn.” You shook his hand and smiled back, feeling slightly uneasy from the abnormal kindness.

“So, what do you do?” He asked, leaning back against the table with his arms crossed.

“What do I do?” You questioned.

“Yeah, what’s your thing?”

“My thing?”

“He means your power, your ability, whatever you have that you’ll bring to the team.” A red head had chimed in.

“Oh, my thing.” You breathed out a laugh. “I, uh, I have this sort of... sixth sense, if you will. Basically I could fight any one of you with my eyes closed if it came to it.”

“Oh, wow.” Tony said. “I bet you wouldn’t be too bad out on the field then.”

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty strong, too. And fast.” Tony opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted.

“Enough chit chat Tony. I’d quite like to meet her now, if you’ll let me. I’m Natasha Romanoff.”

You greeted everyone else in the room, until one remained.

“James Barnes. Call me Bucky, though.” The soldier held out his right hand. Suddenly you were speechless, barely able to take his hand. You looked into his eyes and felt a slight sickness in your stomach, having feared this outcome.

“Well, now that Quinn has met everyone, let’s get back to business.” Tony continued.

Still in your head, you wondered what must have happened after you left that day.

“I’ll leave you kids to it, then.” Fury’s voice was but an echo within your mind, with so many thoughts whirling through it. But there was just one thought that made your heart involuntarily fall:

He didn't remember you.

He doesn’t remember you.

Your hands grip onto the edge of the bed where you are now sat.

“Just stop.” You mutter to yourself. “Shut up.” And, forcing your thoughts away from Bucky, you get up and take a long, hot shower.

The next few days carry on the same: training and learning and working on many things around the compound. It felt a bit like a video game. You walk from room to room, person to person, doing and talking about different things. For example, you and Tony were working on a suit for when you start heading out on missions. You and Nat and or Steve are usually sparring together. And Bruce helps with basically anything that’s mentioned around the compound that you don’t understand.

It’s now Friday afternoon and you’ve finished another session with Nat.

“Good job today. You’re doing really well, considering you were already pretty good with your sixth sense stuff. You know, you could at least pretend like you can’t already tell what’s coming when I go to hit you.” She smirks at you.

Her smirk. Something you’ve come to know and love.

“I could.” You take a sip from your water.

“So where did you learn your fighting techniques anyway?” Her question makes you almost choke on your water.

“Oh, you know, here and there, different places.” You reply timidly.

“Huh, specific.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Steve and Bucky on the other side of the gym. Steve is at the punching bag and Bucky is lifting undoubtedly heavy weights.

“What happened to him?” You ask softly, half thinking you were just saying in your head.

“Hm?”

“To Bucky. What happened?”

“Well, to begin with, he’s like over a hundred years old.” You raise your eyebrows in shock at the statement. “Yeah, I know. He was supposedly killed during the second World War, but what actually happened was HYDRA captured him.”

‘HYDRA…” You speak your thoughts out loud for a moment. “What happened when HYDRA got to him?”

“He was tested on. Tortured. Their own little experiment, which wasn’t so little. They gave him the name ‘The Winter Soldier’. He was HYDRA’s assassin, brainwashed into taking orders from them. No conscious choice.” Your skin crawls at Natasha’s words.

“Oh, wow…” You can hardly finish a sentence.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of shit the people on this team have been through that you don’t know about yet.” She mentions, and you take a breath.

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Your gaze falls onto Bucky once more. This time he looks up and locks his eyes onto yours. You feel a slight rise in your heartbeat and so you turn and start heading out with Natasha.

What you don’t know, however, is that Bucky keeps staring, intently, until you’re out of sight.

His eyebrows furrow.

“What’s the matter, Buck?” Steve notices his expression.

“It’s just- do I know that girl? Something seems so familiar about her.”

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #sebastian stan #fatws #the winter soldier #avengers #marvel fic #forgotten love #forgotten love series

237 notes · View notes

mourntheantagonist · 3 years

Text

#HarringroveApril Day 7: Daisychain

***

“Mr. Harrington? Who’s your favorite student?”

The question came about at least once every year without fail, and he’d always answer in the same, textbook way.

“I don’t have favorites. I love all my kids equally.”

And, deservedly so, the whole class would grunt and moan because they knew just as well as he did that it was a load of bullshit. Steve loved every one of his kids, that part wasn’t a lie, but… he also definitely had his favorites.

For the graduating class of ‘90 when he was only a teaching assistant his name was Daniel. He was the youngest in his class because he started early, and he was incredibly bright. He could count higher, he could read quicker, and his mind just worked in ways that no adult could possibly understand. But it wasn’t the textbook intelligence that made Steve fall for this kid. It was his emotional intelligence. He was funny and he was kind and five year olds were cruel, but he never let that get to him. He had an outlook on life that Steve was jealous of, so when the other kids would turn him down for a game of checkers, Steve would happily join him, because Steve saw it as his job to keep that kid kind.

For the class of ‘91 it was Christopher. He was nothing like Daniel. He was held back and was repeating kindergarten, and that was evident in the way he walked through life. He was quiet and would voluntarily remove himself from the rest of the class. He’d sit by himself and read a book and get frustrated when he didn’t understand one of the words, he would swing by himself and he always tried to sneak off with the first graders when it was time to line up. And Steve perfectly resonated with that feeling of watching all of your friends move on without you. He was left in the dust too. When all his classmates moved on to college or hightailed it out of Hawkins, Steve was left there by himself, working at Family Video with his only friend in the grade below him, and it took her leaving him as well for Steve to finally get his shit together, haul his ass west of the Mississippi, and enroll in a community college and work towards his teaching degree.

And he did it, against all odds and obstacles in his way, he did it. It took extra work and the support of his best friend who he followed, and he did it. He saw himself in Christopher, and he wasn’t going to make that kid wait as long as he did to realize that setbacks don’t define his future.

Steve usually took a liking to the quiet kids, and that only changed in ‘93 with the girl named Amy and the familiar last name. She was loud, vibrant, and everyone loved her. Her smile was contagious and she could be the sweetest little girl at times, but she also wore her heart on her sleeve. She cried quite a bit, just the littlest thing could set her off. A boy accidentally knocking over her blocks, not knowing how to spell a certain word, accidentally coloring outside the lines. She didn’t throw tantrums like he saw in the other kids. She would just bow her head and cry and it would break Steve’s heart every time.

But other than those few moments, she was bright and charismatic and with the last name, the blonde curly hair, and the big personality, Steve really should have put it all together much sooner than he did.

He didn’t put it all together until he saw Billy Hargrove in the soup aisle at the local grocery store wearing a chain of little daisies on his head like a crown, and he knew exactly where it was from.

It was from the little girl named Amy Hargrove who frolicked in the field instead of playing on the playground, collecting flowers that she meticulously made into bracelets and crowns and anything else she put her mind to. She gave them to friends, she even gave one to Steve, and of course she would give one to her dad too.

He looked so different, and yet exactly the same. He still had the damn mullet, just dragging the eighties with him as far as he could, he was a little more cleaned up but still had a similar style to what it was in highschool. Still with the same denim jacket, denim jeans, Canadian tuxedo type deal. In a side by side picture situation you wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference. It wasn’t his dress or his hair or anything physical about him that made him look so different, it was the way that he carried himself. It was the relaxation and the eyes that didn’t droop and the smile lines that didn’t used to be there that made him almost entirely unrecognizable from the Billy Hargrove who pushed freshman against lockers and drove his car too loud and too fast and had cigarettes for three meals a day. Not the kid who ran off to California as soon as the hospital released him with only his Camaro and a small suitcase and a large sum of money the government used to keep his mouth shut, leaving just a note for Max on the fridge that didn’t get any more specific than that about where he was going, not even leaving a phone number for her to contact him with. He also didn’t look like the kid they all pictured in their heads after basically the whole town found out about exactly what Neil Hargrove did to his son behind closed doors.

Steve wanted to go up to him in the store, but he stopped himself. Because Billy left. Without a trace or a word, and who was Steve to think that Billy having to be reminded of something he voluntarily abandoned without a second thought would have any sort of positive outcome?

So he turned down the aisle and kept his distance from the man in the flower crown because he was scared. He wasn’t scared that Billy would see him and turn back to his old ways and hurt him again, he was scared that he’d turn back to his old ways and hurt himself again.

Because he’d been hurt enough already.

Steve successfully avoided Billy until parent teacher conferences had rolled around, and instead of seeing Amy’s mom on the list of names he’d be seeing that day, it was Billy’s.

Steve would be lying if he didn’t think about calling in sick and sending his TA in his place. But he still had to be her teacher for another six months, he just had to get the interaction over with.

Many of the parents that came before Billy had to have known he was on edge about something considering he excessively tapped the table with the eraser of his pencil and stuttered his way through conversations. His organized folders and notes of talking points had been entirely thrown out the window and he was an absolute nervous wreck. And he could only anticipate it being ten times worse when the cause of said anxiety walked through his door with the long hair and the leather jacket. It was only with the help of the little girl in the sunflower dress and daisies in her hair skipping from the entrance to the chair in front of him that calmed his nerves just a bit.

But Billy had just stayed at the door, no movement, and any hope that Steve had that perhaps his new haircut and the glasses on his face would be enough to keep Billy from noticing the obvious vanished when Billy snapped his fingers like the lightbulb in his head finally flickered on.

“I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

Steve just held out his hand to shake like he did with any other parent, unsure how to gage the situation because Billy’s words could go either way and his facial expressions didn’t give him anything to go off of. It would be weird to introduce himself, he didn’t know what to say.

“Hi, I’m Amy’s teacher. Should we start?”

Billy looked a little confused, but he sat down in the little kindergartener chairs anyway. This meeting was almost more organized than the ones prior, likely because he was trying to go as quickly as possible and get it over with. Steve showed Billy some of her artwork and commented on how her reading comprehension was great but she could work on her spelling a little more. He didn’t want to bring it up, but he brought up the crying and it hurt to see how him bringing it up set her off again. The same bowing of the head and quiet sniffles into her sleeve.

But Steve thinks he just fell in love a little watching Billy comfort her. With one hand rubbing circles into her back and the other holding her small hand. Steve feels like shit watching her cry because of him and is also semi-fearful for his life because he already knows he can’t take Billy in a fight.

“Baby, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with crying. It’s okay.”

“You’re dad’s right Amy. I think it’s very healthy. Crying is good for you.”

She looks up at Steve with those big blue eyes and tear stained cheeks when he says that.

“Really?” she asks.

“Yeah! I’d say it even makes you more mature. Even some adults I know don’t let themselves cry and it’s not good.”

“My daddy cries a lot too.”

Steve looks at Billy who’s eyes widen when she says it, then tries to laugh it off like she didn’t just say that.

“Hey Amy, you wanna go and play while your daddy and I talk for a minute?”

She just nods her head and wipes away her remaining tears and quickly hauls the bucket of Lincoln Logs off the shelf.

“So. It’s been a while. Hasn’t it?” Steve starts.

“Yeah it has. So, you’re a teacher now.”

“And you’re a father. That’s crazy.” Steve was fiddling with his hands, trying to make the conversation less awkward. “She’s wonderful by the way.”

“Yeah. She doesn’t get it from me.”

Steve just shakes his head. “No. I don’t think that’s true. She has your charisma, and it appears you found a better way of channeling your emotions since last we saw each other. She’s a lot like you.”

“Thanks.” Billy blushed. He actually blushed. “I don’t know if this is allowed considering you’re her teacher, but would you want to catch up sometime? Maybe dinner or something?”

There it was. That was the olive branch. And Steve would be an absolute fool not to take it.

“I’d love to.”

Before they could come up with a time or a place, Amy was running over to the table with loudly stomping feet.

“I almost forgot! Daddy! show Mr. Harrington what I brought him!”

Billy reached into his pocket upon her demand and pulled out a little bracelet made out of little daisies and honeysuckle and handed it over to Steve.

“Thank you Amy! It’s lovely.”

“Daddy show him yours!”

Steve looked to Billy’s wrist where he slowly lifted his sleeve to reveal an almost exact replica to the bracelet in his hand.

“Looks like we’re matching.”

#harringrove #stranger things #billy hargrove #steve harrington #mandi writes tresh #ficlet #harringroveapril #this one will probably get a part 2 but who knows #it got too long and I ran out of time !!

165 notes · View notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

Text

Recommendation engines and "lean-back" media

In William Gibson’s 1992 novel “Idoru,” a media executive describes her company’s core audience:

“Best visualized as a vicious, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organism craving the warm god-flesh of the anointed. Personally I like to imagine something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It’s covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth…no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote. Or by voting in presidential elections.”

It’s an astonishingly great passage, not just for the image it evokes, but for how it captures the character of the speaker and her contempt for the people who made her fortune.

It’s also a beautiful distillation of the 1990s anxiety about TV’s role in a societal “dumbing down,” that had brewed for a long time, at least since the Nixon-JFK televised debates, whose outcome was widely attributed not to JFK’s ideas, but to Nixon’s terrible TV manner.

Neil Postman’s 1985 “Amusing Ourselves To Death” was a watershed here, comparing the soundbitey Reagan-Dukakis debates with the long, rhetorically complex Lincoln-Douglas debates of the previous century.

(Incidentally, when I finally experienced those debates for myself, courtesy of the 2009 BBC America audiobook, I was more surprised by Lincoln’s unequivocal, forceful repudiations of slavery abolition than by the rhetoric’s nuance)

https://memex.craphound.com/2009/01/20/lincoln-douglas-debate-audiobook-civics-history-and-rhetoric-lesson-in-16-hours/

“Media literacy” scholarship entered the spotlight, and its left flank — epitomized by Chomsky’s 1988 “Manufacturing Consent” — claimed that an increasingly oligarchic media industry was steering society, rather than reflecting it.

Thus, when the internet was demilitarized and the general public started trickling — and then rushing — to use it, there was a widespread hope that we might break free of the tyranny of concentrated, linear programming (in the sense of “what’s on,” and “what it does to you”).

Much of the excitement over Napster wasn’t about getting music for free — it was about the mix-tapification of all music, where your custom playlists would replace the linear album.

Likewise Tivo, whose ad-skipping was ultimately less important than the ability to watch the shows you liked, rather than the shows that were on.

Blogging, too: the promise was that a community of reader-writers could assemble a daily “newsfeed” that reflected their idiosyncratic interests across a variety of sources, surfacing ideas from other places and even other times.

The heady feeling of the time is hard to recall, honestly, but there was a thrill to getting up and reading the news that you chose, listening to a playlist you created, then watching a show you picked.

And while there were those who fretted about the “Daily Me” (what we later came to call the “filter bubble”) the truth was that this kind of active media creation/consumption ranged far more widely than the monopolistic media did.

The real “bubble” wasn’t choosing your own programming — it was everyone turning on their TV on Thursday nights to Friends, Seinfeld and The Simpsons.

The optimism of the era is best summarized in a taxonomy that grouped media into two categories: “lean back” (turn it on and passively consume it) and “lean forward” (steer your media consumption with a series of conscious decisions that explores a vast landscape).

Lean-forward media was intensely sociable: not just because of the distributed conversation that consisted of blog-reblog-reply, but also thanks to user reviews and fannish message-board analysis and recommendations.

I remember the thrill of being in a hotel room years after I’d left my hometown, using Napster to grab rare live recordings of a band I’d grown up seeing in clubs, and striking up a chat with the node’s proprietor that ranged fondly and widely over the shows we’d both seen.

But that sociability was markedly different from the “social” in social media. From the earliest days of Myspace and Facebook, it was clear that this was a sea-change, though it was hard to say exactly what was changing and how.

Around the time Rupert Murdoch bought Myspace, a close friend a blazing argument with a TV executive who insisted that the internet was just a passing fad: that the day would come when all these online kids grew up, got beaten down by work and just wanted to lean back.

To collapse on the sofa and consume media that someone else had programmed for them, anaesthetizing themselves with passive media that didn’t make them think too hard.

This guy was obviously wrong — the internet didn’t disappear — but he was also right about the resurgence of passive, linear media.

But this passive media wasn’t the “must-see TV” of the 80s and 90s.

Rather, it was the passivity of the recommendation algorithm, which created a per-user linear media feed, coupled with mechanisms like “endless scroll” and “autoplay,” that incinerated any trace of an active role for the “consumer” (a very apt term here).

It took me a long time to figure out exactly what I disliked about algorithmic recommendation/autoplay, but I knew I hated it. The reason my 2008 novel LITTLE BROTHER doesn’t have any social media? Wishful thinking. I was hoping it would all die in a fire.

Today, active media is viewed with suspicion, considered synonymous with Qanon-addled boomers who flee Facebook for Parler so they can stan their favorite insurrectionists in peace, freed from the tyranny of the dread shadowban.

But I’m still on team active media. I would rather people actively choose their media diets, in a truly sociable mode of consumption and production, than leaning back and getting fed whatever is served up by the feed.

Today on Wired, Duke public policy scholar Philip M Napoli writes about lean forward and lean back in the context of Trump’s catastrophic failure to launch an independent blog, “From the Desk of Donald J Trump.”

https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-trumps-failed-blog-proves-he-was-just-howling-into-the-void/

In a nutshell, Trump started a blog which he grandiosely characterized as a replacement for the social media monopolists who’d kicked him off their platforms. Within a month, he shut it down.

While Trump claimed the shut-down was all part of the plan, it’s painfully obvious that the real reason was that no one was visiting his website.

Now, there are many possible, non-exclusive explanations for this.

For starters, it was a very bad social media website. It lacked even rudimentary social tools. The Washington Post called it “a primitive one-way loudspeaker,” noting its lack of per-post comments, a decades old commonplace.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/21/trump-online-traffic-plunge/

Trump paid (or more likely, stiffed) a grifter crony to build the site for him, and it shows: the “Like” buttons didn’t do anything, the video-sharing buttons created links to nowhere, etc. From the Desk… was cursed at birth.

But Napoli’s argument is that even if Trump had built a good blog, it would have failed. Trump has a highly motivated cult of tens of millions of people — people who deliberately risked death to follow him, some even ingesting fish-tank cleaner and bleach at his urging.

The fact that these cult-members were willing to risk their lives, but not endure poor web design, says a lot about the nature of the Trump cult, and its relationship to passive media.

The Trump cult is a “push media” cult, simultaneously completely committed to Trump but unwilling to do much to follow him.

That’s the common thread between Fox News (and its successors like OANN) and MAGA Facebook.

And it echoes the despairing testimony of the children of Fox cultists, that their boomer parents consume endless linear TV, turning on Fox from the moment they arise and leaving it on until they fall asleep in front of it (also, reportedly, how Trump spent his presidency).

Napoli says that Trump’s success on monopoly social media platforms and his failure as a blogger reveals the role that algorithmically derived, per-user, endless scroll linear media played in the ascendancy of his views.

It makes me think of that TV exec and his prediction of the internet’s imminent disappearance (which, come to think of it, is not so far off from my own wishful thinking about social media’s disappearance in Little Brother).

He was absolutely right that this century has left so many of us exhausted, wanting nothing more than the numbness of lean-back, linear feeds.

But up against that is another phenomenon: the resurgence of active political movements.

After a 12-month period that saw widescale civil unrest, from last summer’s BLM uprising to the bizarre storming of the capital, you can’t really call this the golden age of passivity.

While Fox and OANN consumption might be the passive daily round of one of Idoru’s “vicious, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organisms craving the warm god-flesh of the anointed,” that is in no way true of Qanon.

Qanon is an active pastime, a form of collaborative storytelling with all the mechanics of the Alternate Reality Games that the lean-forward media advocates who came out of the blogging era love so fiercely:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/06/no-vitiated-air/#other-hon

Meanwhile, the “clicktivism” that progressive cynics decried as useless performance a decade ago has become an active contact sport, welding together global movements from Occupy to BLM that use the digital to organize the highly physical.

That’s the paradox of lean-forward and lean-back: sometimes, the things you learn while leaning back make you lean forward — in fact, they might just get you off the couch altogether.

I think that Napoli is onto something. The fact that Trump’s cultists didn’t follow him to his crummy blog tells us that Trump was an effect, not a cause (something many of us suspected all along, as he’s clearly neither bright nor competent enough to inspire a movement).

But the fact that “cyberspace keeps everting” (to paraphrase “Spook Country,” another William Gibson novel) tells us that passive media consumption isn’t a guarantee of passivity in the rest of your life (and sometimes, it’s a guarantee of the opposite).

And it clarifies the role that social media plays in our discourse — not so much a “radicalizer” as a means to corral likeminded people together without them having to do much. Within those groups are those who are poised for action, or who can be moved to it.

The ease with which these people find one another doesn’t produce a deterministic outcome. Sometimes, the feed satisfies your urge for change (“clicktivism”). Sometimes, it fuels it (“radicalizing”).

