#“I need a partner who challenges me” but extreme mode

[m4gp13]

Stop doing professional and/or violent people only finding a relationship that they're passionate about when they find someone they can be domestic with. Give me a regular couple with a perfectly healthy relationship that's slowing down because they don't feel truly fulfilled until they find out the other person is actually deeply fucked up and all of a sudden they're the most loving couple in the world.

By which mean I had an au where Ethabaster are an established power couple in the TA but their relationship is kind of bland and they're not really feeling it and the spark isn't there anymore but they haven't been talking about their issues much because they have significantly bigger fish to fry. Then when their political ambitions start to seriously diverge and they're making all their adverse political plays, that becomes the new spark keeping their relationship going in a Mr and Mrs Smith trying to kill each other way because omg babe you're soooo hot when you almost get me executed through your political subterfuge <3 anyway I'm making lasagne for dinner tonight. If you and your husband/situationship aren't locked in a game of political chess and constantly trying to undermine each other's military ambitions with internal espionage, are you even really in love?

[fanfic-reading-challenge]

The 2025 Fanfic Reading Challenge

Welcome to another year of the Fanfic Reading Challenge (FRC)!

I won't bore you with the history of the challenge, this year, but I will welcome you to check out past posts that do explain some of it, as well as include a brief overview of what, exactly, this challenge is, though it does change year to year. (Essentially you read fics to complete goals and win bragging points and an artsy badge.)

This year is especially different, as I had the extreme pleasure of having @noxsoulmate as a partner in crime in keeping me hostage on track to completing this year's FRC. Another valued member of the mod team is @jandjsalmon and speaks for all of us if you need questions answered!

As for the challenge....

This is, indeed, a challenge. Of course.

First of all... you must obviously read fanfiction. As if you don't already!

You also need to download and make your own copy of the spreadsheet, which can be found here, as well as below in the important links section.

To participate in the challenge, you read fics that match the tasks in the challenge. An example of a task can be: "read a fic with a title containing the word purple in it." Should be easy! Of course, there are harder ones.

Which is why there are different modes of challenge to the FRC. These are as follows:

Participation (Complete 1 task)

Regular Mode (Complete 80 tasks)

Hard Mode (Complete 150 tasks)

Extreme Mode (Complete 220 tasks)

Complete (Complete 250 tasks)

The challenge lasts from January 1st, 2025, to December 31st, 2025.

There are badges that go with the modes completed, and even a secret 6th badge that will be fairly obvious if you look at the spreadsheet! Doesn't mean it'll be easy to complete though. *smirks* (Blame Noxy)

Most important of all: this challenge operates on the honour system. We don't check your work, or your reading logs (see below), so I mean, I guess if you want to be slippery with the rules, you do you, and that's on your conscience, but honestly it's so much fun to see how much you can get done by following the letter of the law/tasks! You can be slippery even with following the tasks fully. It's great fun. ;D

I think that's enough for an intro, really, maybe too much.

Important Links and Reading Logs/Trackers

As there is a component of the FRC that includes tracking numbers of words read, most of us use a reading log/tracker to keep count of how many fics we read, including data such as words, of course, chapters, month completed, ship, author, title, fandom, link to the fic, and such. It's a great place to mark what fics you want to read in the future as well!

This year we have FOUR trackers on offer, quite different from one another, so take a look, play around with them and check out their "intros", and choose according to what you think will work best for you!

Fic Tracking Sheets

Juulna's 2025 Reading Log

Noxy's 2025 Reading Log

2025 Jandy's Fic Tracker

Taru's Fic Tracker 2025

Discord

We have a blast on Discord. From general chatter to sharing pet pics to being there for each other during the tough times to forming lasting friendships and making friendships you’d never make in a ship- or fandom-specific Discord, to asking for help ‘rolling the dice’ (pick a number between 1-10!) to choose the next fic to read, to finding some of the really challenging task fills in fandoms people might not have ever read but are willing to try, or finding fandoms someone has never read and is very tentative about stepping out of their box, but they’re being 100% supported and know they don’t need to complete the fic for it to count for the task, stepping out of their comfort zone… we’ve formed a very odd group of, if not friends, then companions (but there are definite friendships that have formed!! Just ask the people who have started watching NHL and NFL together in our off topic channel!).