Notwithstanding smug media execs, the digital realm equips us to “express our mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire” by doing much more than “changing the channels on a universal remote” — for better and for worse.

Image: Ian Burt (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/oddsock/267206444

CC BY: https://creativecommo

ns.org/licenses/by/2.0/

#pluralistic

68 notes · View notes

alpaca-fanfics · 3 years

Note

Can I request an angst to comfort with Sakusa, Atsumu, and Bokuto? Thank you 🥺

A/N: HI BABE!! I hope this is okay! I didn’t know if you wanted a ficlet or headcannons and I wasn’t for sure what to write! I hope you like it. 💛💛

Angst to Comfort

~~~

Sakusa

~~~

The two of you didn’t even know what you were fighting about anymore. What started off as a small disagreement turned into a screaming match. You knew it was silly, throwing insults at each other like it was a game. Both of you were in the wrong, but the adrenaline powered by anger was too blinding. Nothing prepared you for the outcome.

“You know what! Fine, if you want to be a bitch about it, then get the fuck out.” Sakusa seethed, tips of his ears stained red with anger. The guilt of what he had just said weighed heavy in his stomach, but being stubborn, he wasn’t backing down.

“W-what?” You stuttered, shocked. “Excuse me-“

“You fucking heard me. I can’t take your constant bickering.” He snapped, digging his grave deeper.

“Fine.” You muttered, face going neutral. You pulled the cold silver band from your ring finger, stepping in front of the tall man before placing it in his hand. “I hope you eat your words, Kiyoomi.”

Eyes widening, he knew he fucked up. “Wait-“

“No, it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it. However, I will not stand here and be called a bitch over a small disagreement. Come find me when you’ve matured, Omi.” And with that, you turned on your heels and made way for the door.

Two days passed with Sakusa alone in the apartment, staring at the cold walls. He couldn’t take it anymore. He gripped the wedding ring in his hand as he pushed himself off the couch. He needed to fix this.

He walked down the street, anxiety in his chest, making his way to your friend’s house where he knew you were staying. A deep sigh left his lips as he shakily gripping the ring in his hands. He had forgotten his mask at home, but you were more important than his fear of crowds.

He stole a glance towards a small café across the street before abruptly stopping in his tracks. Your (colour) hair and familiar face stood out to him. He quickly looked both ways before crossing the street. Swallowing his wounded pride, he opened the glass doors.

You looked up from your phone, the light of your eyes gone. It broke Sakusa’s heart. He hurt his wife/husband, and he regretted it.

“Have you realized-“

“I’m sorry.” He gasped, tears beginning to prick at his eyes. “I love you, please don’t leave me.”

“Come here.” You smile slightly, opening your arms. You chuckle gently when your husband throws himself in your arms. “I love you too.”

Maybe everything will be okay.

Atsumu

~~~

You made your way through the crowd, excitedly humming, happy to see your boyfriend after his volleyball match. You had taken off work to surprise him at his away game, proud of the man he’s becoming.

As you begin to call out his name, a young woman grips the back of his head, kissing him passionately. Without thinking, you sling your arm bag at the woman, causing her to stumble in pain. “What the FUCK!?” You screech. Looking at your boyfriend in betrayal.

“Wait, baby! It’s not what it looks like-“

“Save it, Atsumu.” You growl, walking away.

He quickly scrambles to keep up with you. “Baby, please, don’t call me by my full name! C-call me Tsum, please.” He quickly tried to find some damage control, but the damage was already done.

“Fuck off, you cheater. And I thought you were different...” and with that, you were gone.

~~~

“You did what?” Osamu breathed in shock. “And you let ‘er get away? Are you fucking stupid?”

Not having the energy to argue with his twin, Atsumu sighed. “I really am, ‘Samu. I fucked up big time.”

“Hell yeah ya did, and you didn’t even try to explain?”

“She ran off!”

“You should have followed. Ain’t there bystanders? Cameras? Something to prove that you didn’t cheat?”

“...Shoyo was there! He saw it happen!”

“Who was she anyway?” Osamu sighed, chewing his onigiri.

Atsumu rolled his eyes, remembering the night before. “Some crazed fan I reckon. I ain’t never seen her before, don’t even know her name.”

Osamu snorts sarcastically, looking his other half in the eyes. “Go fix your shit. Don’t let a good one get away because of some misunderstanding.”

Nodding, Atsumu made way to find you.

~~~

You sighed, looking at your phone. Atsumu called once again, and with a roll of your eyes, you answer this time. “What the fuc-“

“Y/N! You answered! Please, let me explain. I have proof I didn’t cheat! And- and an eyewitness!” The phone cut out for a moment before you heard a familiar voice of your boyfriend’s teammate.

“Hi Y/N!! It’s Shoyo!! And Atsumu is telling the truth. I even recorded it on Snapchat! I have the proof.”

With a sigh, you agree to meet them.

~~~

The three of you awkwardly sat in the living room of Atsumu’s apartment. “So... care to explain?” You begin, searching your lover’s eyes of any sign of lies.

“I swear I had never met her before, I don’t know who she is! She walked up to me and just kissed me. Please, believe me.” Atsumu begged, reaching to grab your hand. His heart broke when you pulled away.

“Proof?” You asked, turning your gaze to Hinata.

“Here!” He was quick to whip his phone out, opening Snapchat. Your brows furrowed at the shaky camera, focusing on the same woman that had kissed your boyfriend. The caption of the video caught your attention. “Some woman is tryna make out with the team!” You couldn’t help but snort, but quickly feeling the jealousy and anger rise in your chest.

The video starts with the woman getting close to Sakusa, but when he rejected her, she tried to advance on Bokuto. Soon, she walked to Atsumu, and that’s when she kissed him. You hear multiple voices of the team tell her to back off before your purse smacks her in the head, then the video ends.

“Please... Believe me...” Atsumu whispers.

“...okay. I believe you. I see the proof. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.” You admit, reaching to grip his hand.

“No, no! You had ever right to doubt. I would’ve reacted to the same way, honestly. But please, don’t leave me. I love you. I would never cheat.”

Burying your face into his chest, you smile. “I love you too, Tsum.”

Bokuto

~~~

The media is cruel. You sat on your bed, tears slipping from your eyes as you read the countless tweets aimed at you.

‘Bokuto deserves so much better!’

‘They probably don’t even satisfy him, he needs a real partner.’

It’s too much to bare. Your sad eyes trail to the mess of tangled limbs that lay next to you. You loved him with all of your being, but the stress of being bullied daily was too much.

You stand, making your way to your closet. You begin to fill a suitcase when you heard Bokuto stretching from the bed.

With a groan, he rubs his eyes before looking at your figure at the closet. “Baby? What are you doing?” He whispers, dread filling his stomach when he sees the suitcase.

“I... I’m sorry, Kō.”

“Wait! What’s going on?” He quickly scrambles to his feet, tripping over the clothes that littered the floor from just a few hours before. “Baby, why are you leaving?” Tears fell from his eyes, his heart shattering into thousands of pieces.

“I can’t do it anymore.”

“Is it me? Please! I’ll-ill change, just please stay.” He begged, his knees giving out as he fell to the floor.

You quickly cupped his cheeks, tears of your own falling down to the floor. “No, baby, it’s not you. It’s the bullies. I know you see the tweets, the comments, the story lines. I... I can’t take it.”

His eyes widened, a sob getting caught in his throat. “Please, I’ll fix it, baby don’t go.” He wraps his arms around your waist, burying his face into your stomach. “I... I can’t do this without you.”

Your heart breaks more, you don’t want to leave. You love him more than anything. You sigh, “Kō... can you please make a public statement to your fans... to please stop bullying me...”

“Yes! Yes I will, I’ll even get on national tel-“

You wrap your arms around his shoulders, placing a soft kiss to his eyebrow. “I can’t leave... I love you.”

That night, many promises was made.

81 notes · View notes

gb-patch · 3 years

Text

Ask Answers: January 28th, 2021 (Part 2)

Here we’ve got asks that aren’t to ask a question but are just really nice messages. Thank you all for sending us such kind comments ;v;. It’s seriously heartwarming to see so many people having good experiences with the game. I don’t even know what to say to such sweet responses.

We’ll keep doing our best and thank you again to each and every one of you for giving Our Life a chance ❤!

Hello! I've been following this account and have been following the development of 'Our Life' for a few months now, and I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and dedication you have put into the game. It astonishes me how much choice you have during the sequence of Our Life and am excited to play the full version now, I am downloading it as I write this message. I've had a great time seeing the demo transition into to the full game and just wanted to write two words. Thank you.

Anhhhhffbgdfbhujk!!! Congratulations on the release, I’m playing the game right now! Thank you all for your hard work and I can’t wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out, I’ll probably wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out to experience everything, but until then, I still have a lot to play. Thank you once again!

finished my first playthrough just now. it just felt so wholesome ??? 100/10 would do it again. i laughed. i cried. i got angry. i felt second-hand embrassment— i got so into it i was left in literal tears after getting my first ending. the art, the storyline, the music, and COVE HOLDEN– UGH IT WAS LITERAL PERFECTION ❤ THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT. THANK YOU FOR MAKING SUCH AN AMAZING GAME 🥺😭 this made my 2020 better, i can't wait for step 4 in 2021 ❤❤

So I was following you guys on itchio for years and uhh did I stay up til 6 am on a school night to finish the game? Yes. Did I sob my eyes out during step 3 as a 20 year old having doubts about life and adulthood? Absolutely. I can't form proper sentences right now due to lack of sleep but just wanted to say thank you for making it. I honestly feel lighter and I feel like it changed my views on future to be more optimistic... I can't wait to replay it! Thanks again!

I love how Our Life turned out!! I keep replaying it and can't stop squeaking and giggling!! Thank You for creating it ♥

okay i have actually fallen in love with cove and cannot WAIT to marry him 😭

Hi! I played through 'Our Life' yesterday and I just wanna say how refreshing it was to be able to have Cove be 'high initiative' and also have so many opportunities to initiate affection from the player character! As a pretty flirtatious/affectionate person myself, I notice that a lot of VNs don't give players that agency, and affection can be kinda 'carrot on a stick' if that makes sense. You guys did an awesome job! I look forward to seeing if there are more of those moments in Step 3 & 4 :)

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the option to choose Cove's level of initiative in step 3! As much I love the option to choose I personally enjoy have the romanced character take the lead without my input so when I got to step 3 and had to option to make it so that Cove initiated affection without as much input from me I was really happy! You guys seriously added so much freedom in terms of choices, it's almost baffling that the only thing you have to pay for is optional DLC!

I absolutely loved everything about the game and I really want congratulate the team for making the game such a satisfying experience.

I look forward to step 4

❤️❤️❤️❤️

* and sorry for my bad English

Just finished my first play through and I loved it! I've been looking forward to the game and it definitely was worth the wait. Thank you all for your hard work and can't wait for the extra dlc!

Till then, hope you guys gets some well deserved rest🤗

Love you guys, thank you so much for your hard work. :)

Ok, so I just finished Our Life and, wow. I have never cried at a video game before, ever. Thank you so, so much! Its one of my favorites.

this isn't a question, but i just wanted to say how much i enjoyed our life 🥺 i've been patiently looking forward to the full game for a few months now, and i couldn't be happier with it! i've only played through it once so far but the outcomes of the choices i made were all so soft and wholesome 💗 i can tell that everyone who was involved really worked hard and you all did an incredible job! i can't wait to see what else is in store 👍

i’d just like to say how addictive our life is!!! i constantly played it during quarantine and now playing the full release is so amazing to me!! i love that i’m still discovering dialogue bits with different personalities and actions!!! i have to admit that i’ve been wishing the day to pass faster all day during school so i could go home and play again. mentally i’m not the healthiest and our life being released has boosted it up so much, thank you for creating such an amazing game!!!!!

Hey, I just wanna say I played our life two times and it still give me the same feelings. I was really looking forward to this game before it came out and I kept on replaying the demo. This game is such an amazing experience and I feel so happy playing it. I am not really a person good with words unfortunately but I do honestly love this more than anything in the world. Thank you for making it and I hope that you will continue to make more games like our life. This game really makes me happy and I can't thank you enough

Just wanted to say that Our Life really made me feel seen as an 18 year old trans man who's been struggling with change as of late and I can't thank you guys enough for it. I just finished the main story and currently released DLC's and gosh, I can really only say... woah. Just, woah. The messages are somehow exactly what I needed to hear right now, and they brought me a lot of comfort in this really weird and confusing time in my life. Can't wait to see what comes next in this lovely story <3

I am honestly in love with Our Life. The graphics, the soundtrack its just *chef's kiss* It was so worth the wait for it. I can't wait for step 4. Keep up the good work GB Patch!

good people i have just finished Our Life and let me say, it was beautiful. rarely have such non-fantastical moments (and even some fantastical moments) brought me to tears like this game has, and i don't even have the dlc (yet). i don't know how you did it but it felt like i was playing a slice of life anime. i had waited with baited breath to play this since i played the demo and my expectations were not just met but surpassed. from the bottom of my heart thank you for this game

I found the game by chance and I am so so glad I did. It’s so inclusive and made me feel so incredibly seen. Seeing that my gender identity and sexuality were possible just meant the absolute world to me. I’ve never seen something like this and it just made me so incredibly happy. Thank you for the absolutely amazing game and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Hello! I downloaded Our life earlier this week and I'm only now getting the chance to play it (Very busy and stressful week) I'm so excited to play and I wanna say thank you for making this adorable game!

I just finished my first playthrough of Our Life and I can't even express how much I love it. Cove is absolutely precious and has killed me several times, and the art and soundtrack is beautiful. I love all the small different choices. I'm very interested in the Derek and Baxter DLCs and the rest, can't wait!!!!!!

thank you for "Our Life Beginnings & Always" it has to be one of the best visual novels i ever have played and i just dont want it to end (i know it will, but damn it! i want to have a wedding night, have children and die of old age with cole! XD) when i play it it always makes me tear up (in a good way) and i am most definetly going to buy all the dlc that you make! thank you for this lovely game and all the work that went into it! (ps: i also loved "lake of voices" )

You guys are incredibly talented and im very proud of you all! You've really outdone yourselves w/ OL and i cant wait to see whats next to come for you all :)

i really love that you can be trans in Our Life! not a lot of games do that so i just wanted to say thank you!

Guuyyss!! I just wanna say! Thank you sm for the headscarf option in the MC creator! I especially loved that little detail where MC quickly slips the headscarf on before greeting Cove, I've never felt so immersed :'D Not that the rest of the game wasn't immersive btw, but since I wear my hijab most of the time that little addition really felt like something I would do! So thank you for that <3

I've been watching "Our Life: Beginnings & Always" development for quite some time, and I gotta say its wild to see it finally release. Its so unique in the way relationships work- even character creation. I've cried multiple times over this game while playing. I can't thank y'all enough for a game with these kind of mechanics, and representation. its rare I get to feel im really playing as myself in games like these. Everyones outdone themselves. this'll certainly be one I keep coming back to.

I've been following the development of Our Life from way back when the first demo dropped and it still blows my mind how many choices and customizations there are (love that update for the MC's bedroom btw!) and the fact that the game remembers them - it really feels like your very own coming of age story! I was so immersed I cried at the end :') Can't believe I experienced this game for free lol. I can't wait for future DLCs and Step 4! Good luck with all your upcoming projects dev team!!

Just wanted to say I love Our Life and I'm thankful it exists. Thank you so much! I love the little world you created and all the people in it. Especially Cove! This game makes me so happy!

Just poping in to say hi and that ilu guys ^^, remember to take care of yourselves!

Hi!! I just wanna thank you for creating such an amazing game. Our Life is one of the few dating sims I’ve found that let’s me be a male mc, it’s really hard to find dating sims that let me be gay. Our Life is my new favorite dating sim to just sit down and playthrough whenever I’m having a bad day so I just wanted to let y’all know how much I appreciate all you’ve done. 🤍

Fan from australia here

Just wanted to reach out and let you know how important this game has been to me. I came across it at a really rough time ( that I’m still going through ) and it’s been one of the things that’s driven me to get up and out of bed sometimes.

This game and cove both hold a very special place in my heart and I can’t wait to see more of him in the DLC and Step 4

Much love ♥️

I know this isnt exactly the main focus of the game, but i really love how we can customise the mc personality wise! This is the first time i've played a game like this where the mc actually does and says exactly what I would do and say in certain situations and its such a breath of fresh air!! It's also so cool how the other characters can pick up on it!!

Cove Holden saved 2020 (my 2020 anyways) I would die for him

Sorry for this being out of the blue, but after playing through Our Life I wanted to thank you for the experience. I don’t know if I’ve ever played a game that has made me cry happy tears TWICE lol. It’s beautiful, scenic, inclusive, and absolutely amazing..have a great rest of 2020 and I honestly cannot wait for the rest of it :,) (ps. The ending song is stuck in my head)

I think you guys might've ruined visual novels for me forever. I'm not sure I'll be able to play another without comparing it to Our Life and I know if I do that I'll be disappointed every time because of how amazing it is. I bought the DLCs before playing the base game it's one of the best impulsive purchases I've ever made

Thank you so much for making our life! It's my favorite visual novel ever and I just can't articulate how much being able to just be honest with my responses instead of going for whatever would make the love interest happy means to me? I reccomended it to evry friend I have that plays visual novels because this is the best one I've ever played!

Just wanted to say that I absolutely adore this game! The childhood friends tropes is my favorite thing and this game delivers! Cove is the sweetest thing, infact all the boys are good boys. Super excited for all upcoming dlcs!

Hi, I just want to thank you for making such an amazing game like Our Life. Tbh, I was following the game’s development for a while, but me and my family moved away from my childhood town just a few days before release, so I really connected to this game. You all did amazing!

hey just wanted to know that i completely loved ol: b&a and it was so good and love cove more than i’ve liked any fictional character, it’s now my comfort media. thank you so much

hi i just wanna say i really enjoyed all of the representation in our life b&a! there were characters with a lot of different body shapes, pic characters, lgbtq+ characters, and you get to choose your own pronouns and sexuality!!! so tysm!!

This isn't a question, I just wanted to say that Our Life is incredible. Ever since I finished it, I've been looking for other visual novels to play so I don't play OL so often that I start memorizing the lines before all the DLC comes out, but I keep coming back to it. It's really one of a kind, I think you all ruined other visual novels for me because I haven't enjoyed another VN like I have this one since I read it ❤.

i think our life b&a is the first game where i felt like cove loved me, not the character i play as which is really nice for someone with kinda low self esteem so THANK YOU

I’ve been playing Our Life practically nonstop since yesterday. I just want everyone who worked on it to know how much the LGBTQ inclusivity means to me. As a closeted trans ace guy in an unsupportive household, I can’t emphasize how much of a comfort this game has been to me. Everything about it is so wholesome and heartfelt. I’m excited to see what other games you make in the future 💙

- A demibiromantic ace transgender man who may or may not have cried over the option to be myself in a game for the first time ever

Csn i just say i really appreciate how you handled MC deciding to use they/them at different stages. Mainly because alot of games don't pay much attention to the body the mc was assigned at birth if they player chooses nonbinary like it does with male/female. And it was just nice to be able to play an mc who just thought gender was kinda 'meh' for them but still felt good about the body they were born with (like myself). I guesd it boils down I'm really appreciative of the hard work it must've taken for you to make all those options possible & still have them matter.

I just wanted to thank you all for Our Life. My mental health hasn't been in a good place recently and it has become my favorite form of escapism/way to cheer up. It's idyllic setting and fantastic characters are such a good way to wind down, I love it. Also, I've been dreading 2021 due to classes starting and general stress, but the DLC and your next project have given me something to actually look forward to :). I'm so excited for them and now I actually have a reason to be happy that it's 2021. Sorry if this message is a bit weird, I just wanted to thank the team for their hard work and for creating something so incredible <3

I've gotta say this is one of the most repayable games I've ever played, if not the most. Usually after i do a playthrough or two of a game i have to wait awhile before playing again otherwise it feels stale. But i haven't had that problem with our life because of the sheer ammount of player agency. Everyone who works on tbe game should feel incredibly proud of themselves because you've created something amazing.

I just wanted to say thank you for Our Life. I'm sure you get this a lot, but it really pulled me out of a mentally tough spot in my life. So thank you.

who needs therapy when you have our life: beginnings and always? haha no but seriously this game is my comfort game, and even though i can’t join your patreon at the moment please know i am always supporting you and i am so excited to see everything you have in store! everyone who works on the games is so so talented

All DLCs have nice content. 😡😡

And I love them all!!💗💗💗💖💖💖💕💕💕

#our life #Our Life Beginnings & Always #ourlifeba #ask #gb patch #gb patch games

121 notes · View notes

bluesakurablossom · 3 years

Text

When you prank him in the shower with ice

Leonardo:

You were getting ready for the day while applying your makeup at the sink and the shower was running beside you, releasing some steam form the curtain. Your boyfriend in blue had stayed over last night and he wanted to freshen up before he had to sneak back home for training. So he asked if he could take a shower which you happily let him you gave him your biggest towels you had in your small apartment. You both were comfortable enough in your relationship to be this intimate to get ready together. You were applying your mascara when the mirror started to steam up making it harder to see. “Babe, you must be cooking yourself in there, you must have the water all the way on hot”

“I love my showers hot, helps relaxes the muscles, need that for training for this morning, especially if I am going to perfect my katas” He peeked around the curtain giving you a smile “By the way you are looking beautiful as always this morning”

“Why thank you, well its a little too hot babe, can’t see in my mirror”, Wiping away at the steam that keeps returning with another towel you tried to finish applying your lip gloss “I am gonna look like a clown if I can’t see myself right”

“I’ll be right out honey, enjoying every second of this” He moaned softly in content “Oh yeah, right down the back, right where I need it!”

You rolled your eyes and suddenly got a brilliant idea come to your head and you left the bathroom quietly without him suspecting your absence. You came back in with a plastic bowl filled with cold water and a few ice cubes to make the water extra cold trying to contain your fit of giggles. “Hey babe? How much longer till you are out of the shower?”

“Why don’t you come on in here and I will tell you? If you know what I mean” He joked playfully, he could be such a dork at times when he was with you. You giggled as you quietly pulled a small stool closer to the curtain and stepped up top, your head barely peeking over the rod. “Bow chick a wow wow”

You laughed at his dorkiness, you got to admit, seeing him not all serious all the time and showed his kid side it was cute. “Okay you convinced me, I will be right in” You held the bowl quietly as you could and you were starting to feel bad that you were doing this to your boyfriend but then again he was making it hard for you to do your makeup and the humidity was going to make it even worse.

It was gonna be worth it. You reached over and dumped the bucket on your boyfriend causing him to shriek and you busted out laughing but you lost your footing, trying to grab on to the rod but ended up pulling it down with you, exposing your naked boyfriend, whom had slipped falling with his shell facing up. You were expected to hear a yelling, but instead you were greeted with laughter same as yours. “Oh my god! Leo! I am so sorry!” You were struggling with your laughter as you tried to help him up but you ended up getting sprayed

“Move the head, eeekkk I am getting soaked!” You were blocking the water with your arm, but it was no use

“Hello?! I am face down in the tub stuck here I can’t! What did you do that for?!” He laughed slipping and sliding to stand up

“I was trying to prank you!” You stood up and moved the shower head to move to the wall as you returned your attention back to your boyfriend as he shook his head free from water

“What the heck?! What is this Jackass?!”

You both ended up laughing as you were able to help him up to his knees and you went to fix the shower rod trying to place it back. “Are you okay?!”, asking in a fit of giggles

“I think I bruised a rib” He chuckled as you covered your mouth feeling guilty for what you had done

“Oh shit baby! I am sorry! I just wanted to get you back for making it too hot in here! I didn’t think you were gonna slip!” You tried to hold it together but it was a clearly losing fight

He pulled the curtain back giving you a playful glare. “You better watch your back, I am gonna getcha you”, He pointed a finger at you making your fear disappear and laughter return to the atmosphere. “If I was you, I would run very fast”

You shrieked and ran out of the bathroom giggling slamming the door behind you. But there was no hiding from him he was gonna find you no matter where you chose to go, he was going to find you and he was going to get his sweet revenge. You mess with the sensei, you are going to get punished.

Raphael:

You groaned in annoyance, for some reason your best line of skin care was lower in being close to empty than you know it should be. You know you don’t use too much when it came to personal care of your face, you had to think about what could be the reason. You eliminated the cause of the cap being left opened accidentally, any cracks in the bottle, or even making sure it wasn’t a defect. But then something hit you, you realized your stuff always looked shuffled whenever he was over for the night, you start to wonder could it be him using your stuff? You wouldn’t think your man was using your stuff, I mean after all when you would do your face masks, manicures, and foot soaks and offered him one, he would decline saying he was too manly for that stuff.

Deciding to investigate you set up your phone in the bathroom out of sight of him and when he was freshening up for the evening before your scheduled movie night, you caught him red handed or should you say green handed. Your boyfriend Raph was in your sink cabinet taking some of your facial treatments and using them himself. “Oh too manly for using my stuff huh?”

You giggled as you planned your revenge on him. You invited him over as usual and you actually did notice a difference in your man as he climbed in through your living room window. The facial stuff you used, was meant to remove any darkness, brighten in the skin and make it baby soft and you saw that skin looked brighter in green and there wasn’t much darkness in his cheek bones and jawline. “Hey you”, You kiss his cheek and feel along his jaw “My babe, did you do something different? You are skin is so smooth”

“Oh....uh....nah just been trying to take care of myself more, you know, feel good” He blushed a bit in his cheeks trying to play it cool, you played along knowing he was lying through his teeth

“Awwwww that’s good babe, but before we do have our movie, please go freshen up, you smell like sweat and protein shakes” You giggled slapping his ass playfully as you went into the kitchen to prepare popcorn

“Don’t smell that bad”, He smelt himself giving you a stuck out tongue walking to the bathroom

As soon as you heard the water, you waited a few minutes till you knew for sure he was in and you opened the freezer door and grabbed the ice tray. You opened the door quietly trying to not make any noise. You snuck up close to the shower and stood on the rim of the tub, making a little clinking noise in the tray. “Babe? What you doing?”

You suddenly dumped the ice over the rod as he shrieked at the top of his lungs ruffling behind the curtain. “Hohyuhoo!”

He pulled back the curtain and sure enough he had a whole face covering of your facial treatment as you snickered uncontrollably. “Dude what the hell? Yo dude are you dead?!”

“Too manly to use my stuff huh?”, You crossed your arms with a giggle

He looked at your guilty and with a nervous chuckle. “Oh.....heh caught me didn’t ya?”

“Babe I recorded you snooping through myself the night before” You chuckled shaking your head seeing him blush as red as his bandanna that was once wrapped his head

“You tempted me” He mumbled trying to hide his face behind the curtain

All you could do was giggle and took a towel off from the sink and wiped some of the facial treatment off from his lips softly and gave him a deep kiss, as he returned it back. “Hey you know all you had to do was ask, I could of gotten you a bottle yourself” You cocked an eyebrow at him

“Sorry....” He mumbled again as you giggled

“I got to say babe, your face is glowing, it even works for mutant turtles! Your skin looks great! I’m impressed”

“I noticed a change right away, that’s good stuff you got!”, He rubbed his cheeks with his hands as you busted out laughing

“Told you it was good, hey when you are done, I will let you use my foot soak, helps with calluses”, You held your leg and rubbed your bare sole

“Nahhhhh not that, maybe this, but definitely too manly for a foot soak” He waved it off as he rinsed his face off

“Oh don’t you start that shit again, and this time there is no sneaking through my beauty products to do it!” You laughed as you grabbed the stuff you would need for the foot soak and you looked back behind your shoulder “I love you, by the way aren’t you angry about the ice?”

“I should be but not yet your kiss distracted me for a moment, you got me all done my shell but you just wait, I’m gonna get your ass” He gave you a deep playful growl, giving you a shaking fist

You giggled and shook your ass playfully sticking out your tongue. “Hey you know what I always say, pay back is a bitch!”

Donatello:

You were on your boyfriends laptop laying out on his bed watching tik toks while you waited for your nerdy boyfriend to finish working on the garbage truck. He wanted to do some updates that he had been planning on his blue prints for the last few weeks and sure enough it was going to take him longer than you thought. But you knew this was the normal you didn’t mind sometimes, but sometimes it was lonely.