In any case, our Discord is not necessary, but it is a worthy and tactical element to completing many of the tasks of this challenge. 💙

And.... without further ado....!

The 2025 Fanfic Reading Challenge! (link)

There is an info/rules page as the first sheet on the spreadsheet that should fill in any further questions you have. It also has more contact info than just this page if you have any further questions and perhaps need a more immediate answer for your needs.

*Occasionally you will run into something that looks like an error, and it may in fact be one! Let us know if you see it. It's hard not to make a mistake on as large a spreadsheet as this.*

Please, first of all, have fun and just read fanfiction that you enjoy! I (Juulna) did that last year and didn't even come close to completing the entire challenge, and I still had a blast because I was enjoying what I was reading and rereading. Others took the challenge right to the completed end. Others forgot about it halfway through but still had fun, and some even went back and filled in the sheet for a really good showing! The challenge is what you make of it, what you want from it. So... just have fun. Read fic. Smile. Enjoy. :)

Second of all... well, we would love if you signal boost this post!!!!

Third of all, we do have our pinned post that includes a link to this page and that will include a link to our Discord and all our trackers as well, including past links for memento and informative purposes.

Thank you, and a blessed 2025 to all!

[sweetorangepoptart]

this is a bit random of a question but as a parent, about how often do you deal with vomiting kids? i love kids and want to have some in the future, but i am not super great about people puking and i know little kids are germ sponges 😅 is there anything to do that makes dealing with it easier?

Oh heyyyy I love answering random questions about how I deal with various parenting things.

I'd say we have stomach bugs run rampant in our house 2-3 times a year. However there are quite a few factors that contribute to this. I'm cutting it for discussion of bodily fluids.

I work, so the kids have always gone to sitters/in-home daycare before they were school age, so they've been exposed to germs from pretty early on. also, there's FOUR OF THEM. Now that they're all in school, that's four different classrooms and four different pools of germs for the kids to bring home and spread to each other.

But all my all my kids are generally healthy. Immune compromised kids or kids with chronic illnesses might deal with worse.

I have one kid with a sensitive gag reflex who has been known to throw up because she got a hair in her mouth or didn't chew her food well 🙃

So yeah... Having kids=dealing with puke way more often than anyone would like. But there's lots of factors that might mean more or less puking in any children of your own you might have someday!

How I deal with it practically: Masks and gloves for clean up. Paper towels and disinfecting wipes for hard surfaces, carpet cleaner, vinegar and baking soda for carpet and upholstery. Clothes get washed on the high heat sanitary laundry cycle. I will admit I have thrown away items that were just not worth the effort to clean. (Pillows, stuffed animals no one is particularly attached to. that kind of thing)

Sick kid gets a bucket and stays in bed, and each time they throw up I dump it, rinse it, and give everything a quick disinfecting spray.

That's after lots of trial and error over the course of 13 years, and what is easiest for us!

It's a lot to support them emotionally through illness too. Having your kid cry that they hate being sick and don't want to throw up anymore is emotionally taxing and I have to make sure my own mental health is in good enough condition to be there for them they way they need me. Admittedly my husband is better at this part. I get more into logistical problems solving/clean up mode and he gets more into comforting and commiserating.

Sick kids also means taking time off work, them missing school, more laundry, and interrupted sleep.

Did I scare you away from having kids yet? I hope not. My oldest is a teenager and she got sick but I barely had to lift a finger this time. She literally just camped out in the bathroom and texted me when she needed something. So it gets easier. Well. That stuff gets easier. Parenting a teenager comes with drastically different challenges 😅

Also uhhh if you or your partner are carrying and birthing your children... Well pregnancy nausea and vomiting is extremely common so you and/or your partner might have to deal with the realities of vomiting long before actually having a baby in your arms.

Thanks your ask and thanks for reading my word vomit about vomit 🤣🤣

If you ever want anymore info or personal experiences around pregnancy, birth, and parenting, my ask box is always open!! My career is working with new parents who are often shocked by the realities of having kids. I love helping prepare someone before they actually get pregnant.

here, have my favorite parenting comic (Even though I only have 4 kids, I feel like Jupiter sometimes)

[echoweaver]

Get to Know You - Sims Edition

I was tagged by @hazely-sims. It takes me a while to respond, but I love being tagged.

What’s your favorite Sims death?