While you waited you chilled out in his bed in the wall and used his laptop that was rested in his cubby. You did everything that could pass the time over, looking at photos of you and him he saved in albums, played a few games, and were now on the internet watching tik toks. Some of the videos you have seen you and Donnie have tried before together just for the fun of it and kept the recordings for your own pleasure and giggles. You saw a video of when girlfriends dump ice on their boyfriends in the shower prank and you couldn’t help but laugh seeing the outcomes.

It made you reminisce on the time where you had tried to do it on Donnie for getting back at him for eating your pop tarts snack that you had left on his desk while you were doing college course work and when you had left to get a drink. He went in sneaky ninja mode and had swiped it without you knowing it before you came back. When you found your treat missing you yelled out to your sweet tooth boyfriend and he had locked the garage door to avoid your pastry crave rage as he munched away.

You had plotted your revenge for weeks trying to think of a way to get him back but he was too smart for you and it made it difficult to catch him off guard. But while watching the video you gotten the idea of trying this prank on him, you got a huge grin growing on your face. This was genius!

You prepared a bowl in the kitchen filling it with two trays of ice from the fridge, just as you heard Donnie come out from the garage. You hid from view seeing him covered in grease and oil, on his pants, boots and glasses. He wiping his hands clean with a rag as he went to his room. You peeked around the corner to see he was looking around for you seeing your spot where you laid disturbed. “Princess? Princess? Oh I am sure she just went with Mikey out skateboarding”

He grabbed a few things before he left heading to the lair bathroom where the brothers shared. He had shut the door and you giggled like an evil scientist as you took the bowl giggling to yourself. “Shall we test to see how cold a cold blooded reptile gets? Your wish is my command master!” You dramatically laughed deeply

You quietly opened the door, even with you being quiet you still managed to startle him making him squeak out loud, seeing his tall shadow behind the curtain. “It’s okay honeybun, it’s just me, just need to grab something really quick”

“Oh you scared me babe, thought it was going to be Mikey, he has been pranking me all week” You struggled to contain your giggles as you walked closer but you remained composed as you walked closer and closer taking one step at a time

“Oh really? What did he do?”, You asked, trying to distract him while you balanced your shaky hands

“Well first off he putting chewing gum in my book sticking it shut, he swiped some of my test tubes I had been using for my experiment while on his skateboard I had to use my drone to get it back, and this is far by the worst one yet, he put hot sauce in my coffee”

“Awwwwww my poor baby, Mikey’s pranks should terrible, but you know what a more worse prank could be?” You stood just right in front of the curtain, seeing barely the crown of his bald green head

“What could possibly be worse than his pranks?”

“This!” You cheered and jumped throwing the water over as you heard it come splashing down on him

“What in the freaking heck are you doing babe?! What was that for?!” You giggled to yourself quietly doubling over on your knees as you heard the curtain rustle and you looked up to your boyfriend with a surprised look on his face that quickly turned into a laugh. His glasses were fogging up from the steam “What was that for?! What did I do to you?”

“Think back genius! My poptarts!” You laughed uncontrollably clapping your hands together

“But yeah I was only doing that cause you ate mine hiding on top of the fridge! Told you those were for emergencies only!” He threw his arm out and some of the water droplets flicked you in the face making you shriek

“It was an emergency I was hungry!” You replied in a whiny voice

“What in the world?! You left the door open too I was freezing my tooshie off in here!” He motioned his head towards the door as you giggled walking up to him stroking his head

“I am sorry pumpkin, but I had to do it”, You pinched his cheek sweetly “Now hurry up we got cuddle time we need to make up!”

“The war is on miss! The war is on!” He called out as he went back behind the curtain

“Oh I am so scared...I am so scared” You dramatically shook as you walked off holding your arms up innocently with a playful tone

He blew a raspberry at you as you left and you blew one back to him as you shut the door giggling, heading to his room ready to finally have him in your arms once more.

Michelangelo:

You were walking past the bathroom mindlessly scrolling through your phone when you heard the water going and hearing your boyfriend singing in the shower. You stepped closer to the door letting your head touch the door, hearing him louder and you couldn’t help but laugh at his goofy behavior. Even though he wasn’t the best at singing you couldn’t help that it was cute to you for his efforts. And being in a relationship with the prankster of the family, this gave you a perfect opportunity to do another one of your pranks in a never ending war with him.

You went to the kitchen and got the biggest bowl you can find and dropped some ice cubes into the water stirring it up with your hand. It was bitter cold but it couldn’t be anymore of a great prank to get him back for when he put itching powder in your sports bra during your workout in the gym. You quietly opened the door and took out your phone and hit the record button, this was going to be a golden globe for sure, you set it on the sink as you snuck up to your boyfriend.

Seeing his silhouette from behind the curtain you quietly stood on your tip toes not even aware of your presence as he continued to sing. You reached over and threw the water straight on his head, making him scream like a girl. You busted out laughing falling to the floor as you saw ruffling behind the curtain. “Payback is a bitch sucker!” You yelled laughing

“Y/N!!!!! My ass cheeks cold!”, He yelled out

You were screaming in laughter doing a victory dance in front of your phone as he peeked behind the curtain. “Babe its freaking cold!”, He looked at you with surprise with teeth chattering slightly

“Oh boo hoo you poor baby!”, You giggled “Score one for the girls back home!”

“Oh you wanna play this game again? Well if its a game you want its a game you shall get!” He surprised you by running out of the shower naked in all of his glory and started to chase after you.

You screamed as he chased you all around the bathroom, slipping and sliding on the wet tile floor. Soon as you turned hard at a sharp corner, Mikey lost control of his grip on the forming puddles and slid into along heading straight into the wall, smashing right into it. The abruptness of the collision caused the shelf above him to break off one of its hinges and cause the contents of bottles to fall straight onto his head one by one. “Ow! Ow! Ow! OW! OWWWWWW!” Earning a moan of pain as he held his head with his hand.

“Oh my god, baby!”

You rushed over barely slipping on the floor as you knelt down in front of him, hugging his aching head. “Mikey sugar cake, are you okay?” You looked at him worriedly as he hid his face from yours.

“Question is, will you be after this?”, He gave you a sly look. The color drained from your face and before you could run, he grabbed you around the waist throwing you over his shoulder. You punched at his shoulder repeatedly and trying to pry his hand off of you, but there was no getting out of this one. When you saw he was heading towards the shower that was stilling running, you screamed and begged all that you could, but all Mikey could do was just laugh standing underneath the showerhead drenching you head to toe

Giving you a good soak he pulled you out from underneath the spray and pressed you up against the shower wall. You moved your wet hair out of your face looking utterly annoyed to see your snickering boyfriend. “Trying to make a clean get away huh angelcakes? You can’t outprank the king!”

“I.......hate.......you......I just washed my hair!”, You said, trying to sound mad but clearly your tone was laughing as you started giggling

“You love me”, He nuzzled your nose affectionately

“I do, but better watch your shell, I am gonna getcha back”, You pointed your finger at his face, but he chuckled sucking on it as you giggled bringing him into a deep passionate wet kiss.

#tmnt 2016 #tmnt raphael #tmnt leonardo #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo

68 notes · View notes

simp-for-mha-men · 4 years

Text

𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕓𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 (𝕜𝕒𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕜𝕚 𝕓𝕒𝕜𝕦𝕘𝕠𝕦 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣)

Request by @number1bakuhoe: can i request one for bakugou? n do yk that tiktok trend where in u kiss ur best friend but instead can it be thats how they reveal their relationship to the rest of the class?? ty💗💗

A/N: This is my dream. I had this thought and disregarded it, but this icon brought it back to my attention! I hope you all enjoy this Bakugou chaos with our favorite U.A. class. My requests are still open, and now my asks are actually working correctly (I didn’t know they weren’t). Enjoy this cuteness!

Genre: established relationship fluff and competition, Tik Tok trends, a little bit of swearing, one weird question from Kaminari, a couple references to different books 💥❤️

Word count: 3.1k

♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥

School was never boring at U.A. Whether you were listening to Present Mic drone on in English class or waiting for Mr. Aizawa to stop staring at you during training, it was always a good time. Your classmates also made sure of this, especially one in particular.

You had come to date the most ornery and obnoxious guy in 1-A, Katsuki Bakugou. His temper annoyed your classmates to no end. He never shared his trauma with anyone. It was as if “problem child” was his middle name. However, you had fallen for the spiky blonde-headed boy nonetheless.

How your relationship started was straight out of a movie, and the fact you both had been together now for 6 months made it all the more romantic. He called you one night by accident. He needed Kirishima to come to his dorm room, since he was late for a study group. When you picked up, he was annoyed at first but settled down after you told him you would help your friends. Being ranked number 5 in the class meant something, so he begrudgingly agreed.

“I’ll come,” you said, expecting rejection.

“Ugh,” he groaned.

Of course. Why would Bakugou want you to come help? He was so egocentric that he didn’t want you trying to show him up. They were your friends too, though! If they failed this test, it would make you upset. Sadly, that’s the downfall of being an empathetic person.

“Fine, just hurry your ass over here,” Bakugou ordered, hanging up immediately after.

You were stunned. If he didn’t tell you to hurry over, you might’ve freshened up just a bit. He wasn’t waiting for you, though, and if you were late, he would come to probably demote you from the rank of “extra,” if that was even possible.

The study sessions became a routine thing. Soon enough, each person kept leaving the group until it was only you and Bakugou left. It made you uncomfortable. It made him colder. Both of you were so awkward about it, which definitely didn’t help your situation. One night, you decided you were done playing this strange little game and did something about. The outcome was quite different than you had intended it.

“You know what,” you began, pushing away your binder, “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Huh?” Bakugou questioned, glaring at you.

“You and I both know that this hasn’t been productive. For crying out loud, it’s just filled with tension!”

He huffed in annoyance, clearly done with your shenanigans. This man was going to be the death of you. Why was he so annoyed with you trying to leave? He usually liked to do things alone. If anything, this study group, if you could still call it that, was only a burden to him.

“It’s not you, Bakugou,” you said. “If anything, I feel like I’ve overstayed my welcome. I only feel uncomfortable, and I can tell that you don’t like the vibe we’ve created.”

The man in front of you fell silent. His gaze still pierced through your soul and spoke louder than words. You could tell he didn’t want you to go, but he didn’t know how to articulate it. Despite this, you knew you couldn’t stay. Being in the same room as him wasn’t healthy. Your heart rate always picked up speed. Plus, being so hot caused you to wear a t-shirt with the AC as cold as possible. Maybe you were coming down with something?

You began gathering your supplies as quickly as possible. You were studying a classic literary work: Romeo and Juliet. Was it cheesy? Absolutely. Did you love it? Without a doubt. However, Bakugou was beginning to be as intense as Montague or Capulet.

“Thank you for these past few weeks,” you blurted. “It’s been really fun, but I don’t want to stay anym--”

Suddenly, your forearm was yanked by your study partner. You landed atop his lap, causing your heart to almost burst out of your chest. Your face felt very hot, and your breath was trapped in your lungs. Bakugou’s hands fell on your waist and slowly rubbed circles into them. He let his gaze change between your lips and eyes.

You didn’t know how to react. Was he just teasing you? Then, he began to lean in slowly. Realizing what he was doing, you moved in and let his lips touch yours. It was your first kiss, but you didn’t feel bad about it. Bakugou was soft and took his time, which is not what you were expecting with his personality. In that moment, you realized why you always felt hot around him. Your pulse quickened because you liked him. You just never wanted to admit it to yourself.

After a few seconds, Bakugou pulled away. Staring into your (e/c) eyes, he took a deep breaths and kissed you again. This time, his heartbeat spoke to you. It matched in rhythm with yours and told you its deepest desires. Bakugou wanted you to be his. He initiated this kiss as a last resort to get you to stay. He needed you to stay with him, not to study but just to hold and kiss.

After that fateful evening, Bakugou had become your boyfriend unofficially. Both of you knew your relationship should be kept a secret. It wasn’t like you had a choice. Bakugou was supposed to be the number 1 hero, and you were just an “extra.” Plus, the Bakusquad and certain 1-A students would be a pain to deal with if they found out he was soft for someone.

Despite keeping your relationship hidden, you both made sure to make it a competition. Bakugou would always ruffle your hair when others weren’t looking, which would tempt you to plant a kiss on his cheek before you both went your separate ways during lunch. The nights in the dorms were domestically sweet rather than competitive like during school hours. Your loving boyfriend would always make two plates of food and slyly pass one to you. You would always make two cups of tea, making sure to hide one behind your back, and bring them to his room. When you did do this, you slipped in while he was taking his usual shower. He always came out, gave you his sweatshirt, and watched you with love-filled eyes. The tea-filled evenings always ended in cuddles and playing with each others’ hair. You stayed until your boyfriend fell asleep at his early time, and then you would sneak off to your dorm room to get some sleep yourself.

This was your normal with Bakugou. During last Christmas, you both were able to go on an actual date for the first time. However, you saw Kirishima and Kaminari hanging out, and you and Bakugou had to abandon your outing. Sadly, your relationship has never been normal because of how secret it was. You both had to get creative with your relationship, but it was worth it. He was your explosive baby, and you were his sweet angel.

Recently, you’ve been getting quite a few relationship Tik Toks in your feed. Whether it was “the faster you run to me, the more kisses you get” trend or the “oh, you want me to make you some soup” sound, you wanted to recreate them. The Pomeranian you were dating didn’t want this. He thought Tik Tok was a complete waste of time, and you always argued with him about how it was a de-stresser for you. However, he still watched every video you showed him and loved the smile you got when watching his reaction.

One of your favorite Tik Tok trends going around was with the popular song “Electric Love” by BØRNS. Best friends admitting their feelings through a kiss was so romantic, and it reminded you of how your adorable relationship began. After seeing about 1 million of them, when in reality it was only 3, you decided you had to do it with Bakugou.

Finals were just around the corner, and everyone was stressing out. There was a rumor going around that you would all be facing the teachers again, except this time there would be bigger groups to face 3 teachers at the same time. You coculdn’t believe it and burshed it off. However, the thought still lingered in your mind that the rumor could be true. Kaminari and Kirishima reminded you of this painfully often.

One morning at the dorms before class, Momo and Iida said they were holding a study group for the class that night to prepare for the written exams. They said they didn’t care how many people showed up. They just wanted to extend the offer since they were the top students in the class. Realizing it would be beneficial, you begged your boyfriend to attend it with you. As per usual, he wanted to make your life just a little bit more difficult.

“Please, Katsu,” you begged.

“No way, dumbass,” he said, flicking your forehead. “Why go when you’ve got me?”

“I just want to hear what other people have to say. Besides, Momo is really good at algebra! She could help both of us.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes before turning to walk towards his door. You had to convince him. No matter what it would take, you had to convince him that this was the best possible option to study for the written finals.

“Wait,” you blurted, gaining his attention. “What can I do that would make you come with me?”

“Don’t even,” he huffed.

“Come on, Katsu. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything!”

Your boyfriend turned around and met your gaze. His eyes were soft, but his smirk was hard. Oh no...he had something up his sleeve. It could go one or two ways: easy or hard. You figured it was the latter.

“Kiss me,” he stated.

“That’s it?” you asked, cocking your head to the side.

“That’s it.”

Smiling, you skipped over to him and wrapped your arms around his neck. You leaned closer to his lips and met them sweetly. Bakugou wrapped his arms around your waist and melted into the kiss. It was filled with love and passion, causing a fire to erupt in your heart. You had never been happier in your life. He was all yours, and you couldn’t believe it. After pulling away, his smirk was even wider than it had been the first time. Something wasn’t right.

“I probably should’ve finished what I was gonna say,” he said. “You have to kiss me by surprise before class is over.”

Your eyes went wide. He was not asking you to do this. No way. You guys kept your relationship private for a good reason. He was out of his mind.

“Katsuki,” you sighed, “please tell me this is a joke.”

Laughing, he squeezed your cheeks before turning around and opening his door. “No way, dumbass. You said you’d do anything. Just try not to get caught.”

With that, he sauntered out of his room confidently. Never in your relationship had you been able to kiss him by surprise. He always knew what you were trying to do. He watched your fidgeting hands, crinkling nose, and squinting eyes all too much. It was like he could predict your every move. He watched you like a hero watches a villain.

You had to figure out a plan to catch him completely by surprise in only a few minutes. Then, you had only 7 hours to execute and achieve your goal. That sounds like a long time, but it was going to be a race against the clock. How were you going to pull this off? It’s not like some romance movie where the song for the love interests just starts out of nowhere.

Suddenly, you squeaked out loud. That’s it! You finally have the opportunity to do the “kissing your best friend” challenge. Of course, you and Bakugou were already dating, but he was still your best friend. You both told each other everything. Plus, he had never been around when you were watching those Tik Toks. You had your plan. Now, when could you execute it perfectly?

The morning started off like any other. Mr. Aizawa began going over the day’s schedule, causing the daily antics of your class to begin. Mina and Denki began dozing off, Aoyama was just staring off into space, Koda was focused on some birds outside, and Midoriya was already murmuring to himself. Despite all of this, your boyfriend was staring directly at you from across the classroom.

Once you noticed him, you stuck your tongue out at him. Clearly annoyed by your actions, he sighed and rolled his eyes at you. The dynamic was always like this between you two. However, your attack plan was finalized.

Using your skills, you deducted that the best time to initiate the plan was right before lunch. You would say you were showing him a Tik Tok, kiss his cheek like usual, and then strike. It was perfection. Nothing could go wrong.

The morning classes went by slower than ever. Present Mic kept correcting Jirou’s grammar the entire English class, Cementoss took too long to analyze Fahrenheit 451, and Ectoplasm spoke complete gibberish in math. You stayed focused throughout all of this, though, because you knew what was to come.

Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Waiting for the class to leave the room, you slowly packed up your bag. Once Tokoyami and Shoji had left the room, you walked over to your boyfriend, who purposely took just as long to pack.

“Bakugou,” you began, sweetly, “you have to see this Tik Tok I found.”

He groaned, prompting you to lean down and kiss his cheek. Being the tease he was, he quickly turned directly to face you and kissed your lips. You laced your arms around his neck, causing your plan to become even easier. Thankfully, Bakugou was too in the moment to realize the placement of your phone. You had positioned yourself so you were facing the window, allowing your phone to lean against the glass and stand in the window sill.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, (y/n),” Bakugou said, pulling away from you with a smirk.

With your arms still around his neck, you returned a sickeningly sweet smile paired with a glare. “Oh, just you wait.”

You hit the record button on your phone, causing the lyrics to begin. Apparently, this gained his attention, and he turned his head to look at your phone.

Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle / I can't let you go now that I got it

“Babe,” he groaned.

“Oh, come on,” you replied, pinching his cheek. “It’s just one Tik Tok.”

He groaned and looked at you through the screen. He was clearly waiting for you to start dancing or something because he never broke your gaze. Internally smirking to yourself, you realized you had caught him hook, line, and sinker.

And all I need is to be struck / By your electric love

Once the word “love” was sung, you turned his head towards you and kissed him the deepest you ever had. He paused for a brief second with wide eyes before chuckling and pulling you into his lap. Your lips met in a fiery passion of love, and you had never felt more alive. This was definitely the best kiss you had ever shared with him.

“Wait, you gotta be kidding me!” you heard someone say.

Both of you stopped, pulled away, and looked at the door. Standing there was Sero and Kaminari with the biggest grins on their faces. Before any words between the four of you could be exchanged, they both bolted off towards the cafeteria.

“Shit,” you sighed.

“You can say that again,” Bakugou agreed.

“If they know what’s good for them, they’ll keep their mouths shut.”

He chuckled at that and picked you up, placing a simple kiss on your forehead. After setting you down, you both went and grabbed your things before heading off to the cafeteria together. Of course, neither of you were aware of the hurricane that pounded the windows or shook the roof, but that would change very soon.

As soon as you walked in, you spotted the Dekusquad and Bakusquad all together. Once the door shut, Asui looked at you with the widest eyes possible. She turned back to the group and gained their attention, causing them all to unanimously charge the both of you.

“When did it start?” Mina asked, beaming.

“Were you always going to keep it a secret?” Uraraka questioned.

“Have you gone past kissing yet?” Kaminari smirked.

“SHUT UP BASTARDS!” Bakugou yelled, partially activating his quirk.

Stepping in front of him, you placed your hand on his cheek and whispered to him to calm down. After repeating that a couple of times, he did and began sulking to avoid confrontation. Turning around, you mustered up all of the courage you had.

“Ok,” you began, “Bakugou and I have been together for 6 months. We had planned to keep it a secret until graduation. Kaminari, I’m not answering your question.”

Kaminari groaned before turning around and walking off. After you answered the first initial questions, more came at you. You responded honestly and kept the conversation going. Bakugou was beside you the hold time, and, at some point, he took your hand in his. You leaned your head on his shoulder before sighing.

“Anything else?” you smiled.

“Yeah,” Asui replied. “When will you guys tell everyone else?”

“Oh, that’s not an issue,” Sero chimed in. “I already told the rest of the class.”

Everyone in the group fell silent. You prayed silently to whatever higher power was out there to protect Sero from major damage before saying, “Get him, baby.”

Bakugou took off after Sero, causing them both to sprint out of the cafeteria. You knew that they would probably get in trouble big time, but you were relieved. Finally, you and your boyfriend didn’t have to keep your relationship a secret. You were free to share as much PDA as you wanted, within school regulations, and were free to go on worry-free dates. It was a huge weight off your shoulders.

“D-do you think K-Kacchan will hurt him?” Midoriya asked, glancing at you.

Chuckling to yourself, you smiled and said, “I have no idea. I’m just proud to say that he’s mine. Sero will get what’s coming to him.”

It’s safe to assume that the both of you decided a night in studying together was better than having the whole class ogle you during the group study session.

#bnha fanfiction #bnha fic #bnha bakugou #bnha scenarios #bnha x reader #bnha #mha imagines #mha fic #mha scenarios #mha x reader #mha bakugo katsuki #mha bakugo x reader #bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #bakugou x reader #Katsuki Bakugō #katsuki bakugo x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki

402 notes · View notes

lovewillthaw-j · 3 years

Text

Frozen II/RBTI discussion (1/2)

I’ve been encouraged by the recent likes on my Elsa/Ralph+Vanellope parallels post to finally finish this post which I started more than half a year ago. @super-mam-te-moc contributed ideas and encouragement for this post, thanks dear!

I can’t help but notice the parallels between Frozen 2 and Ralph Breaks The Internet (RBTI, also known as Wreck-it Ralph 2). These are both sequels to fantastic movies where the first installment established an incredibly strong bond between the two main characters (Elsa/Anna; Ralph/Vanellope), but by the end of the sequel, the two main characters are separated.

This first part will discuss the parallels between the movies.

The parallels

1. Fun times at the movie’s introduction

As the movie starts, we see the pair having fun and enjoying each other’s company. Ralph and Vanellope drink root beer at Tapper’s, race in Tron and spend hours talking with each other. Elsa and Anna have fun at the harvest festival and enjoy a game of charades.

2. Ralph/Anna don’t want things to change

From their very first scene, Ralph and Anna express that life is perfect and that they don’t want things to change. (Ralph more strongly so than Anna)

Anna: I dont worry [that nothing is permanent] because... well I have you and Elsa, and Kristoff, and Sven and the gates are open wide and...and I'm not alone anymore... // I’m holding on tight to you...

Ralph: Why would I wonder if there's more to life when the life I got is perfect? ... I wouldn't change a thing.

3. Early signs of Elsa/Vanellope feeling unsettled where they are

Also early on in the movie, Elsa and Vanellope express that they feel unsettled where they are. (Vanellope much more so than Elsa) Vanellope is outright bored, Elsa feels a pull but is unsure and afraid.

Vanellope: doesn't the very nature of our existence make you wonder...if there's more to life than this? ... // A new racing game would've been cool. ... // every bonus level's been unlocked [in Sugar Rush]. I know every shortcut. Man, I'd kill for even just a new track.

Elsa: ♪ I'm not sure I want things to change at all ♪ ...// ♪ Who knows deep down I'm not where I meant to be? ♪♪ Every day's a little harder as I feel my power grow ♪♪ Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go ... ♪

4. Big event happens!!

A big event occurs in each movie; in RBTI, Ralph’s actions lead to the steering wheel being broken and Mr Litwak (the arcade owner) pulling the plug on Sugar Rush. In F2, Elsa awakens the spirits and there are huge disturbances within Arendelle (the wind, the earthquake) driving the people out and preventing them from returning.

In both, there are irreversible consequences - the candy characters and racers of Sugar Rush are displaced, similar to the Arendellians. There are well-animated sequences of the massive exodus. And, since Vanellope is the “princess-ruler” of Sugar Rush, she is responsible for the well-being of all her subjects, just like Elsa is the Queen of Arendelle.

And of course, the big event forces the pair to go on a journey, to a new world.

5. Ralph/Anna start to display insecurity over Vanellope/Elsa

Again, Ralph does this much more than Anna; Ralph’s insecurity is, after all, the subject of the movie’s big climax and the title of the movie (his insecure “clones” break the internet) He starts by asking Tapper incessantly every 30 seconds whether he’s seen Vanellope.

Ralph: she said...being friends with me wasn't enough for her. Not enough? I'm a great friend! Right, Tapper? Right?

Anna: You've been hearing a voice and you didn't think to tell me? ... // You are not going alone. ... // I won't let anything happen to her.

6. The journey starts

Elsa and Vanellope are shown to be enjoying the new world (the forest, for Elsa and Slaughter Race, for Vanellope)

Elsa: This forest is beautiful.

Vanellope (talking about Slaughter Race): I know. It was so exciting!

Whereas, Ralph and Anna are preoccupied with not getting separated, and worrying over Vanellope/Elsa.

Anna: Where’s Elsa? I swore that I wouldn't leave her side.

Ralph: Hey, wait for me! Kid, come back! Wait! Hey! Don't leave without me! ... No, no, no. Me and the kid are like shoes and socks. Or peanut butter and bacon. One cannot exist without the other.

7. The third party (the Voice/Shank)

The third party isn’t introduced at the same time for both movies. In F2, the Voice is heard very early in the movie, when Elsa is standing at the balcony. In RBTI, Shank (Gal Gadot’s badass character) is only introduced in Slaughter Race, about 1/3 into the movie.

The third party is attractive to Elsa and Vanellope. (This is the point where I expect Elsamaren shippers to tell me that the third party is Honeymaren, which I’m totally cool with)

Ralph and Anna are aware of the third party and respond to it, albeit slightly differently. Ralph openly dislikes Shank; Anna can’t understand it, but respects that Elsa is hearing a voice.

Ralph: Oh, come on. I don't trust that Shank one bit.

8. Inevitably, conflict happens between R/V and E/A

As the journey progresses, Elsa and Vanellope are shown to have changing priorities and they don’t seem to mind the dangers of the new world. Ralph and Anna just want to protect their counterparts and appear chagrined that they (E/V) are so attracted to the “wrong” things (by their definition). Ralph openly says that he thinks V has been brainwashed. This clash leads to misunderstanding and conflict.

Here’s Ralph and Vanellope disagreeing over Slaughter Race and Shank:

Ralph: Man, oh, man, that place was scary. Vanellope: I know. It was so exciting!

R: No, exciting is when you smile. Scary is when you clench your butt, and my butt is still clenched.

V: Oh, come on, are you honestly telling me... that Shank lady wasn't the coolest person you ever met? Ralph: Cool? Name one cool thing about her.

V: Um, let's see, she looks cool, she talks cool...she drives cool, her hair is cool, her car is cool... Ralph: Wait a minute, are you saying my hair isn't cool?

In F2: Elsa tames Bruni and for a moment becomes mesmerised by the Voice and starts walking after Bruni (almost as if she’s forgotten that she came here with Anna and the gang), leading to the first heated exchange: “You don't want me to follow you into fire, then don't run into fire. You're not being careful Elsa.” Elsa also encounters the Earth Giant and again is mesmerised and starts following the giant, leading to another heated exchange: “Please tell me, you were not about to follow them!”

9. The big “betrayal”

In RBTI, Ralph realises that Vanellope has gone to Slaughter Race by herself and is talking to Shank behind his back (through the convenient plot device, “Buzzzface”, a video chat app) and he cannot deal with it. He feels betrayed and abandoned and fails to hear the wise words that Shank is dishing out. This leads him to formulate the plan of infecting Slaughter Race with a computer virus.

In F2, Anna gets pushed away by Elsa in the ice boat/sled outside the shipwreck. Anna is angry and feels that Elsa has broken her promise to “do this together”. I must confess, even as an F2 lover, I really didn’t like Elsa’s actions in this scene. Poor, poor, poor, poor Anna!! I have an idea for re-writing this scene to achieve the same final outcome with better treatment of Anna and more “realistic” behavior from the sisters, let’s see if I have the drive to complete it. (your encouragement would be helpful!)

Thanks for reading part 1!

#frozen #frozen 2 #ralph breaks the internet #Disney Frozen #elsa #anna #ralph #wreck it ralph #vanellope von schweetz #disney

42 notes · View notes

blissfulsun · 4 years

Note

could you pleasee do 70&76 with Jeff from the angst prompts? 💞

hello my darling!! I’m sorry this took a couple of days, but its lowkey my favourite thing Ive ever written???🥺 Hope u like it just as much, ily💓 I changed both the slightest to fit into the idea I had I hope u don’t mind!!

word count: 1,713

Pretty little fears // Jeff Wittek

Jeff Wittek was a name you knew all too well. Except it used to bring visions of playgrounds and games of hide & seek, later swapped in for nights of sneaking out and stolen liquor from your father's hidden cabinet. Now, the man standing across the living room resembled more of a stranger.

Yet you somehow noticed him, eyes still instantly drawn to his taller figure in any room, this one particularly overcrowded. Your attention shifts when the friends you came with suggest a move to the garden.

He's listening to Toddy's story, or rather trying to make sense of the drunken rambling when a familiar head of hair passes in the corner of his eyes. It can't be, he tries to convince himself, searching past surrouding faces netherless, hopeful of the outcome but you're already gone.

You keep missing each other like that most of the night, you intentionally and Jeff still unsure if longing for you has finally materialised into him imagining you there in person.

The two of you collide when David stumbles across your group of girlfriends and invites you guys to 'rate his hot and less hot friends for a video'. You have no reason to say no, unaware of his connection to your hometown friend, never one to care much about social media and its content.

You make eye contact the moment you pass the threshold into the kitchen where the vs is gathered, Jeff first to speak despite the initial shock. 'y/n/n?' Others quiten down around you, eager to understand the connection between the two of you.

‘Long time Wittek' he's slightly confused and hurt by the careless tone of your greeting, his own mind going a hundred miles an hour at simply having you in such close proximity again.

You're silently seething, body simultaneously hot with rage and cold with faked indifference. You remain that way as he closes the distance between you, stiff in his arms when Jeff pulls you into a tight embrace.

The two of you remain like that for a while, your body melting into his form without permission. When he pulls away eventually, it's only far enough to look down at your face and ask 'wanna head outside? We have some catchin' up to do'. You sigh and nod, all too knowing that he wouldn't really let you have the choice.

Jeff couldn't let you go now that you seemingly fell back into his life, his hands guiding you as if you were to get lost in the house you've been in for the better portion of the night, you let him have at least that.

As soon as the two of you are outside and in a less crowded area you step away, distancing yourself from him in spite of the puppy eyes he directs at you. 'Well?..' You ask, hands wrapping around your waist in an effort to appear stand offish, the effort noted but futile.

Jeff just thinks you look adorable trying to stay mad at him, the attempts always failing in the past: from the time he tripped and accidently fell into your pride and joy of a sandcastle at four to the days when he began to fall into the wrong crowd, showing up at your window past midnight, asking to stay the night in a broken voice you could never say no to.

That's what your relationship with Jeff was, you gave and gave and he took. It wasn't always the case, early formative years of your friendship spent in mutual affection. He would push, punch and kick the bullies and in return you would offer him half of your snacks.

Then it transitioned to fighting just about anyone, and for any reason, not just for you. Still, you would bandage up the cuts and bruises, gentle kisses healing his scars better than any ointment.

You were a team, is what both of you would say whenever questions arose, jealous girlfriends & boyfriends alike or your parents increasingly protective in light of his misbehaviours. Even his own mother, who really just wanted the best for him and you, unsure at one point if you could pull him back and if it was fair to put such pressure on a 17 year old girl. You couldn't, evidently.

Jeff continued to hang out with a crowd you refused to be around and then you left for college. He was upset at first, his fear of abandonment and simply missing you translating into weeks of radio silence until he showed up at your dorm, the two of you falling back into the friendship no one else could understand.

It was fine like that for a while and then he left for Miami, promising to stay safe and in touch, though less often than either of you would like. His seventh arrest was the final blow, you mostly unaware to the extent of his illegal activities and the number of times Jeff found himself behind bars. That last time was the worst, not only because he was sentenced to at least a couple of months but because his own mother finally informed you.

'Jeff? Seriously...' your anger snaps him out of reminiscing. You look far less eager to take a trip down memory lane, but if he's already taken up your time you might as well get some answers, you decide. 'Why?' you grit your teeth, continuing 'why did you abandon me?' It's a loaded question and you're terrified of it's outcome.

‘Darlin' Jeff tries, his hand reaching for your own but you stand your ground despite his softened expression. 'No. Enlighten me. How do you spend every day with someone, write and call for months and just...just lie until you had no choice but admit you were fuckin' dealing drugs Jeffrey.' You want to shout, holding back for the sake of not gathering yourself an audience.

Meanwhile he visibly flinches at the accusing tone of yours. After a couple of calming breaths you look up at his face and begin to feel small again, back to the little girl barely reaching his shoulders & always gripping at the sleeve of his jumper.

'That's not even the worst part...' your words are softer now, Jeff can't decide if that and the tears gathering in your eyes are worse than the angry dialogue. 'The worst part is that you never responded...to any of my letters. I drove hundred of miles as a broke ass student only to find out I was already written off your visitors list' you pause, looking up to the sky to gather yourself and prevent the waterworks begging to start.

He just watches you both in awe and undeniable pain, heart split between letting you go as to not relive the pain and bringing you into his arms, body aching for the familiar comfort no one else has ever been successful in replacing, not really. 'After everything we've been through?' The last question comes out broken.

'I'm sorry...' he scrambles to reword when he catches sight of the perplexed anger adorning your face. 'I...you were goin' places alright? You were always going to be someone great darlin'. I just slowed that down and then...the final arrest happened. And I...you didn't need to see me like that, behind bars. I would rather do it alone a million more times than to put you through that.'

Jeff can only hope his explanation comes across half as elegantly. It doesn't, he realises at your sudden outburst, 'That wasn't your choice to make! Fuck you.' The response draws some unwanted attention to the pair of you, his friends standing in a corner nearby and trying to work out your significance.

'Angel please...' Jeff decides to try an old method of calming you down, hand wrapping around the back of your neck under the cascading hair you let down for the night. Your mind is still focused on the erupting anger, but your body, it surrenders to the familiar hold, shoulders unwittingly losing tension and expression softening while he stares in your eyes.

'You weren't alone.' The softness with which you deliver your next response shocks you both. The thought continues at sight of his confusion, 'You didn't have to do it alone. We were a team, from the time we were barely four...' Jeff nods at that truth. 'I know...' he's not sure whether to continue, unsure if this was the right place or time but already in too deep with a single look into your glassy eyes.

‘I know but I loved you-' 'wha' your attempt at interruption and shocked expression is ignored. '-and I know you loved me too angel. That's why...I could never do that to you' The confession hangs in the air, but at least it's finally out there, Jeff thinks. Years of repressed emotions and regret spilling over in favour of gentle relief inside your childhood best friend.

You clear your throat, 'right..' the eye contact is broken as you force your body away from his hold. He's confused, heart dropping into his stomach in disappointment as you stiffly walk around him and back inside without another word.

Jeff takes the leap and catches up to you outside, short of breath from the chase. '-wait!! That's...that's it? ' he has to ask. You whip around to face him for the second time tonight.

‘Yes! That's fuckin' it you asshole. You single handedly ripped my heart out and disappeared from my life like it was the easiest thing in the world! Of course I have always loved you, you..you selfish arrogant little pri-' the rant was left unfinished, a soft pair of lips shutting you up.

Jeff had to kiss you. It's been all he's thought about since you stepped into the random kitchen a couple minutes ago, the need so intense and eerily reminscent of his teenage years and early adulthood, always left unfulfilled for your own sake.

This time...he's tired of denying himself the pleasure, years older and maybe wiser, unwilling to ever let you go again. 'm still mad at you..' you mumble when he finally has to pull away for some air. The laugh that escapes him both infuriates and enamores you further, 'I know darlin...but I love you too.'

#angels💓#jeff wittek #jeff wittek imagine #im kind of??proud??of this one #let me know whT u thought my darlings #jeff wittek x reader

168 notes · View notes

fandomsalive · 3 years

Text

So Listen Dear, Won’t You Meet Me Here While I’m Bringing in the New Year

So Listen Dear, Won’t You Meet Me Here While I’m Bringing in the New Year | Reddie | Teen and Up | 5,627 words

Summary: “Fuck you, I would have gotten it eventually,” Richie shoots back, even as he rushes to save the game quickly, and then tosses the controller to the side. “I’m bored," he declares loudly.

He stares resolutely at the TV the same way he’s been avoiding Eddie’s eyes most of the night, like he’s too nervous to meet Eddie’s gaze.

“You were the one who wanted to play video games all night,” Eddie grumbles, glaring at the side of his face. When we could be making out instead, he complains in his own head, but refuses to say aloud.

It’s New Years Eve, and Eddie’s just waiting for Richie to make a move already.

—

Title from "Bringing In A Brand New Year," by B.B. King. I was inspired by this (x) tik tok and I know it’s way too late for New Years but take this New Years fic anyway. This is also set 2016 but the boys are teens. Thanks to @imnotinclinedtomaturity for the beta I love you.

Ao3 Link

—

Stan (10:16 PM)

so has he made a move on u yet?

Eddie (10:16 PM)

fuck you stan you know he hasnt

Stan (10:17 PM)

i told u ud have ot be the one to suck it up kaspbrak

Eddie (10:18 PM)

I hate you.

Stan (10:18 PM)

ur just mad i was right. i knew richie wouldnt have the balls to follow through on his plans to jump ur bones tonight

Eddie doesn’t dignify that with a response, instead choosing to toss his phone onto the edge of Richie’s bed with a huff. Richie, who up ‘til then had been blatantly (and perhaps a little desperately) trying to pretend he hadn’t noticed Eddie was on his phone, glances at the discarded phone with far too much interest.

“Who ya texting, Eds?” he asks, feigning indifference but missing by a mile. Eddie wants to roll his eyes at just how transparent his best friend is, but he really shouldn’t be surprised. Richie has been on edge all night, more often than not turning to Eddie to say something, and then changing his mind last minute, so of course the moment Eddie’s attention isn’t on him, he’d be concerned.

“Your mom,” Eddie snarks back, crossing his arms over his chest in irritation. Richie snickers, but his heart clearly isn’t in it. He keeps darting his eyes towards Eddie’s phone, and then back to the TV screen, where he’s been playing Kingdom Hearts for the last hour, as if he wants nothing more than to take Eddie’s phone and find out for himself.

Do it, Eddie begs him internally, eyes narrowed at the back of Richie’s head.

Richie doesn’t, but Eddie hadn’t really been expecting anything different. Richie hasn’t been picking up on anything Eddie has been hinting at recently. It’s starting to feel like nothing short of screaming his intentions from the rooftop will work to knock some sense into him.

In fact, he’s been sitting at the head of Richie’s bed for the last two hours, sprawled as invitingly as he could imagine in a pair of sleep shorts and one of Richie’s jackets. He looks good, he knows he looks good.

More than once he’s stretched himself towards Richie, pressing their thighs together and tossing his ankle over Richie’s, but rather than encouraging Richie to just do something already, it had only succeeded in Richie giggling nervously and, after the third rendition, retreating half way down the bed.

Richie has been sat cross legged down there for the last hour and a half, and Eddie doesn’t know what to do to salvage the damn night. He can’t exactly chase Richie, because so far drawing any attention to Richie’s weirdness, or Eddie’s blatant attempts to flirt, has only seemed to spook him, and any attempt to broach the subject — that subject being the fact that Eddie wanted to date him — only made Richie clam up more.

Eddie has been waiting the last couple of months for Richie to just… come out with it already, ever since Janice had asked Eddie to be her date to homecoming, and Richie had gone into such a fit he hadn’t spoken to Eddie for a week. Eddie had been so mad at him for being a dick and ignoring him, but every time Eddie’d tried to catch him on his own, Richie would disappear. For three days straight he’d been to all of Richie’s favorite hang out spots and hadn’t seen hide nor tail of him until the end of October when Eddie stumbled out the back of the Chemistry building and accidentally overheard a private conversation between Richie and Bev.

He hadn’t intended to eavesdrop but… Richie was his best friend, and more than anything else, Eddie had been hurt by the sudden refusal to speak to him. He hadn’t even understood at the time, hadn’t made the connection to Janice at all, until he’d heard Richie confessing to Bev, his voice hesitant, quiet… hurt.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone asks Eddie out and he says yes, Bev,” Richie had sniffled miserably. “What am I supposed to do then, because I sure as fuck can’t pretend to be happy for him? It’ll break my heart.”

Ever since then, Eddie has been trying to tell Richie that Eddie doesn’t want a girlfriend. In fact, Eddie isn’t interested in girls at all. He’s far more interested in his foulmouthed best friend, despite his better judgement.

Richie doesn’t seem to get it, though. The following Monday, Richie had started speaking to him again as if nothing had happened, and any time Eddie attempted to bring any of it up, Richie would say something so nonsensical and infuriating that Eddie couldn’t help raising to the bait.

Now it's been over two months and Richie is still pussy footing around despite the fact that Eddie has been flirting with him this entire time. He’s dropped so many hints about his own fucking feelings that now all of the Losers know he’s in love with Richie, and their sympathy is quickly waning.

“You need to just tell him outright, Eddie,” had been Bill’s sage advice after the millionth time Eddie had practically sat on Richie’s lap in the hammock and Richie had responded by jumping out of it. “He’s an idiot, and obviously terrified you’re going to reject him if he so much as breathes on you wrong. He’s not going to realize you like him back when you’re flirting with him the same way you’ve been flirting with him your entire friendship.”

Eddie had told Bill to fuck off, and hid in his room for the rest of the night, frustrated at his own inability to sack up, as Bev would put it.

And truthfully, Eddie doesn’t know why he hasn’t just blurted it all out yet, but every time he’s even come close, he’s felt almost faint with anxiety. It hasn’t helped that everytime Richie senses a serious conversation coming, he diverts the conversation as fast as he possibly can. Richie’s lack of desire to actually fucking talk about this isn’t exactly comforting, despite the fact that Eddie knows Richie likes him.

But it’s New Year’s Eve tonight, and Stan, sick of watching Richie and Eddie dance around each other, had confided in Eddie that Richie was planning on confessing his feelings tonight, if he could only convince Eddie it would be worth pissing off his mom to spend the night.

Spending any amount of time with Richie was worth it, but if it meant Richie was going to admit to how he felt, Eddie wasn’t going to miss his chance.

Except… so far, Stan’s assumption that Richie wouldn’t have the guts to tell Eddie the truth seems to be the most likely outcome. Eddie sighs at the thought, unsure what else he could possibly do to make it clear to Richie that he’s more than receptive to Richie’s feelings..

All Eddie can really think about just then, however, is how shit Richie is at Kingdom Hearts.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Eddie grouses loudly, as Richie makes another attempt to defeat Luxord, and the loud death animation plays out on the screen.

“Fuck you, no I’m not,” Richie shoots back, stubbornly clicking “restart” and beginning the fight all over again. Eddie sighs loudly. This is the fifth time he’s seen Richie attempt this fight tonight, and each time he’s fallen to the same fucking trap. It's probably thanks to the fact that Richie hasn’t actually been paying very much attention to his game at all, apparently too busy fidgeting in place and sending Eddie obvious, but nonetheless longing, looks.

“You just have to pay fucking attention,” Eddie grumbles and shifts onto his knees, crawling determindedly over to Richie. Richie looks over his shoulder at Eddie, a nervous look in his eye, tongue sticking out in concentration. Richie shifts with Eddie, leaning forward like he wants to get away. Eddie wants nothing more than to shove him off the bed already. “Look, see, when he turns into a card you just have to —”

At Richie’s side now, Eddie reaches for the controller in Richie’s hands, and jerks it into his own.

“Hey!” Richie complains loudly, but doesn’t fight it. Instead, he practically recoils, and moves over on the bed so that he’s on the edge, a large gap between him and Eddie’s knees. Eddie does everything he can to ignore it, and starts mashing buttons on the controller.

“See, look, if you just fuck with the camera you can tell which card he’s and then —” Eddie unleashes a combo attack on Luxord in the few seconds that he’s stunned, before Luxord changes tacks.

Eddie doesn’t bother handing Richie the controller back, because Richie doesn’t ask and Eddie is tired of sitting around looking tempting when it’s clear Richie isn’t going to fucking do anything about it. Irritated, Eddie unleashes his anger on the game instead. “And then when he does it again, you just —” Again, Eddie manipulates the camera until he knows exactly which card Luxord is in, locks on, and beats the shit out of him all over again.

“Alright, alright,” Richie grumbles, pouting and reaching up to throw his hoodie over his head, casting his face into shadow. Eddie rolls his eyes at the way Richie fiddles with the drawstrings there. Eddie recognizes it as one of Richie’s nervous ticks, and if he hadn’t known Richie was working himself up to confessing tonight, that would have been a good red flag that Richie wanted to do something.

Finally, after three more rounds of doing the same shit, Luxord dies, and Eddie thrusts the controller back into Richie’s hands. Richie takes it cautiously, sneaking a look at Eddie’s irritated face.

“There,” Eddie exclaims proudly. “I told you you were doing it wrong,” he adds smugly, and settles himself more firmly into the spot he’s taken up residence in. Richie will just have to deal with Eddie in his space, and if he wants to sit on the very edge of his bed with one foot pressed to the floor, only barely keeping him up, then so be it. Eddie’s tired of making this easy on him.

“Fuck you, I would have gotten it eventually,” Richie shoots back, even as he rushes to save the game quickly, and then tosses the controller to the side. “I’m bored,” he declares loudly, and drags the remaining leg he has on the bed up to his chest, wrapping his arm around it and resting his chin on his knee.