I’ve had to do some extreme challenge rules to let my sims die of anything other than old age. I have a difficult time letting my sims take risks that might get them killed. Amusingly, I don’t like that that pets have no other ways to die in the vanilla game because even though I don’t let them die, I want it to be meaningful for me to take care of them. 🤷‍♀️

OTOH, I love ghosts. I’ve added death types for cats and dogs with my Pets mods, and I’ve explored ALL the ghost types ad nauseum to pick ones that go well with those death types. A lot of the most obscure ghosts are the best ones. Vampire Thirst has a beating heart that is really impressive. Mummy’s Curse has neat color effects. Freezing to Death puffs out fog breath. They’re great, and they work seamlessly with pets.

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

Almost exclusively MaxisMatch. I used to use a mix, but over time the clash of art styles really started bothering me. Going all-alpha is way more work than all-mm, and I actually enjoy my sims’ lightly cartoony appearance.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

No. I want my sims to have a variety of weights, and I prefer body weight to just be genetic. My second gen heir for the Samples, Lancelot, was pretty heavy, and he was Athletic, so I made him a bodybuilder. Then he passed that physique down to his kids because Sims 🙄. After that, most of my sims have ended up slim by chance. My choice of mate is in-game and almost entirely gameplay driven, so there’s no particular reason partners would be slim or fit.

Do you move objects?

Since I’m very gameplay-driven, you’d think I wouldn’t use it much, but @hazely-sims is right. How can you play without it? If you use the default game restrictions, everything in your house ends up looking like it was place on a grid, which it kinda was.

Favorite Mod?

Good grief. I’m going to set aside NRaas, since that suite is rightly most people’s choice. One mod that’s had a big effect on my game is @flotheory‘s Make a Mess. Toddlers got to be incredibly boring, and EA reacted by creating store content that allowed them to skill themselves and be as unintrusive as possible. That was the wrong choice! Toddlers need to be a big PITA. You need to watch them every minute. That’s a real simulation of toddlerhood!

I also have gotten into more detailed survival simulation with my medieval game. @anitmb‘s Hunting Mod has been a big part of making that fun. Also Ingredients Overhaul and custom harvestables and recipes (psst Plantable Wheat)

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

I played The Sims and TS2, but not very long. I didn’t learn about fan-made challenges until TS3, and that’s when I really fell in love. So that’s the first game I bought expansions for.

Not very creatively, the first one I bought for TS3 was the first one that came out, World Adventures. That seems like a controversial one, but I love it. I guess the Game Pack equivalent for TS3 would be functional store content. I honestly don’t remember what I bought first.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing

aLIVE. Sims isn’t the only software to have a live mode, and that’s always how I’ve understood it to be pronounced. I didn’t even know people pronounced it like LIVing, but I can see how that would make sense for Sims.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

I technically haven’t MADE a lot of sims because I’m obsessed with naturally born genetics. I download a lot of sims with interesting faces and load them into my game, then let NRaas StoryProgression pair them off and, using its Advanced Genetics, populate my town with interesting genetic combinations.

Have you made a simself?

Yup! Echo Weaver. Some sim friends over the years have put her in their games too.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

I am SO SICK of all the TS3 hair presets.

Favorite EA hair?

Another difficult answer. There’s a braided updo that came with one of the expansions that I think looks wonderful on all female sims, but I’d have to look it up. That said, I don’t like repeating hairs in a game very often.

Favorite life stage?

Yeah, adult is where you can do the most stuff. I’m not sure it’s my favorite exactly. I like roleplaying each life stage to build a sim’s personality. My Gen 8 Sample sims are kids, so I’m thinking in kid mode at the moment and really enjoying @olomayasims Void Critters mod. Seems like most of the really fun gameplay for non-YA/Adult comes from mods.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

I can’t build my way out of a cardboard box. Definitely gameplay. I think this is the wrong question, though, since there are way more options than those two. My answer would probably still be gameplay, but the gameplay wouldn’t be nearly as fun if I weren’t building a story out of it.

Are you a CC creator?

Trick question! I mod, but I don’t art. So it depends on how broadly you mean cc? 😁

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

Definitely have friends! Back in the WordPress days, I made a private Facebook community and invited a bunch of my Sims-playing pals. That was probably a “squad.” These days, I’m here, and I’m friend with folks who read and comment on each other’s stuff. I probably wouldn’t still be here without those relationships.