He stares resolutely at the TV the same way he’s been avoiding Eddie’s eyes most of the night, like he’s too nervous to meet Eddie’s gaze.

“Yeah, but you’re so much better at it,” Richie whines, and tosses himself backwards on the bed. His hood acts as a halo around his face, dark curls spilling out of it, as Eddie turns his body to stare down at him. Richie meets his eyes for half a second before his cheeks turn bright red and he looks away again. “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” he declares suddenly, and sits back up. He turns giddily to Eddie and declares, “Why don’t you play Dark Souls?”

Instantly, Eddie groans. “Fuck no!” he complains, “The last time I let you convince me to play Dark Souls, you spent the entire time making fun of me when I got my ass kicked. I’m not doing it again!” Eddie practically shouts at him.

Richie is cackling on the bed, grinning like an absolute lunatic at Eddie. It’s the first time all night things have seemed semi-normal between them. “That’s the best part, Edwardo!” Richie exclaims brightly. Eddie groans loudly at the nickname, but Richie steamrolls past him before he can say anything. “No one wants to watch someone being good at that game, it’s boooooring,” he sing-songs, dancing in place.

“No!” Eddie refuses, reaching out to shove at Richie’s shoulder. “I refuse! Pick something else!” he demands.

With a pout, Richie turns and drops back onto the bed. This time, his curls are what halo his face, and they’re so cute that Eddie wants to bury his fingers into them. Eddie has to fight a blush at the stupidly cheesy thought, and turns away.

“Fine,” Richie grumbles, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “You pick something then,” he adds, still pouting.

Sighing, Eddie reaches out to pick up Richie’s controller, and exits out of Kingdom Hearts. He scrolls through Richie’s downloaded games in search of a different one — not Dark Souls.

The clock in the corner blinks 10:32 PM, inching closer and closer to midnight. Richie only has an hour and twenty-eight minutes left to follow through on his supposed plan (and, unknowinglingly, prove Stan wrong. Eddie’s not so certain he’s going to manage it).

“For someone who spends so much time on his PS4,” Eddie complains, “you don’t have very many games.”

“It’s not about quantity, Eds,” Richie snarks back, shifting to prop himself up on his elbows, “It’s about quality. Oh!” he exclaims as Eddie skips through his games, “Crash Bandicoot! Eds, Eddie, Edwardo, Eddie Spaghetti,” he rattles off, shooting off the bed and grabbing for the controller. “Come on, we have to play that!”

He’s so excited he doesn’t seem to notice the way his fingers cover Eddie’s for a moment, but Eddie sure does. It sends a spark of heat down his back and he swallows thickly, releasing the controller.

“Fuck you, that’s not my name,” Eddie complains automatically, frowning. Richie isn’t listening to him. Instead, he’s opening up Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and debating between the three options. “Wait, I thought I was choosing the game,” he adds as an afterthought, not really caring but arguing out of habit.

“You were but you took too long,” Richie shoots back, sticking his tongue out. Eddie rolls his eyes, but doesn’t bother arguing. It had been thirty seconds at the most. Richie is just impatient. “Besides,” Richie adds, eager as ever, “We can take turns defeating the levels,” he insists, and finally settles on Warped.

“Take turns my ass,” Eddie grumbles, but settles himself more comfortably on the bed regardless. He’s taking up the majority of the middle of the bed again, and Eddie isn’t surprised when Richie chooses to fit himself back against the very edge again, one leg propped on the floor to keep him stationary. His leg is bouncing nervously as he darts his gaze back and forth between the game and Eddie’s face. “I don’t think you know what take turns means,” Eddie adds, stubbornly ignoring Richie’s gaze.

“I do, too!” Richie claims, pouting. A smile twitches at Eddie’s lips, but he chooses to ignore it. “I’ll even prove it to you. You can go first!” Richie insists, and this time presses the controller into Eddie’s hands.

Rolling his eyes, Eddie takes it and starts the first level.

It turns out that Crash Bandicoot is one of the worst decisions Richie could have made, because they’re both disastrous at it. Within the first ten minutes, they’ve lost every single one of their lives, and they’re forced to start the level over from the beginning, rather than from the last checkpoint they’d hit. This only serves to make the game even harder, and Eddie isn’t the least bit surprised when he and Richie end up fighting over the controller.

“It’s my turn!” Richie screams in Eddie’s face, giggling as he wrestles him for the controller.

“No it isn’t! I haven’t beat the level yet!” Eddie argues back, struggling against Richie’s longer arms. As is par for the course for the two of them, their wrestling isn’t the least bit careful. In fact, Eddie’s fairly certain he’s going to have a bruise on his jaw tomorrow from where Richie had hit him with his elbow, but Eddie doesn’t mind. It’s always been satisfying to roughhouse with Richie.

“Yeah but you used our last life!” Richie shouts at him. “That’s pretty much the same thing! It’s your fault we had to start the level over!”

“Like you haven’t done it a million times already,” Eddie growls, finally shoving Richie off of him.

Richie goes careening off the bed, and hits the floor with a loud thump. Startled, Eddie drops the controller on the bed, and crawls across the sheets to stare down at where Richie has landed, eyes wide. Richie is staring up at him dazed, blinking rapidly as if trying to reorient himself. Eddie bites his bottom lip.

“Fuck,” he whispers, and leans down to grasp onto Richie’s wrist. “Are you okay?” he asks softly, waiting for Richie to grip onto his wrist in turn before dragging him up and into a sitting position. Eddie lets go of him, and Richie reaches up to press tentative fingers to the back of his head. Eddie winces when Richie winces.

“I’m fine,” Richie groans, and drops his hands to the floor on either side of him. He takes another moment to gather himself, before leveraging himself to his feet. Instinctively, Eddie leans backwards until he’s sat back on the bed and out of Richie’s personal space. “You pack quite a punch for such a little guy,” Richie comments playfully.

“Oh, fuck you!” Eddiee screams instantly, reaching for the pillows at the top of Richie’s bed. As soon as he’s got one in his grip, Eddie starts pummeling Richie’s face with it. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” Eddie shouts, as Richie laughs and bats futilely at the pillow. “See if I ever worry about you again!” Eddie complains, huffing loudly.

It takes another few smacks of the pillow to Richie’s laughing face before Eddie finally relents.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, sheesh,” Richie says, still laughing. “I didn’t mean to offend you,” he offers sweetly, using that stupid smile he always uses on grown ups to get out of trouble. Eddie huffs and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Yes you did,” Eddie argues darkly.

Richie laughs again. “Okay, yes I did,” he agrees, nudging at Eddie softly, and then shuffling onto the bed next to him, “But I only do it to rile you up,” he admits. The moment the words are out of his mouth, Richie starts blushing and looks away.

Eddie, shocked at the confession, can only stare at the side of Richie’s face, terrified of doing or saying anything in response that might scare Richie off.

They’re silent for a moment, nothing but the sound of their game echoing around the room. The sound is annoying, considering how many times they’ve died in such a short period of time, but Eddie can also hear his heart beating roughly in his chest while he waits anxiously to see what Richie will do next.

Finally, Richie clears his throat. “You know, Eds,” Richie starts, his voice soft and tentative, the way it has been on and off all night. Eddie’s eyes dart to Richie’s face, and he feels his heart clench up tight in his chest. Is this it? Is this the time? Is Richie actually going to tell him—

With a huff, Richie shakes his head and gets up off the bed. He doesn’t say anything else, wringing his hands at his sides again instead, and Eddie’s chest deflates.

“Come on,” Richie says, completely changing the subject, “Let’s see if we can get to the boss before midnight.”

With darting, anxious eyes, Richie looks for the controller he’d just been sitting on, and snatches it up quickly as soon as he locates it. Then he throws himself back onto the bed, this time pressed up against the headboard, curled into his small pile of pillows.

So, no. Not this time, no point in Eddie getting his hopes up again.

Freshly annoyed at Richie’s new positioning once again away from Eddie, Eddie reaches up and snatches the controller from Richie’s hands.

Richie lets it go without a fight, eyes wide and unsure.

“It’s still my turn,” Eddie explains tersely, and turns back to the TV screen, where he can see the time 11:12 PM sitting innocuously in the corner, mocking him.

Eddie doesn’t know why he thinks it, but somehow he feels as if Richie hasn’t confessed by midnight, Richie isn’t going to confess at all.

With a sigh, Eddie tries the level again. And again. And again.

They do make it to the boss, eventually.

Richie’s the one to beat level 5, though it takes him a good 50 times to do so, and only then because the fourth level had been pretty easy and Eddie had managed to farm more than a couple of lives. He’d gone so far as to play another round of keep away with Richie to play the level a second time, to which Richie had sat in his corner and pouted.

But now they’re on the first boss, and Richie has refused to hand the controller back over.

“You got two turns with level 4!” Richie argues defiantly, “We’ll take turns with the boss. Everytime one of us dies, we hand the controller off!”

Grumbling to himself, Eddie relents, and, starting to feel uncomfortable sitting in the middle of the bed, moves to the top to settle in next to Richie. Eddie leaves some space between them this time, unwilling to put himself through the depressing experience of Richie pulling away from him again.

Richie still shoots a terrified glance at him, and scoots over the tiniest bit. Eddie does everything he can in his power not to roll his eyes too obviously, and nods at the game instead. “What are you waiting for? Start it already, dumbass.”

So Richie does.

Shockingly, the boss is pretty easy to beat. He’s so easy, in fact, that Eddie doesn’t even get a go at it, and while Richie laughs and cheers for his own victory, Eddie swipes the controller from his hands and starts level 6.

It’s inching nearer and nearer to midnight. He can see the clock glaring 11:47 at him. The year is almost over, and Richie still hasn’t confessed to him. Eddie isn’t sure if he should even be expecting it anymore, given how many times Richie has stared at him and then clearly chickened out without saying anything. It’s disappointing, when Eddie had come over that night feeling so hopeful.

Stan had warned him to keep his expectations low. None of their friends seemed to have any confidence in Richie’s willingness to confess, regardless of whether or not Richie had said he was going to do it. Eddie had just been hoping…

Well, he’d been hoping that maybe, by midnight, they would have talked about their feelings and Richie might have kissed him. The longer the night goes on, though, the less and less likely it seems that Richie actually will.

Eddie is so deep in his own thoughts that he doesn’t even notice it when he runs out of lives on level 6. He sighs, frustrated, when the game starts back over outside the level, and he turns to hand the controller off to Richie.

Their eyes meet. Richie’s are wide and terrified. His hood is pulled up over his head again, hiding part of his face in shadow, and he’s playing with the strings again, tightening and untightening his hood over and over again. For a moment, the look on Richie’s face is so startling that even Eddie feels nervous.

And then Richie says, “It’s almost midnight,” with a tremble in his voice.

Eddie nods his head slowly, feeling that familiar quiver in his chest that tells him the hope is building.

This time? he wonders.

“Yeah, it is,” Eddie agrees after a moment, unsure.

He does his best not to make Richie feel any more uncomfortable than he already does, and stays as still as he dares. He wants to reach out and take Richie’s hand in his, wants to drag his fidgeting fingers away from the strings of his hoodie, wants to shift forward so their thighs are pressed alongside each others’, wants to lean his forehead against Richie’s and beg him to kiss him.

But he doesn’t.

He doesn’t, because he knows that Richie is scared, and he knows what it’s like to be scared. Eddie’s spent his whole life being scared. He’d grown up being told all the ways he could get sick if he wasn’t careful, being told that he had allergies he didn’t have, and illnesses that wouldn’t stick. There had been a time in Eddie’s life where he couldn’t go one hour without taking another set of medications, and his inhaler had been his best friend.

So he understands being scared, and maybe that’s the real reason he hasn’t pushed Richie on this. Eddie knows that forcing someone to get over their fears isn’t going to fix anything, not in the long run, anyway — they have to want to get over them themselves. And Eddie is willing to wait.

“Fuck,” Richie mutters to himself, fingers tangling tight in his hoodie strings. His hands look like they might be shaking, but Richie is fidgeting too much for Eddie to know for sure. “Fuck, uhm, Eddie?” Richie asks nervously, eyes darting all around Eddie’s face, avoiding his eyes completely.

“Mm?” Eddie replies, breathless, his own eyes wide and nervous. He flattens his hands down hard against his thighs, and begs himself not to touch, to not scare Richie, to not push him.

“I’m—” Richie starts, cuts himself off with a sharp inhale, then starts again, “I’m going to do something now, but if you hate it, just tell me, okay?” he babbles nervously, finally detangling his fingers from his hoodie strings, only to clench them deeply into his jeans.

Eddie’s breathing speeds up, and his hands are shaking now too.

“Richie,” Eddie whispers, aiming for encouraging and falling short. He can hear that his own voice is shaking.

Richie doesn’t seem to notice, barreling on, “I promise it’s fine if you don’t like it. I just want to — I just want to try…” Richie’s voice trails off as he gulps, eyes darting all over Eddie’s face. He opens his mouth to say something more, but hesitates, and then starts to retreat into himself, clearly losing his nerve.

Eddie panics.

Before Richie can try and back out of it once again, Eddie blurts,“Kiss me.”

The words are half garbled with breathlessness, almost a gasp between them, but Richie seems to catch on. His eyes go wide, and he inhales sharply, struck dumb. For a long moment, they just stare at each other, Eddie with his heart in his throat, and Richie absolutely stunned. Finally, Richie bursts into a flurry of giggles.

He releases the strings of his hoodie to instead press his fingers to his mouth, laughing loudly around them, and gasps, “oh my god.” Richie is trembling all over as he drags his hands away from his mouth and wheezes, “holy shit,” the shock more than a little apparent.

Unable to help it, Eddie starts smiling as well, fingers clenching tight into the fabric of his jeans. “Richie!” he demands, giggling. “Come on, asshole!”

The I’m waiting feels heavy between them.

“Dude!” Richie shoots back, absolutely beaming now, and without another moment of hesitation, he reaches out and threads his fingers through the hair at the back of Eddie’s neck.

Eddie will never forget the way it feels when Richie tugs him into their first kiss. The sensation is like a shot of electricity to his spine, and he gasps before their lips even touch. He can feel his heart in his throat, beating so hard he shakes with it, and then Richie’s mouth is on his, and the feeling is like fireworks going off in his head.

Eddie doesn’t mean to groan. The sound is just ripped out of him, shocked and needy. Richie’s lips are hot against his, and he despite all of his previous nervousness, he doesn’t seem nervous of this at all. Maybe it’s because the scariest part is over, or maybe it’s because Richie knows Eddie wants it too. Regardless, he doesn’t seem to be holding back now.

Richie is a shockingly good kisser, and he takes Eddie’s bottom lip between his instantly, sucking so softly and sweetly that it's more a tease than anything. When he introduces teeth, it's the tiniest nip, and it drives Eddie absolutely crazy.

The way Richie sighs against his lips makes Eddie shiver. It takes Eddie a moment to realize that he’s raised his own hands to fist his fingers into the back of Richie’s curls, knocking off his hood and holding on tight in an attempt to prevent Richie from pulling away even the tiniest bit. Richie’s other hand has found Eddie’s waist, and it’s only when Richie yanks Eddie in closer that Eddie realizes he’d begun to melt backwards into the bed.

Gasping at the feeling of being held tight, Eddie shoves himself further into Richie’s personal space, until the warmth of him is seeping into Eddie, and Eddie is practically in Richie’s lap.

Their mouths come together again, and again, and again, their breathing hot and heavy between them.

Eddie’s heart feels like it’s going to burst. HIs entire body feels like it’s on fire.

“Fucking finally, asshole,” Eddie groans into the kiss, pulling lightly on Richie’s hair in punishment. Shocked, Richie laughs, and kisses Eddie even more enthusiastically, the wet sound of their mouths loud in Eddie’s ears. It’s almost all that he can hear, the faint sound of Crash Bandicoot so far away it might as well be in another room.

It feels like they make out forever, making up for all the lost time they could have spent doing this. Richie’s fingers dig deep into Eddie’s hip, and Eddie tugs on Richie’s hair unapologetically. Richie’s tongue sends sparks down Eddie’s spine every time he drags it against his lips, against his own tongue, against the back of his teeth. It feels so good that Eddie never wants to stop kissing Richie.

With every shift of their mouths, Eddie shifts his body closer to Richie’s, until finally Eddie manages to knock Richie over and lands on top of him with a small oof.

“Holy fuck,” Richie gasps, shocked as their mouths pull apart. His eyes are hazy when they meet Eddie’s, his mouth wet and red.

Short of breath, Eddie can only manage to gasp back, “Holy fuck.”

For some reason, this makes Richie laugh. He slams his head back against the bedsheets with the force of it, and lets his eyes drift closed.

Hovering on top of him, Eddie releases Richie’s hair to instead prop himself up, unable to help the way he grins down at Riche.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for months,” Richie admits breathlessly, grinning as he finally opens his eyes again and looks up at Eddie. Eddie laughs and rolls his eyes, knocking his forehead gently into Richie’s.

“Yeah, I’m not an idiot, I could tell,” Eddie admits a little brashly, leaning in to peck Richie’s lips before Richie can tense up too much.

“You could?” Richie asks into the kiss, sounding shocked at the admission. Eddie nods, and kisses him again, and again, and again — soft little pecks that don’t turn into anything more.

“Yeah,” Eddie agrees, nuzzling their noses together. “I’ve been waiting for you to grow a pair and do it already,” Eddie adds teasingly, and drags his head away from Richie’s long enough to look him in the eye. “Seriously Richie, I’ve been waiting for months,” he complains good naturedly, some of the irritation gone now that it’s out there — now that Richie’s kissed him.

“Oh,” Richie replies, eyes furrowing until he’s frowning. Surprised at this change in demeanor, Eddie pulls back from Richie again and shoots him a worried look.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, panicked.

Richie glares at him. “What the fuck, you asshole!” he whines, scrabbling at Eddie’s back until Eddie falls fully on top of him. “You knew this whole time, and you didn’t say anything?” he groans, wrapping his arms tight around Eddie and squeezing the life out of him.

The hold makes Eddie giggle, and he shoves his face into Richie’s neck, breathing hot there. “I’ve been trying, fucknuts! You’re just too fucking stupid to notice when someone’s flirting with you!” Eddie argues back, giddy with it.

Richie shakes his head against Eddie’s neck and says, “You know, you could have kissed me, too.”

The words are softer than the rest, a little coy and shy. Eddie feels his heart melt at it, and he pulls away from Richie’s neck slowly.

“I guess,” he agrees quietly, but doesn’t explain himself. He doesn’t think he has to, with the way that Richie is looking at him. Despite Richie’s grumblings, he thinks that both of them know Richie had to be the one to kiss Eddie first.

Sure enough, it takes a moment, but eventually Richie rolls his eyes and says, “Alright fine.” Then he lifts one hand to press it into Eddie’s hair, and pulls him in close, “But did you know that I love you?” he whispers right up against Eddie’s lips.

Eddie shivers, and laughs softly, eliminating the last few inches of space between their mouths with a searing kiss, before whispering, “Yeah, and I love you too, dumbass.”

#reddie #reddie fanfic #Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak #it fanfiction

34 notes · View notes

lizacstuff · 3 years

Note

Hello, Liza! I hope you are doing well. Passing by because I (and everyone else I think) would like to know your thoughts about episode 25. I watch this show trying my best to avoid spoilers but today somehow I ended up seeing everything. Twitter was and still is mad about the episode and I thought I was going to have the same reaction as them. Surprise, surprise, I didn't which left me speechless. I feel like you might have the same reaction as me so I would love to know your thoughts! xo

Hello! I have a lot of asks and rather than flooding my dash, I think I’ll put them all in one place, so this is going to get very long. I have mixed feelings. I didn’t hate it, but it was a hard episode to watch.

I wish I had seen the reaction before I watched, then I would have adjusted my expectations. The whole time I was waiting for a twist at the end that didn’t come. Partly because of my own speculation, but partly because I’d watch the live with Hande and Kerem and from the translations, Kerem said there was a shock at the end and called the ending beautiful. Never trust Kerem! LMAO. Not because he would ever intentionally mislead, but boyfriend never remembers anything that happens in any episode. Though he was right about the shock, just not about it being beautiful. (Prince be crazy!) Anyway I kept hoping for the twist of them working together and fooling everyone and it didn’t come.

So I was disappointed at the end, but with adjusted expectations the episode, taken for what it is, is actually decent and I can definitely get onboard with Eda sacrificing everything to save him. That’s very romantic and they did a great job of setting up how devastated she was and how serious the threat is from Babaanne. Eda did not crumble in the face of a couple of idle threats. No, every moment that Eda waited to break up with him, Babaanne introduced some very real and catastrophic consequence to Serkan or his family. Shit got real and Eda was pushed into a no-win corner and needed to act fast. I’ll talk about that more, but first, I’ll mention a couple of thoughts about the writing and the new writers:

(more under the cut)

Good

Structure - The structure of the episode was a lot better than last week. Scenes actually made sense one after the other, the emotions of the characters were consistent and it all flowed.

Plot - I’m not necessarily praising what happened in the episode, more that there was one. And it’s one that will not be forgotten in the next episode and it feels like this plot could sustain a number of episodes which his necessary if the show is to continue.

Characterizations - The characters felt true to what we’ve watched the last 20+ episodes. As I said above, work went into showing us both Eda and Serkan’s mindset and how that led to the ultimate outcome. It’s impressive that they put together one of the most heartbreaking breakup scenes I’ve seen, and the characters weren’t actually even together.

Not-so-good

Proposal dream - I’m not a big fan of fooling the audience like this, and I’m really not a big fan of putting it in a teaser or promo. That is a bait and switch, and I think it’s a cheap trick for the production company to have featured it in the fragman. Badly done. In next week’s fragman we see Serkan “punching” the Prince, I fear that is not real, possibly Serkan’s fantasy, and I’m really hoping that “fake scenes” are not going to be the go-to for these new writers. We’ve already spent 50+ hours with Eda and Serkan, we don’t need to see imaginary things, we need real scenes. No fake outs at this juncture.

Humor and ‘sparkle’ - I think this is what’s going to be missing from the new writer’s scripts. They tried really hard with the game night at the newlywed’s house and Chef Alexander love triangle, (Team Aydan all the way, Ayfer can fuck off. If she doesn’t care about her niece’s happiness, then she shouldn’t get any herself) but it just didn’t get there comedy wise. Ayse really had a way of pulling together very funny scenarios and making everything sparkle, and I’ll miss that.

Lack of Edser - This is their show, they are the ONLY reason most people watch. You can’t build a plot that separates them. When Serkan broke up with Eda they were able to build a scenario where they were still thrown together all of the time, and kept finding excuses to be with the other. Their screen time didn’t suffer that much. I’m not sure this scenario will allow the same with him being at risk if Babaanne spots them together. However, for this episode I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt as @jan31 brought up to me, Kerem and Hande were very busy last week with rehearsals and then shooting The Voice, so that might have contributed to why there was so much focus on the other characters this ep, they needed to release the leads for other commitments.

hawaiigirl84 said: So I'm on a SCK Facebook group looking at a lot of irate fans. If you haven't seen the episode yet, I think you're going to have to gird your loins for this one.

@hawaiigirl84 Haha. I wish I’d seen this ask so I could have adjusted expectations. I went on twitter last night and then backed away slowly. Lots of dramatic rending of garments and gnashing of teeth. You know the fan reaction is bad when both the producer Asena and Nesliyan (Aydan) tweeted out reassurances about the journey to love and then this morning the production company twitter account released video of Eda kissing Serkan in the jail. Trying to feed the fans who were out for blood, I’d guess.

Anonymous said: Okay so the latest episode of SCK had to be the show creating a very low point for Eda & Serkan in order to build them back up, right? My thought after the episode ended was that things honestly could not get worse. That episode was just disappointing. While I get why Eda did what she did I still absolutely hated it and was pissed the writers could not come up with something better. And how heartbreaking was it to realize the proposal scene was a dream 😭. And now they released a clip showing Eda did kiss Serkan in the jail cell but they decided to cut it out? I get that the show has to create drama but the promotion of the episode as being super romantic was certainly a gut punch. The fragman has me hopefully that Eda & Serkan might finally work together to bring down Grandma or at least Eda will let him in on her plan. I will say even though that episode hurt the actors were absolutely killing it.