Do you have any sims merch?

I don’t think I’ve even seen TS3 merch. LOL.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

I cannot stand watching other people play video games on YouTube unless it’s a tutorial. My play style would be horrible to watch because I go on random tangents to tweak lots and down population in the middle of gameplay. Yeah, I’ll skip that and keep to telling stories with screenshots.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I have gotten increasingly wish-driven and more focused on “emergent” sim personality.

Only year 13 or 14 of playing this game, I’ve gotten into challenges that are world aesthetic in addition to gameplay, such as the medieval history challenge (Morbid’s Ultimate Decades Challenge). That involves buckets of cc, a medieval-themed custom world, and a bunch of social rules in addition to just day-to-day gameplay. I want to feel like my games are different experiences.

Since I have trouble making my sims deliberately take risks, and I don’t think I could deliberately kill an active sim, I’ve looked for ways to add hardship into the game. I want to keep my sims relatively poor. I want there to be ways in the challenge for them to die. I want to have real life obstacles for my sims to overcome.

What’s your origin id?

It’s either Echowever or Echoweaver. I misspelled it initially and tried to fix it when EA moved the site to its newer account system. I can’t remember how that turned out. I think it’s Echowever in some places and Echoweaver in others. 🤦‍♀️

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

Gah. I started to answer this 3 times.

I love cc creators! I’m afraid to list any for fear of leaving anyone out who I also love. You’re all amazing!

How long have you had simblr?

I looked this up for a different meme, and I created this account in 2013. I haven’t been on it consistently during that time. I also took a 3-year hiatus from the game entirely and came back during the pandemic.

How do you edit your pictures?

For most of my time storytelling with this game, I haven’t edited my pics at all. In the last year or so, I’ve added ReShade with a pretty unobtrustive preset. mostly just to sharpen things up a bit and improve light quality. I’ve started editing dark shots in Photoshop Elements to increase the light or remove photobombing gui elements.

Not much overall though.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Oof with the hard questions. Probably Seasons. The weather and holidays add a lot of depth and character to the gameplay.

Mmmmm. Who to tag? I’m not sure who hasn’t done this yet. @withlovefromayre? @pudding-parade?

[sleepymarmot]

I have finally beaten the first boss of Scrivener's Hall solo! And finished the dungeon with the help of others.

A day or two ago he killed me many times. After improving my build a bit, I returned. My many attempts at killing him with a two bar Pale Order build were unsuccessful. At first I tried to do the mechanics, but it was too hard to keep track of where the books were shooting their lights, so I was overwhelmed. Then I tried to burn him down, but got swarmed by the mechanics. But I was improving: last time I kept dying around 70-80%, maybe 50-60%, and now my best attempts were around 30-40%. A big help was that early in the fight today I finally figured out I should swap Azandar from tank to healer, and he went from dying within the first thirty seconds to staying alive throughout the entire fight.

Then I realized that 1) in the middle of the fight I was neglecting the back bar because I had no time to swap; 2) I could really use a bonus to stamina and magicka recovery. So I changed to my solo Oakensoul build, edited it a bit... And managed to defeat the boss on first try!

Here's what we were using:

(Me: Chakram of Destiny; Pragmatic Fatecarver; Cephaliarch's Flail; Inspired Scholarship; Spiteward of the Lucid Mind; Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea. Azandar: Abor's Augmented Ward; Triptych Physic; Ritual of Salvation; Shields of Erudition; Crimson Font)

Unfortunately, that was not nearly enough for the second boss. I could survive the poison vomit once or twice in a row, but that only got me to around 80%. I tried several times, but it was obviously hopeless with the gear and skills I currently have. So I had to call for help in the group finder, and I had a full team in approximately 5-10 minutes and cleared the rest of the dungeon in the blink of an eye.

This was actually my second completion of the dungeon; earlier the same day I asked in group finder to run it in "story mode", but the team who assembled ran through the dungeon pretty fast and also didn't hunt the scamps, and I didn't feel comfortable stopping to admire the scenery or ask them how the scamps work. So I was unsatisfied with that as Jarcanist's one canonical chance at this quest, and returned to try again solo — and that's how I ended up spending approximately two more hours on a single clear.

I have to say: going through the dungeon alone and discovering it for yourself is significantly more fun than blindly running after strangers from the queue who already know everything. It feels like a real adventure! I wish this way of doing dungeons were more accessible — I'm not even talking about the kind of story mode in which every enemy dies from a light tap on the shoulder, but something that might pose a challenge, but still a challenge that is solvable without having extremely specific gear and skills at hand. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful to the people who come to my rescue, and playing with other humans is its own kind of fun, but I wish it were an option instead of a necessity.

And now, I'm going to run it a bunch of times again. Need that Velothi lead asap! So far I've killed only one scamp (during that solo run), and of course wasn't lucky enough to get the lead in the very first chest. Oh, and give me those sweet, super expensive Glass Eyes of Mora too.

Btw: shout out to this video of the dungeon's full content that I used as one of the guides.

After this, doing the Runemaster Xiomara boss in Apocrypha even one competent partner, let alone with a group, is pleasantly familiar! I visited him on a whim, just to check how the boss feels after beating his dungeon equivalent, and ended up in a group in which we quickly did a Bastion Nymic and two other bosses I needed for the Defender of Necrom achievement. Did the Runemaster three times, and still no lead...

As you can see from the long post, this was all pretty exciting! I'd been looking forward to this dungeon for the entire year, it's relevant to the character I'm playing, has cool design, and rewards I'm interested in — so I'm happy to finally get around to doing it.

[gothoffspring]

This is exactly where you'll find Riley Burns every evening. In a lawn chair. "it's my 'fancy dancy' lawn chair", he passionately professes. He is a few beers in and feeling all the better for it. "Please don't pixelate them!" he exclaims. I ask for some clarity. "my mermaid tattoo. I hate censorship. And I love titties." I ask him to tell me a bit about himself and he has no hesitation in beginning to tell me his life story. He's definitely a talker.

"That rinky dink trailer you passed on your way here? I was born right on the floor. Thank god it wasn't on the carpet, nice goin' ma! She left soon after. Prolly cuz she ruined the gotdamn linoleum and grammy was PISSED." Riley was raised by his grandmother, who in his words, "was simultaneously the sweetest and most grumpy woman imaginable". While extremely loving towards him, she was also a bit naïve and preoccupied with her weekly bingo meets and book club.

Riley mostly had free reign of Strangerville as he grew older, which ended up getting him into some sticky situations and more than one mugshot before the age of 21. "Y'know, felons are a really valuable voting base... we all have a lot of conviction! Heh. That was bad, m'sorry." If you let him, he will rattle off every single interaction he has ever had with law enforcement, grinning from ear to ear the entire time. He likes to say he is a 'reformed man', despite still openly smoking spliffs in his front yard. "they could give a shit less about my spliffs, all the damn things I've done in this town.."

In his late 30's now, Riley has decided he's ready to settle down and live out the simple life he's always imagined. "I need me a lil' partner to settle down with, and we'll live the good life together right here. I'm a simple man at heart, all I really want is someone to love my dumb ass! I may be a lil' rough around the edges, but I'll treat my honey right. I have three gold teeth, y'know. I'd happily take a few out to go and buy a wedding ring. Do you happen to know anyone?.."

I ask him for some parting words. "When you live the life that I've lived, you really need some time and space to just completely experience YOURSELF, y'know? It goes by so quick, sometimes I wonder if I'll even have the time to wipe my damn ass. Well, here's to new beginnings and big laughs!" Riley then cheers with me, hands me a 'spliff for the road', and tells me to get the fuck off his property please.

Welcome to Living a Nightmare! This is a brand new Nightmare Legacy Challenge by yours truly. We are following these rules (story mode) by @matchacake. Riley Burns is our loving founder, a bit confused but ready to conquer whatever comes his way. How fast can we reach ten generations with our lifespan on short, and will Riley's lively personality live on through his descendants?

Riley's goals are to complete his aspiration before he becomes an elder, max two skills, have at least one child, and reach level 10 of his career. Will Riley be able to accomplish all of his goals and live a fulfilled life? Stay tuned to find out!

[imfluentinfangirlandgay]

Elevated Railways - Ch 12

Ingo has been in Hisui for two years when two children fall from the sky - with wings like his. Did they come from the same place he did?

Word Count: ~2900

“Teach me.” 

Ingo turned and observed Emmet. He was watching Ingo intently, seeing him flutter his wings in the warm afternoon air. “Teach you what?” He had a feeling he already knew the answer. 