Are we the same person?? I think I went through all of these thoughts/emotions since watching, lmao.

And 100% they are taking Eda and Serkan to their low point before building them back up. Also, think about it, after this they will both have a much better understanding of one another. Eda will understand how he could have made the decision to breakup rather than confide in her, and Serkan will understand why doing what he did hurt her so much and why it wasn’t easy for her to get over it. They’ll both have experienced the situation from all sides. Ultimately, this will make them stronger.

Honestly, Eda has a LOT better reason to do what she’s doing than Serkan did. As I said above, Evil!Granny is not playing. She is deadly serious and seems to be capable of anything. In the course of 48 hours she had manufactured charges against Serkan that were serious and landed him in jail, she caused him to lose the tender they’d won which would have huge ripple affects for the business, and she was able to set up Alptekin and get him thrown in jail. At this point I could see her ordering a hit! Eda needed to call her off and get her to stop or who the heck knows would have happened to Serkan, Aydan and the business in the next 24 hours. Eda needed to move fast and she needed to be convincing.

Right now I think Eda is just buying time, so Serkan is safe while she tries to fight her grandmother. No way she’s rolling over. Not Eda. I’m still very hopeful that Serkan will figure out what she’s up to sooner rather than later and they will start to work together.

Also, YES, to the performances. The actors were stellar. Hande and Kerem both brought it. I physically felt their pain.

Anonymous said: I'm completely convinced that the writers' room for this last episode wrote it without any knowledge of ep 24 except for the fact that it ended with Serkan getting arrested on NYE. Like I still wouldn't like it, but if we had gone from ep 23 to ep 25, it would make more sense. But not after ep 24. Did Ayse just say "fuck it" while writing that episode and gave the fans everything she could knowing full well what the other writers' plans were? Talk about some severe whiplash.

I don’t know what the background is on the writer change, but I don’t think this is fair. I got whiplash from the fragman (proposal) to the episode, but not from ep 24 to this one. When watching ep 24 didn’t you think it was just a matter of time before the other shoe dropped? I thought that it was obvious that a dark cloud was gathering, just as Eda was willing to start fresh with him. Babaanne directly threatened Serkan several times to Eda. She told Eda she would destroy Serkan if she found they were together. Episode 24 was Eda being defiant and letting herself be with Serkan and this episode was the consequences of that.

There are things to criticize, but I completely disagree with you that this is one.

Anonymous said: I think Eda didn't say ily at that time because she must have already thought about maybe accepting what her grandmother had asked for. It would have been weird if she told him I love you and then broke up with him right afterwards. It wasn't the right time, I think the writers are saving it for a big confession like in episode 11. At least for now we could hear her say it in her dream.

Agreed on the timing, and you’re right about the dream. While I am annoyed they put it in the trailer, in the narrative it did serve to tell us exactly where Eda’s head is at in regards to their relationship. She loves Serkan, she wants to marry Serkan. So we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that none of her actions are because of any lingering “confusion,” right now she is acting out of pure love for him. That’s beautiful. (maybe that’s what Kerem meant by the ending being beautiful, lmao)

Anonymous said: Eda really breaking him by called what they had a mistake and threwing him the parents death in his face like it was his fault, he doesn’t deserve all this. At least im happy serkan walked away first! although he loves her with all his being, he's fed up with Eda behaviour... if she really wants him, she has to fight for him.

Oh boy.

You understand that Eda didn’t mean anything she said, right? That the only way for her to convince Serkan she was serious was to bring out the big guns, and that she only did it to save him?

Yes, that was hard to watch. My heart absolutely breaks for Serkan. Actually, it breaks for both of them. But it’s supposed to, they are in love, and Babaanne is tearing them apart. Did you watch Eda all episode? She was devastated the entire time. That’s one of the reasons this ep was hard to watch. It’s hard to see a beloved character be at that low of a point for 2 straight hours.

This storyline will be easier for you to watch if you reframe this from applauding Serkan for being “fed up” at Eda, to Eda loving him so much that she is going to do whatever is necessary to save him. She sacrificed and now she’s going to risk it all fighting Babaanne, and all of it is for LOVE.

Anonymous said: The ending is so ridiculous, and let's not even talk about the fragman of the next episode I really don't know if I want to continue watching

Okay, you’ve just hit my pet peeve. DO NOT come into my inbox with flounce threats. I don’t care if you watch or not. If you’re done, fine, move on, no need to announce it on anon or add it to any of my posts. Because why even talk about something you’re not going to watch? If you’re not serious, but just saying that cause you’re throwing a temper tantrum and think that you can bring about change that way or think you’re making a point by threatening to withhold your support, I’m not going to validate you. You’re being manipulative and all you’re doing is trying to make other people feel bad. Anyone else who does this will be blocked.

Anonymous said: The new writers are really destroying the series. Eda blamed serkan for not telling her the truth and now she did exactly the same. They're ruining eda's character by doing that. Eda wouldn’t have ever, nor left herself be defeated like this by babaanne, nor used the words she did with Serkan, it was beyond mean, and unnecessary for this plot, im so upset

Dude, pull yourself together. It’s not that bad. The new writers are definitely evolving the series, if feels like it’s going to be more plot driven, than situational, but I think that had to happen if they were going to continue making episodes. Maybe you believe they should just end it, and that’s a fine opinion to have, but if it’s to continue, and I personally want it to, there needs to be a plot, there needs to be a big obstacle and this is what these writers’ have chosen.

Out of all the thing they could have done, it’s actually a good direction to go. Once again, they’ve chosen to separate them, not because one betrayed the other. Not because of some third-party love interest. Not because one is uncertain about their feelings. Not because one of them made a bad choice that hurt the other. They’re separated because of something that happened when they were children, something completely out of their control. And Eda made the decision she did, because she loves him more than anything.

For drama in a romantic story its about as good as you can hope for. Because despite your knee-jerk, overly emotional take, the reality is there is nothing here that taints either character or their love for one another.

They are NOT ruining Eda’s character. Eda was pushed into a corner and she made a hasty decision to save the man she loves. Babaanne was watching her constantly, she was having her followed. Eda did what was necessary to get Serkan out of jail and then to stop Babaanne’s relentless, and successful, attacks against him. She said what she said, because that’s the only thing that would have convinced him she was for real. Anything else he wouldn’t have believed, and if he didn’t believe it then Babaanne wouldn’t have stopped. Also, Eda hasn’t let herself be defeated. She did what she needed to do, so she can keep Serkan safe while she fights. This is just one battle, Babaanne won’t win the war.

They’ll get to the point when they’re fighting her together, but we’re getting this part first. The part that will give both of them greater insight into the other, and the perspective they both need to truly understand how each felt during the first break up. And it will give us angst and longing and pining and jealousy and all sorts of things.

Also, curious, why is it okay for Serkan to break her heart because he was afraid of her reaction to the truth of the past, but it’s not okay for Eda to break his heart to save him from huge and real threats to his safety, livelihood, freedom and family?

Anonymous said: I am so sad for serkan he doesn't deserve this. Eda ended up abandoning him like everyone else who comes into his life. The worst thing about it is that he knew it was going to happen and he was afraid it would happen and it did happen 😭

It’s definitely gut-wrenching. Serkan doesn’t deserve this, but neither did Eda. And Eda didn’t abandon him because she wanted to, she did it because very bad things were happening and she had to act quickly.

However, think about what you just said: he knew it was going to happen. It’s also not like the consequences of going against Babaanne are unknown to him. He knows he was thrown in jail, he knows his dad is in jail, he knows there were serious threats to his business. So what that means is that it won’t take Serkan long to figure out that Babaanne is behind everything and Eda is 100% acting out of love for him.

He will just need to shake off the sting of her words, and the haze of heartbreak and he’ll see that she did it for him.

#Sen Çal Kapımı #sen cal kapimi #edser #sck episode discussion #edser discussion #sck 1x25 #sckask #anonymous #asklizac #alicekepley

31 notes · View notes

ye-bloodeh-liar · 3 years

Text

I just finished AC Valhalla – A résumé.

I finished the "main story" of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. These are some thoughts of mine. (This was saved in my drafts for two weeks or so. But my stance hasn't altered. Actually, I'm even angrier now.)

Disclaimer: This obviously contains some spoilers here and there. You've been warned, but tbh, who even cares about the story at this point. Also, I know I don't have many followers, and I suspect none of the few that will come across this post will actually be interested in it. That said, if you like reading people's rants about things, regardless of your interest in video games, this might be something for you. I just needed to get this out of my system somewhere. This is a rant (well, vent? I'm venting, I guess) written as it came to my mind. There's no real structure, I think. Sorry for that in advance.

After Origins, which I thoroughly enjoyed and actually played again between Odyssey and Valhalla, and Odyssey, which's name was perfectly fitting since it felt like a fucking odyssey to grind through, I hoped, actually, I was convinced, Valhalla would right Odyssey's wrongs. You see, Odyssey had one big problem for me: It did none of the things that made and still make me love Origins. In short: The world was massive, but felt copied and pasted, uninteresting to explore and lifeless. Basically, it was a lot of green sprinkled with some olive branches. A lot of the times the only way to know roughly where I am was pulling up the map because based on my surroundings, I could've been anywhere. Compared to the intriguing world of Origins, where you always knew in which area of the map you currently were, this was a shitshow. I mean, just walking through the desert in Origins had more atmosphere than the whole city of Athens (the main fucking city) could ever muster up. (Oh, remember the times of AC Brotherhood, where Rome actually felt like a city even though it wasn't actually humongous like the new games are? Or how atmospheric the whole of AC II was? I mean, Venice? Hello? M a s t e r p i e c e) But I can overlook that. The combat didn't feel heavy, or to put it better, "impactful" like it did in Origins, but more like poking the enemies to their deaths with something that made sword-y sounds. But I can overlook that. The loot system improved a bit, in the sense of giving the option to modify your loot and being able to combine different armor pieces, however, Origins outfit-system was more up my alley. But I can overlook that. Funnily enough, compared to its predecessor, Odyssey looked worse. In Origins the fabric of your outfit look like actual fabric and, I can't stress this enough, waved in the wind. In Odyssey everything felt more static and somehow "fake". But I can overlook that. To me, Origins' story was masterfully done. Personally, I'd say, that this is the closest we've ever gotten to the Ezio-Trilogy. The voice acting was top notch. Bayek was a great character, and the side characters like Aya/Amunet were equally intriguing. I still remember the first time I saw the first confession cutscene after killing Medunamun. It gave me shivers and goosebumps and got me excited for what was about to come. What I want to say with this, is that Origins made me care; care about its characters, care about their backstory and motives, care about the world, etc. After I had finished the DLC The Hidden Ones I felt like I had actually witnessed the igniting spark of something epic, namely the Assassin Brotherhood, in such a chilling way, even though they basically were just chillin' in a cave. Because that's what character building gives you: payoffs. Well, Odyssey did none of that. All it did made me care about was to get all the loot, because that's what my mind always goes for in any game (I'm that kind of stupid ape). I didn't care about what would happen in the end – I just wanted to get there. I wanted to know how the story would end, but in whichever way it would, I knew I wouldn't care for it in the sense of being disappointed or yearning for a different outcome for the character I was so invested in, because, as I said, nothing got me invested in the character(s) in the first place. That's what bugged me the most about Odyssey. Not the flimsy feeling combat, not the husk of a world I found myself in, not the downgrade in design and animation, etc., but the lack of care it invoked.

Now, when Valhalla was originally announced, I was excited as I could be for a video game. Ubisoft was clearly aware of their mistakes with Odyssey and tried to show that they're willing to listen to their fanbase. A world where every area has its own identity? Sounds great. Heavy combat? Hell yeah. Gear and loot that actually matters and is special (unlike in Odyssey where after a few hours of playing you find yourself carrying the same fucking bow 25 times)? Oh my. Choices not for the sake of choices, but story? Yes please. I mean, if you have to implement choices. Even though choices don't really make sense in Assassin's Creed, but that's another topic.

Well, did it deliver (for me)? No. And to be completely honest, I prefer Odyssey, even as the grindfest that it is, over Valhalla, and me replaying Odyssey seems a lot more likely to me, than going through all of Valhalla again. I'm not going to list all of the points mentioned above again in full detail: The world is a bit more intriguing than Greece, but a shadow of what Egypt was. The combat feels heavy, yet every weapon looks too big (????) and it still feels a bit off. My biggest grudge of the minor points is actually the look/the graphics: How on earth does Valhalla manage to look less real than Origins? The fur and pelts on the armor, every piece of cloth, i mean just e v e r y t h i n g looks somewhat plasticy (at loss for a better word here; just compare Origins' outfits in motion to Valhalla's) Anyway, let's get to the real problem here, because all boils down to the point I've mentioned before: Invoking care.

This became very apparent to me after forging the fourth (?; was it the fourth? They all blur together. That's how e n t i c i n g they are. Great.) alliance or so. I didn't give a single fuck about the characters in those arcs. It was very clear that they'd be soon replaced by other characters in the next alliance's arc, which I probably wouldn't care for either, especially, since they all felt somewhat the same: empty. Alliances felt like checklists to do. Even Wincestre, which had an interesting beginning, somehow managed to loose all of its "darkness" after the first two quests. But I could overlook the dreary sidequest-like alliance arcs, if they served the main storyline in some way or form. Now you might ask, what main storyline? E x a c t l y. Looking back, there is none. At least not really. And there where a lot of times playing the game where I found myself wondering, if this alliance-arc-thing I was currently dragging myself through was in fact meant to be the actual story. But it shouldn't be. Was it? I have no fucking clue. My conclusion on what Valhalla's main overarching story is, is what follows:

Eivor's parents got killed when he was a child (never seen before lol), got adopted, and is now part of the Raven clan with his "brother" Sigurd//Sigurd comes home from some raid with the Assassins Basim and Hytham//(Eivor gets the Hidden Blade; I mean, this is an Assassin's Creed game. Big moment. Done in 2 seconds.)//Sigurd and Eivor aren't happy with the new King of Norway.//Sigurd and Eivor fuck off to England (with Basim and Hytham) to set camp there.//Eivor starts to forge alliances throughout England to make his clan's hold on England stronger.// Sigurd and Basim do their own thing.//Eivor meets Sigurd and Basim two or three times throughout his alliance forging.//Basim seems a bit off.//Sigurd says that he was told (by Basim?) that he is a descendant of the gods.// Sigurd wants to "pursue his destiny"// (sidenote: the last few things are all within one (!) short cutscene in a small house. d e v e l o p m e n t.)//Sigurd gets captured and tortured and loses his hand.//Eivor rescues Sigurd.// Sigurd is back in the settlement.//Sigurd distrusts Eivor because Eivor doesn't believe Sigurd and Sigurd thinks Eivor wants to take his title as the jarl (jarls are the bosses of settlements).// And then the end sequence hits. This is where I want to go into somewhat detail again. We go from Sigurd distrusts Eivor to "Eivor, I don't wanna be the boss of the town, so I don't hold a grudge anymore, let's go back to Norway and I'll show you I was right all along" like it's nothing. It's literally just that: You walk up to Sigurd, he says this (more or less) and you sail away. Again: development is taken very seriously in this game. Honestly, at this point I didn't even know that this was going to trigger the ending. My genuine thoughts were "Oh my, finally, after all this grinding, the story is going to start." when in reality of course, ironically, it was going to end. Absolute belter. So you sail to Norway with Sigurd, which takes fucking forever, because OF COURSE you have to sail (for everyone who didn't play the game, yes, sail, that means looking at a viking longship while occasionally moving the stick slightly to change its directions slightly) to your original settlement in Norway, for what feels like far too long, only to say Hi to your dad. Fucking lost it. I thought we were going to assassinate the King? Nah bruv let's just have some quick family talk instead. Some action? Nah. Just get back to the longship. A N D S T A R T S A I L I N G A G A I N. Where? Just around the curve of our settlement in Norway. Yes, they pulled the old trick of the ending is literally just right around the corner of your starting position hehe. Absolute belter. Is this to make it seem like something is about to happen? The calm before the storm? It doesn't work like that. Well, then you actually sail through a storm (lol), which doesn't matter, because Sigurd just says "Let's keep going" and, well, you keep going. Also, to this point the weather conditions have never affected neither Eivors health, nor the ship in any way whatsoever, so why should I be impacted by a storm now? Like, it's a nice thing for atmosphere, but at least make the ship harder to steer or something. Then you walk up a mountain. Funnily enough Sigurd walks in manner that shows that the walk against the storm isn't easy, whereas you, hah, you can just yeet yourself up that mountain like nothing. I could sprint up there. Fucking sprint. Anyway, Eivor and Sigurd enter the Isu temple, because of course, we had to throw an Isu temple in there, I mean, i t ' s A s s a s s i n ' s C r e e d. Was it hinted at before in the story? Not really. Were we chasing or searchig for it? Nah, better get that next alliance going. It just suddenly was. Again: development. So we walk to the main platform of the temple and activate the machine and bam we're in Valhalla (because at some point Ubisoft realised that maybe they should include what is literally in the name of the game). Again, were we looking for Valhalla? Like not in the sense that every viking was, but more in the sense

of was it the main objective of the game? Did Eivor look for a way to Valhalla? Was there anything that led us here other than Sigurd having had a few dreams (that only got mentioned, like, twice?) and being influenced into thinking he was a demigod or something? Nope, Eivor was looking for that next alliance to forge. So, Eivor realises that his experience of Valhalla is fake and he wants to get out. But fake-Odin doesn't want to let him go. In a really weird cutscene (jump to 6:30), Eivor eventually escapes Odin and enters a door with his settlement-family (look, I'm all here for metaphors, but this, this is just utter rubbish. It just doesn't make sense, and there is no payoff whatsoever). Odin actually had a build-up of some sort. In every assassination sequence he's there and talks with Eivor. I actually thought there would be some cool payoff/ending/reveal here. But nah, this ain't it chief. Yet somehow, until here, I had hope. I thought maybe now, building on all this confusion, there's gonna be a relatively good ending. Something enticing. Something that made everything somewhat worthwile. And Ubisoft went: Lol nah. So, you're out of the Isu machine again (for all the non-AC-peoples here: basically like the matrix. Eivor gets hooked up to the machine and experiences alternate reality: Valhalla), and Basim is there. What a twist. The guy that showed up like three times and went from friendly in the first time to super suspicious (like glaring-in-your-face-suspicious) in the two-or-so other major cutscenes he was in, has now been revealed as the enemy. Congrats to that. What a twist. The thing is, and this bothers me a lot actually, it could have been anyone there. It didn't need to be Basim. It wouldn't have felt out of place if it wasn't him. Why? Because Ubisoft failed terribly at making you connect to any character and at building any actual story (or character). It could have been Gunnar, the friendly black-smith in our settlement, and it would have been as fitting as Basim. Then Basim says that this is "for his son". Ah yes, the lost son of Basim, which was mentioned once. Right. Eivor defeats Basim by hooking him up on the Isu machine and gets back to the settlement with Sigurd (in my ending at least. There seems to be a possible ending in which Sigurd doesn't come back.) Cut to the modern day, where Layla now knows the coordinates of the Isu temple, goes there, hooks herself up to the machine, becomes the overseer of time with the other overseer of time which already was hanging out there (I mean yeah, great idea, terrible execution. Build it up, then you can have a payoff. This was just straight outta nowhere, and who cared about Layla anyway.) Anyway, meanwhile Basim, who was still hanging on that machine a fuck ton of years later, pops off, and is now living in the modern day. The idea here is, that we lost the hero (Layla) which caused the (just established) vilain (Basim) to do his fuckery in the modern day. But why should I care? Basim was basically nonexistent in the basically nonexistent story and suddendly I should feel sad or shocked, because he's in the modern day? Is this supposed to be intriguing? And yeah, Layla is "gone". Layla, who had no character building over three fucking games. Why should i be bothered? Why should I care about anything that just happened? Remember when a side character (Lucy) died in AC Brotherhood? That was intriguing. Why? Because they built her as a character we (Desmond) trusted, even though it was in the modern day (which no one really cares about in AC). And this is why Valhalla broke me and Odyssey didn't. Valhalla failed to make me care on a much deeper level. It's just a lot of nothingness. Empty characters in a nonexistent story. And by nonexistent, I mean non-built at all. When I play the game now, I have no actual reason, and throughout the game never actually had any actual reason, to continue. It was a chore. I didn't bother if after three hours of grind I would eventually get a mini-snippet of a husk of a story, and neither do I care now. Everything in

this game is so devoid of sparking curiosity and screams of lacklusterness to the point where I don't even know what I have actually expierenced. For fuck's sake Ubisoft, make me care again. At least once in 40 hours.

May I sum up Valhalla's "story" and content in the glorious words of Catherine Tate: Am I bovvered? The answer, sadly, is a holistic no.

#assassins creed #ac valhalla #sorry for the rant #this is my longest post yet #am i bovvered #sidenote: this is actually the first time that i'm genuinely pissed at ubisoft #i wasn't even this mad with odyssey #and that thing got a lot of hate #maybe i'm gonna delete this again

14 notes · View notes

ichigo-daifuku · 4 years

Text

Harbor

Obey Me! Fanfiction [Read on AO3]

Leviathan/Female!MC

In true normie fashion, she convinces Leviathan to be her date on the anniversary celebration in honor of the Hell's Navy.

Explicit | Fluff and Smut, Clothed Sex, Cosplay (...Kind Of), Uniform Kink

It's Leviathan Loving Hours, what else can I say? 💙

Word Count: 5.2k

If there was one thing she has learned over her multiple playthroughs of Dogi✩Magi✩Memorium with her boyfriend, it would be the importance of setting the mood when asking someone for a favor. Once the target was locked, every interaction with them bore a significant weight, including physical touch, if there should be any. Words uttered to them must be chosen with utmost care. Gifts, when presented to the target, in particular, those items in line with their preferences, would give higher chances of a positive outcome: intimacy up.

The front door clicked shut. She navigated through the hallways of the House of Lamentation with a purpose. An opportunity presented itself to her, and she was on her way to seize it. Once she reached the location of her target, who was none other than Leviathan, she halted, raised her occupied hand carefully, and knocked three times on his door.

“It is I,” she announced. “I come bearing gifts.”

There was a shuffling sound from the inside. After a few seconds, Leviathan answered, his voice in proximity, just behind the wood. “What’s the secret phrase?”

Three options flashed inside her mind, and though the secret phrase changed from one to another every single time she dropped by, she has been in the same situation numerous times. It was easy to decide which option was the correct one: the catchphrase in the transformation sequence of The Magical Mysterious Jane: Peony Phantom, one of Leviathan’s most recent anime obsessions. She began, “‘Lunaria.’”

“‘Wisteria.’”

“‘Primrose.’ ”

“‘Peony.’ ”

“‘Through the power of the flower, I’m as pretty as I can be.’”

“‘I’m the magical, mysterious Levi!’ Secret phrase authenticated. You may enter.” Leviathan unlocked the door and revealed himself. He wore a grave expression as he nodded and continued, “Welcome to Castle Leviathan.”

“Hold on, there’s a final line. ‘And I might just steal your heart, so watch out!’ There!” She laughed, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a greeting. “Hi, Levi. I missed you.”

Leviathan froze, the brief brush of her lips causing his skin to redden, but he shook his head and intercepted her entrance with his body when she moved to enter the room. “Where are those gifts you speak of?”

“Oh, my apologies.” She chuckled and cleared her throat, showing him the packages she was carrying with her two hands. “I present to you… Spicy Rainbow Pizza and Café Lament’s Bufo Egg Milk Tea!”

“OMG! Sweet! I was just getting hungry,” he enthused but regained his composure in a second. After shifting his facial expression and tone of voice back into serious mode, he continued, “I mean, your humble offerings are most appreciated.”

With the first phase of her plan successful, she entered Leviathan’s room, one of the most unique living spaces she has ever visited. An eclectic assortment of posters and merchandise of Ruri-chan and Sucre Frenzy decorating the walls and shelves welcomed her inside. A bathtub served as his bed, which she found odd during the first time she noticed it. The gigantic aquariums inside reminded her of oceanariums in the human world. The floor was cluttered with a few empty sports drink bottles and the like, but everything else he prized—from his books, manga, CDs, anime figurines—were organized in their rightful areas.

Light radiated from his computer screens as Leviathan made his way to the nearby table and set the pizza box down. He poked the straw through the cap of the Bufo Egg Milk Tea, grabbed a slice from the box, and strode to the direction of his computer while indulging in his snacks. In a good mood, he plopped down on his gaming chair and spun it in the opposite direction of his set-up.

Meanwhile, she had gone to the fishbowl where Leviathan’s beloved goldfish took his residence. “How are you doing, Henry?”

Henry circled the space, leaving bubbles in his wake, and bumped onto the glass as if to say hi.

She concluded that things were going swimmingly with Henry and turned to Leviathan. “Have you fed him yet?”

Leviathan observed the interaction with curiosity and finished his slice of pizza, grabbing a sheet of tissue paper from his desk and wiping his hand with it before throwing it into the wastebasket. He took a long sip of his Bufo Egg Milk Tea and replied, “Nope. It’s almost time for his meal, though. Do you wanna do the honors?”

“Sure,” she responded with a smile and took the goldfish food container near the fishbowl. Henry chased after the pellets she sprinkled inside, delighted. Once she was satisfied with the amount of food she had given Henry, she dusted her hands and strode to Leviathan’s direction.

Although they had been in the same position many times before, the moment she sat on his lap, Leviathan looked away and blushed, taking the straw away from his lips and coughing. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Nothing…” she answered coyly and turned the gaming chair toward the screen. “So, what were you doing before I got here?”

“Uh, nothing.”

True enough, the screen indicated an open tab on Deviltube, an adorable cat video on pause. She clicked play and watched the clip of a cat kneading its paws against a soft blanket. When it ended, Deviltube offered more cat videos as recommendations, but she found no interest in them at the moment, her gut telling her that it was the right time to broach the subject she had been itching to ask him since yesterday. “By the way, I got invited to a party a few days ago. It’s going to be in two weeks... Can we please come together?”

“Is that social interaction I hear? No, thanks.”

She pouted and turned to him. “But Levi…”

“Besides, I have to attend something in two weeks as well. Too much social interaction for a shut-in like me is unhealthy.”

“Aww, okay.” She let out a dramatic sigh and revealed her trump card. “I guess I’ll have to extend an invitation to someone else to be my plus-one, after all… because the Grand Admiral refused to be my date on the anniversary of the Hell’s Navy.”

There was a moment of silence as he put two and two together. “What the—? Let me guess, you received an invitation from Lord Diavolo?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “He was the one who told me I can bring a plus-one.”

“I can, too, but I didn’t think you’d be interested.” Leviathan averted his eyes and took another sip of his drink. “It’s not a super big deal, you know? And it can get kinda boring. Like, really boring.”

“I’m definitely interested. I already said that I’d go, so… do you wanna go together?”

“You really mean that? Um, like a date?”

“That’s right!”

“Ugh, fine...” he sighed in resignation, the blush coloring his face growing fiercer. “It’s not like I wanna go or anything—I have to, either way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about how boring it is, okay?”

“Yay!” She threw her arms around him, making him yelp. “If the event ends early, let’s go home right away and check out the newest update of Mononoke Land. Just the two of us.”

Though caught off-guard, his hand that had been resting on the armrest snaked around the curve of her waist to pull her closer. He shook his head. “I should’ve known you were up to something the moment you walked in with those snacks. I can’t believe I fell for your normie tactics.”

Mission accomplished! “Normie - 1, Leviachan - 0.”

“I’ll get you next time!”

“Best of luck with that,” she replied and blinked at him suggestively. “Now, how about we watch something more... interesting?”

Alarm and anticipation caused his eyes to widen and flicker from her face to the screen, his throat bobbing as he gulped. “Huh? L-Like what?”

“Hmm…” She turned away from him, clicked on the search bar, and pressed a certain letter on the keyboard: H.

Leviathan’s lips parted to say something, yet even the sound of the letter, its implications and all, failed to escape from them.

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “That’s right, Levi. It begins with the letter H, do you know what it is?”

The tip of his tongue darted to wet his lips, and his fingers stiffened around his drink, slightly tremulous. A silent groan escaped his mouth as he fidgeted in his seat and halted the movement a second after, becoming extremely conscious that she was perched on his lap. With the space between them close to none, she could feel every detail of the rising tension in his body. Between ragged breaths, he murmured, “Y-Yes…”

Victoriously, she smiled and leaned back, turning away to finish typing the rest of the title while announcing it to him, “Harrison Porter and the World of Wizards!”

The anniversary celebration of the Hell’s Navy would be held at the Demon Lord’s Castle. Being the only two humans currently in the Devildom, Diavolo decided that it would be great as part of the cultural exchange to introduce her and Solomon to a branch of the Devildom’s military. According to the invitation, the Hell’s Navy would be presenting its newest members which not only included demons but also sea monsters joining the fleet in its endeavors. Everyone invited was instructed to adhere to the nautical dress code, and so the day after she convinced Leviathan to be her date, she visited Majolish and searched for something suitable for the event.

After making final adjustments to her ensemble, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, happy that she was able to find something in line with the theme. Her navy blue dress sported a sailor collar, a white necktie, and a skirt adorned with two stripes at the bottom. On top of her head, a matching sailor hat rested while her footwear consisted of plain white ankle boots.

Satisfied, she sent Leviathan a text message to inform him that she would be making a stop at his room. When she received a reply that he would leave his door unlocked for her, she opened her bedroom door and peeked outside, not wanting to risk running into the other brothers in the hallway. As silly as it was, she wanted Leviathan to be the first one to see her in this outfit. The coast was clear. She stealthily made her way to Leviathan’s room, knocked, and entered, making sure to shut the door as quickly as she could.

Leviathan stood near his closet, facing away from her. She figured out that her entrance had gone unnoticed as he continued fumbling over his sleeve and adjusting his collar.

“This could’ve been the perfect time to show off my skills and cosplay a sea spirit from Mononoke Land, but no, I have to be in this uniform,” he whispered to himself and sighed. “Henry’s going to be there with the other sea monsters. I’m so proud of him… I wish Lotan was present as well. He’d have so much fun…”

“Levi?” she called.

“Oh, hey,” he said and turned around, the words dying in his throat as he took in her appearance. “You’re… here…”

The sight of Leviathan in his Hell’s Navy uniform rendered her speechless. Even though he has yet to wear his cap and gloves, he looked entirely formal and professional, a stark contrast to the image of him she viewed every day. His uniform suited him, and he looked stunning. Her heart hammering in her chest at the heat of his gaze, she gave him a twirl and asked him with a nervous smile, “Ta-da! Is it okay?”

For a while, he didn’t speak. He only gave her a wide-eyed stare before blurting out, “Are you… real?”

“Huh? Of course, I am.”

“3D…?”

“Um, yes.”

He gulped. “If you’re telling the truth, what was the item you borrowed from me after we made a pact?”

“What’s with the pop quiz?” she fired back. “Anyway, it was the cursed vinyl edition of The Tale of the Seven Lords soundtrack. How could I forget?”

“Easy enough,” he said. “How about this? Do you remember the first phone call we had?”

“Yeah, I do. You told me that you dialed the wrong number, right?”

His cheeks pinked. “I didn’t just tell you that—I actually did, okay? Who was I trying to call, then?”

“Ultrawitch✩Rainbow-chan. Luminous-chan.”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “What was the last movie we watched together when we were in this room?”

“The one which begins with the letter H,” she responded with an amused giggle, remembering the way he squirmed in his seat. “Harrison Porter and the World of Wizards. Seriously, Levi, what is going on?”

“WHOA! It really IS you,” he confirmed enthusiastically. “I can only imagine you doing all the magical girl transformation poses! I... I never thought—I mean, okay, yeah, I’ve thought about it—but I never thought the day would come when my fantasy would turn into reality… I can’t even look—it’s too much for my heart to take! I-I think I’m going to have a heart attack!”

Sure, Leviathan adored two-dimensional girls dressed in schoolgirl uniforms which were mostly in the style of a sailor’s, but what she wore right now wasn’t that; this was as close as she could get to the human world’s navy uniform which, from the details of Leviathan’s current attire, was similar to the Devildom’s. “So, it’s alright? You like it?”

“Do I like it? I love it! Of course, I love it…” He blushed and averted his gaze with a frown. “Those other guys in the navy, they’re going to approach you like a school of fish… I can’t have that… but how am I going to keep you in sight and stay away from you at the same time?”

She took a moment to process what he said and cocked her head in confusion. “Huh? What are you talking about? Why would you do that?”

“Look at me! Look at you! You’re so cute and perfect… I’m just a gross and icky shut-in otaku with zero social skills. I’m not worthy to stand beside you…”

“What? No!”

“Why did I have to be like this? A loser! It’s so not fair!” he cried out and covered his face with his hands, his shoulders slumped in sadness, on the verge of bursting into tears.

Self-deprecation rolled off him in waves, and though the declaration he made about himself was the most ridiculous thing she has ever heard, she understood where he was coming from. This was Leviathan, after all. A lot of times, he didn’t give himself enough credit. He was unaware of it, but he was popular with the Devildom community, especially to the succubi. There was an instance when Mammon sneaked a photo of a freshly bathed Leviathan coming out of the shower and sold it online, much to the succubi’s delight. Too bad for them, though, she was already dating him.

“Levi.”

“Maybe it’s better for me not to go…”

“Levi.”

“I guess I can try to fake sickness or something…”

“Leviathan.”

The resolute tone of her voice as she called him by his full name drew his attention. He removed his hands from his face, turned his gaze on her for a second with difficulty, and looked away again. “Um, what?”

“Change into your demon form.”

“Huh? But why…?”

“Do it, please.”

“O-Okay… If you say so…”

Leviathan shifted into his demon form. Her footsteps echoed through the silence as she made her way to him, and though he still refused to look at her, she didn’t hesitate and wrapped him in her embrace. “I didn’t slip and hug you by accident, just so you know.”

It took him by surprise, but he held his tears back and sniffled, placing his arms around her waist in return. The calming fragrance of the sea enveloped her, making her close her eyes and sigh contentedly.

They remained in the same position until, slowly, she led them to the giant aquarium that served as a wall in his room. Her back turned from the glass, she stood on her tiptoes, skimmed his horn soothingly with a fingertip, and whispered in his ear, “Do you see that? Look at him… That’s Leviathan, the Avatar of Envy, one of the Seven Rulers of Hell, one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom.”

She kissed the visible markings on his neck one by one and lingered her lips on his collarbone, waiting for the tension caused by his moment of insecurity to alleviate, even fractionally. Once he calmed down, she looked behind her and found him staring at their reflection, a sense of shyness and wonder within his gaze. Determined, she faced him again and tugged his sleeve. “Will you change back for me, please?”

Wordlessly, he did as she requested. Light surrounded his body for a second, and he returned into his human-like form, still staring at their figures on the glass, entranced.

“And, right there, is no ordinary demon. That’s Leviathan, the Grand Admiral of the Hell’s Navy, the one who wields power over a multitude of sea monsters.” Softly, she traced the badges embroidered on his uniform, the pins indicating his rank and power, and the stripes on his sleeves. She took his hands in hers and squeezed them before continuing, “Anyone would be jealous of whoever is standing beside him. In fact, am I—a human and a normie at that—worthy of being his date?”

His eyes flitted from their reflection to her face, worry making his brows furrow. He grabbed her by the shoulders and answered without an ounce of hesitation, “Of course, you are! There’s no one else who can keep up with me as you do... You’re my True Friend as well as... m-my… g-g-girlfriend! You’re the only one for me!”

This was supposed to be her reminding him of his worth, but how the tides had turned. Overcome with deep affection for him, her eyes watered, but she blinked her tears away with a serene smile and touched his cheek. “And this… This is Leviathan: an otaku, a gamer, the biggest TSL nerd there is, a Ruri-chan and Sucre Frenzy fanboy—he’s passionate about many things. On top of it all, he’s so handsome and amazing… but he doesn’t seem to know that. Not on my watch, though, I’ll remind him of those as many times as I have to.”

“Why are you telling me these?”

“Because they’re true,” she told him. “All of those incredible qualities, they’re you, Levi, and I love you.”

He buried his face on her shoulder, his voice muffled as he replied, “I love you, too.”

She chuckled and gently nudged him, loosening herself from his embrace and facing forward. Hand in hand, the two of them stared at their reflection contrasted by the aquamarine water beyond the glass. “See? We look perfect for each other, don’t we? Actually, scratch that, we are perfect for each other, aren’t we?”

“Yes… Yes, we are,” Leviathan agreed with a bashful nod and turned to her. “GAH! How do you always know just what to say? What are you doing to me?”

“It’s one of my normie tactics, nothing new about that.” She laughed and expected him to tease her about being a normie like he always did.

Instead, he stared at her seriously and exclaimed, “I can’t take it anymore!”

“What do you mean?”

“How could you show up looking so cute, say cute things like those, and expect me not to get all… UGH!”

The next thing she knew, her back leaned against the cool glass, her hat falling to the floor at the suddenness of the motion. A faint thud resounded from Leviathan’s hands as he placed them beside her head. He bent down and captured her lips in a hungry kiss, shifting closer to her until she was flush against his torso—until they could feel the warmth emanating from each other’s bodies. His tongue lapped at the seam of her lips and slid inside, meeting hers and exploring her mouth. The rapid succession of events caused her mind to go hazy, but she found her bearings and reciprocated his advances eagerly, the desire for him thrumming through her body in clarity.

When they parted to breathe, she bent her leg upward to confirm her suspicion. “You… Are you excited right now?”

“Yeah, totally. So, you’ve noticed.” He hovered over her throat, softly kissed the sensitive skin, and pressed his forehead on the crook of her neck. “I can’t help it. Is it okay if I… I-I mean, can we…?”

She swallowed hard and brushed his hair with her fingers. “Of course, Levi. I’m all yours.”

He lifted his head and met her gaze. “All mine...”

“But we have to be quick about it, okay? We can’t have you being late.”

She grasped Leviathan’s shoulders, tilted her head, and initiated the kiss this time. It started as a tender brushing of their lips and turned into deep, lingering caresses as he responded heatedly, neither of them requiring any form of coaxing. While one of his hands moved to cup her cheek, the other grazed her shoulder and made its way downward, fondling her breast along the way and making her moan. He teased the hem of her skirt and slowly made his way underneath it, stroking her thighs and squeezing lightly at the flesh. Groans fell past his lips in between kisses, his hand wandering dangerously close to the apex of her thighs. In a surge of boldness, he cupped her sex and hooked the fabric covering it aside. She leaned back with her eyes closed and parted her legs to give him further access, the back of her head resting against the glass. Her breath hitched, and her body quivered as he began teasing her entrance, the pad of his thumb stroking her clit before his forefinger glided in and out of her in shallow and languid motions, providing relief to the aching emptiness inside of her.

“That feels so good, Levi,” she murmured and moaned. He stared as he added another finger, eager to memorize every detail of her reaction. She admired the way the light and reflection of the water from the aquarium illuminated his face and whispered, “You’re the only one who can make me feel this way.”

“R-Really?”

“Really.” She captured his lips in a quick kiss. “Only you, Levi. Only you.”

The expression on her face, the pleasured noises coming from her lips, and the way she bit back another moan led his ministrations to grow more frenzied by the second, his dexterous fingers plunging in and out of her entrance relentlessly. Eager to please him in the same way, her hand shifted from clutching his shoulder to seeking the button and fly of his pants. She tugged on his waistband and slipped her hand inside. Fingers closing around his stiffening length, she released him from the confines of his underwear and stroked him from base to tip.

“Ah, fuck,” Leviathan hissed and grit his teeth. He pressed his forehead on hers and shut his eyes, the steady pace of his fingers growing erratic as hers found her rhythm. Despite this, her legs grew unsteady, and her knees threatened to buckle, her climax in reach. This didn’t escape him, and he responded to her need by pumping his digits in and out of her entrance frantically, determined to make her come undone.

“Open your eyes, Levi,” she breathed. “Look what you do to me.”

Leviathan’s eyes fluttered open and watched as the pleasure building up in her abdomen uncoiled. Her body trembled, and her muscles clenched around his fingers as he let her ride out her climax. Warm puffs of her breath teased the skin underneath the fabric of his uniform as she collapsed against him and panted.

He withdrew his fingers from her folds, and with his other hand, he grabbed her wrist and released his length from her grasp. Firmly, he wrapped her arms around his neck and slid a palm down to her thigh, hooking her leg around his waist. The head of his cock brushed her clit, and she shuddered, still sensitive from her previous climax. “I’m going to put it in, okay? I wanna see that expression on your face again, the one when you come for me.”

Still breathing heavily, she nodded against him and said, “Y-Yes.”

He eased himself inside her, stilling halfway through to allow her to adjust to him. To his astonishment and gratification, it was she who inclined her hips and took all of him the next second, impatient. Inhaling sharply, he unsheathed himself and pushed inside her again, searching for any discomfort on her end but finding nothing.

“Faster,” she urged.

Leviathan was more than happy to oblige. One of his hands gripped her hip while the other clutched the leg around his waist, holding her steady as he sank inside her in one fluid motion, the movement followed by a series of equally desperate thrusts. The strands of his hair swayed at the swiftness and steadiness of the pounding of his hips. Her fingers carded through his hair and nudged his head down, connecting her lips to his in a feverish kiss. Leviathan poured his need for her through every stroke of his tongue and only broke away once he sensed her tensing, her walls squeezing around his length.

The heat of his embrace, the need in his voice as he groaned in pleasure, the feeling of him inside her—at that moment, everything in her world revolved around Leviathan. Although she had climaxed only moments ago, it didn’t take long for her back to arch and for tremors to ripple all over her body again. A thin sheen of sweat coated her forehead, her eyebrows knit in pleasure, and she closed her eyes and parted her lips, her voice echoing across the room as she cried out, “Levi!”

As she drowned in bliss, he continued thrusting into her, chasing the powerful current of pleasure sweeping over every part of his body. He chanted her name in the same way she did with his, his cock throbbing inside her with his release.

Leviathan’s breathing came out in heavy huffs, exhausted. Still, he stood and held her, his tone laced with concern as he murmured, “Your dress… I ruined it, didn’t I? Sorry.”

Aside from the skirt of her dress being a little rumpled, her attire looked fine. It was nothing compared to the happiness that bubbled in her heart at that moment. She shook her head with a shy smile. “No, you didn’t. Definitely not.”

“Oh, okay…” After a moment of hesitation, he continued, “It was good for you, too, right? Because it was, for me.”

She nodded with a laugh. Dressing up was always fun with Leviathan, and needless to say, she loved it as much as he did. “Of course, it was. In fact, I think we should try that again sometime… and you know, do more.”

“So do I.” A spark of excitement laced his tone as he suggested, “Like, later?”

“Later.”

After making themselves presentable again, Leviathan accompanied her to her bedroom where she remedied the rumpled state of her dress. True to her assurance that everything was fine, the matter required a few minutes, and then, her outfit was as good as new. A while ago, on the way out of his room, she had almost forgotten to bring her hat, but to her surprise, Leviathan already picked it up and held it out to her. That made her smile. She set her hat back on her head, turned from the mirror, and began making her way to Leviathan, who was sitting on the sofa and fiddling with his D.D.D.. As she opened her mouth to ask him if he was ready to leave, a thought struck her and made her stop in her tracks. She strode to her desk and rummaged inside her school backpack. “I can’t believe I almost forgot!”

“Forgot what?” Leviathan lifted his head and watched her with interest.

She waltzed to his direction, sat beside him, and handed him a tiny box. “Here’s a little gift. Happy anniversary to the Hell’s Navy!”

“F-For me?”

“Yes.”

Leviathan opened the box, starry-eyed at the unexpected item inside: a metallic goldfish pin resting on the velvet cushion. “NO WAY? IT’S HENRY?”

“Yes! Isn’t he cute? I have one, too. See?” She outstretched her hand and showed him an identical goldfish pin in the hollow of her palm. On the day when she went shopping for an outfit in Majolish, she happened to pass by an accessories boutique that offered customized items. As soon as she could, she entered the establishment and placed an order with the thought that it would be right up Leviathan’s alley. She was worried that her gift wouldn’t make it in time, but fortunately, she was able to pick up her order yesterday. From the joyful look on his face right now, it was worth the wait.

“Whoa! It’s like Henry fan merch!” he said excitedly. Without preamble, he placed the Henry pin in its rightful spot next to his badges. “T-Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You should wear yours, too,” he told her. “Here, I’ll put it.”

“Okay,” she replied and handed him the pin.

Leviathan placed it on the fabric of her tie and leaned backward to have a better look, blushing at the realization. “Huh. We match.”

“We do.”

He paused, contemplating on something. With a genuine, earnest look on his face, he said, “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I love you more than anyone else in the world.”

His statement reminded her of a fond memory when Belphegor sent those exact words as a message for her using Leviathan’s phone. She had to admit that it was nice hearing it in person, and even nicer that she knew the words truly came from him this time. She stifled a laugh and teased, “Hey, is that supposed to be cheesy or funny?”

He covered his face with his hands, embarrassed. “I tried, okay? Come to think of it, I sounded like a normie. Yikes.”

“That’s okay.” She removed his hands from his face and looked him in the eyes. “I love you more than anyone else in the three worlds.”

“Ugh… Must you really one-up me every single time?”

“Normie - 100, Leviachan - 0.” She smiled and stood, righting her hat that had become askew before holding out a hand for him to take. “You ready?”

“Yep.” Leviathan nodded and took her hand in his. “Let’s go!”

And so, together, like two ships sailing across the vast and endless seas, another adventure awaited them.

(⋆❛ ہ ❛⋆)⊃▂✫⌒*･ﾟ✲

Thank you for reading! ♡

Obey Me! Masterlist

Main Masterlist

#obey me #obey me!#obey me leviathan #obey me! leviathan #obey me fanfiction #obey me fanfic #obey me fic #shall we date #obey me: one master to rule them all #obey me one master to rule them all #swd obey me #shall we date obey me #L3V1 #take one!!!#*cricket noises*

288 notes · View notes