“To fly.” He was still watching Ingo, his smile genuine. The wind swept through Ingo’s hair, pushing it into his face. He brushed it away. 

“Only if you promise me you will not miss any safety checks,” he said, looking back to the horizon. It was rather windy today. 

“I promise.” 

Ingo sighed, stretching his wings. Lady Sneasler stood outside with them, watching the sun and the Highlands below them. “Gliscor?” A ball popped open on his waist. He could hear his partner next to him, crooning. “Do you mind a quick race? To show Emmet how we fly?” He looked over at his partner, who screeched. That was a yes. Ingo took off his hat, giving it to Emmet. His coat was already tied around his neck. Emmet grinned broadly at him. He knew that Emmet had been waiting for this. 

Ingo backed up a few paces from the edge, so he could have a running start. He knelt down, snapping his wings as they expanded. Gliscor laid its claws out on the ground, like Ingo’s hands were. “Emmet, the countdown, please?”

“Three… two… one… go!” 

Both of them shot off, Gliscor soaring up immediately and Ingo running a few paces before he jumped off the edge of the cliff, his wings catching the strong current today and taking him up. He flapped as he changed their shape, as always. The wind was extremely strong today, blowing into his eyes. He needed to figure out some way to protect them, he reasoned. That could happen later. Right now he had a race to finish. He was already at the halfway point, changing his wings as he whipped around the tree, Gliscor at his side. Ingo’s heart thrummed in his chest. The wind was at his back now, pushing the both of them faster. Gliscor and Ingo were neck and neck. Ingo flapped once more, his wings shifting back to gliding mode. He fell into a gentle descent, allowing the winds and gravity to take over for him. The ground and Emmet were racing into his field of vision, his body vaulting over the edge of the cliff and the ground suddenly under him as he continued to glide. He finally fluttered his wings, shrinking them and coming to a stop as his feet touched the ground. He let out the breath he had been holding. He turned around and strode back over to Emmet, whose eyes were as wide as his grin, his hair blown back by the wind. He was practically vibrating in place. 

“The winner?”

“Too close to tell.”

“We have a tie again, Gliscor.” The Pokemon glided over to him, grinning as it hugged him with its pinsirs. Ingo patted it and allowed it free to float. Emmet put Ingo’s cap back on his head at an awkward angle. 

“Please teach me.” He might as well have been begging by that point. 

“We will start simple, keep that in mind. I do not think you will be doing those kinds of things by the end of today.” Ingo was worried this would frustrate or deter his brother, but on the contrary, Emmet grinned wider. 

“I want to challenge you to a race someday. I will take time to learn properly.” 

Ingo nodded, pleased. “We will start by learning how to control the size of your wings…” 

—--------------

The younger twins continued to go by Ingo's tent for the next several days to sleep, still wary of Jubilife. More than once Irida came by to ensure they were alright. In that time, they continued doing whatever Volo was showing them, filling out the pokedex, and Ingo got to catch up on a lot of time missed with his brother. In fact, Emmet was already learning to take off on his own, without the help of Tangela or Alakazam (who Ingo always ensured to have out, for fear that while Emmet was learning, he would hurt himself. The psychic came in handy at least once when Emmet forgot to expand his wings and jumped off the cliff). 

Ingo was in the air, just below the cliff face, watching. "Alright, Emmet, full speed ahead!" 

He heard footsteps slapping against the ground and Emmets form vaulted above him, into the air. His wings were growing and changing as he jumped until the updraft from the mountainside caught him, lifting him up. "Flap, Emmet!" Emmet did, beating his now-large silver wings to raise him higher. Ingo felt a warm feeling in his chest. He was so proud of Emmet. 

"Bravo, Emmet!" Ingo flew up to meet him, changing his wings so that they allowed him to hover in place. "You did it without help! Bravo!" Ingo's voice boomed out across the Highlands, scaring off some Starly below. 

Emmet grinned. He noticed Ingo's wings and matched his to them, the feathers blending and morphing seamlessly so that he could also hover in place. His facial wings fluttered in excitement. 

"Now we can practice landing. That is the next most important step."

"Could we race?" Emmet asked, his face beaming. 

"Once I teach you to land properly. And once you learn to navigate currents. I do not want to have an unfair advantage." 

Emmet frowned at him. "You would not."

"I have experience. I understand how the air works up here." 

"And I can learn."

"It will not take long to learn to land. I promise. If you do it properly, you can learn by the end of the day."

Emmet considered this. "Then let's-" 

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE ALMIGHTY SINNOH?" Emmet jolted in the air, his wings faltering, causing him to lose altitude. Ingo caught his arm. 

"Emmet, flap!" His wings began working again, allowing him to hover back to where he had been previously, if a little more frightened. They both turned, looking down at who had shouted. 

It was Melli, standing at the edge of the cliff and pulling at his hair as his eyes bugged out of his head. Ingo met eyes with Emmet. "Follow my lead for landing. What you want to do is get close to the ground, and then flap a few times to slow yourself as you touch your feet down. Watch." Then he called to Melli, "Clear the platform, please!" And he darted forward. 

Melli scrambled out of the way as Ingo soared down, coming a mere four feet above the ground before he flapped his wings twice, slowing himself enough that he could touch the ground. Then he turned, motioning to Emmet. "Pull into the station!" 

Emmet wobbled forward, trying his best to copy Ingo. He glided a couple feet off the ground, flapping awkwardly as he touched his feet down. He tripped, stumbling forward and catching himself on the ground. "I am Emmet. I am alright." He stood and brushed himself off. Ingo strode to his brother and clapped him on the shoulder as both of them turned to Melli. 

He stood like a Deerling in a headlights, eyes flicking between them. “Melli-”

“Why are there two of you?!” He was pointing at them now. Ingo huffed with amusement. 

“Melli, this is my twin brother, Emmet. He fell from the rift as I did, however his memories are intact.” 

“I am Emmet!” Emmet said brightly. 

Melli continued looking at them for a minute. They watched him as their wings shuddered in the wind. “Did he get taken in by the Pearl Clan too and no one told me?” 

Ingo then realized that Emmet was still wearing one of his tunics. And neither of them had on their hats or coats. “No, he is just borrowing my uniforms while in Hisui. We plan to return back to our home soon.” Ingo swept a hand through his hair, tying it back in a bun at the nape of his neck His facial wings fluttered about in the wind. “Emmet came here, somehow, during that deal last week with the almighty Sinnoh and the young twins. We have been practicing flight ever since.” 

“I heard you yelling loud enough that it disturbed my Lord. I came to see what the problem was.” He glared accusingly at Ingo.

“Ah! My apologies. I am teaching Emmet to fly now that he has also acquired wings, and I got excited about his accomplishments.” Emmet grinned wider next to him. 

“Who are you?” Emmet asked suddenly. Melli’s gaze flicked back to him. 

“I am the great Melli, the Warden of Lord Electrode. I take great pride in my work, and I am also the younger brother of the Leader of the Diamond Clan, Adaman.” He straightened, putting his hand on his breast as he got into territory more comfortable for him: himself. 

“He is the other Warden of the Highlands,” Ingo added for Emmet. Emmet nodded. He seemed satisfied. “I would like to see you practice once or twice more with landing before we begin doing other things. Landing is a crucial skill and should not be skipped.” 

“Can you quiet it down? My Lord is having a rough time with all the new Voltorb rolling around and they do not need to be awakened from a nap again,” he sniffed. 

“I will do my best-”

“Nope! Sorry! Can’t do that!” Emmet cut in. 

“Emmet!” 

“He is being rude to you. I know you have trouble controlling your volume.” 

“But I will manage. Do not cross the yellow line.” Ingo squinted at Emmet to make his point, who rolled his eyes. “No more.” 

“Fine.” Emmet smiled brightly at Melli again. “I do not like you, though.” 

“Emmet.” Ingo looked up at Melli. “Do not mind him. He likes to speak every word he thinks of.” 

“If I did that, I would have to put verrry many more quarters in the Swear Jar.” 

“Emmet, I am warning you.” Ingo grabbed Emmet by the shoulders, shaking him. “Do not cross the yellow line, please.” Emmet’s smile tightened, but he nodded. “Thank you.” Ingo released him, allowing him to swing to Ingo’s side once again. Ingo straightened up, Emmet doing the same and both crossing their arms behind their backs as they watched Melli. He glanced between the two of them again. 

“I have things to do.” He turned and left, his eyes still wide. The twins looked after him for a moment. Then Ingo ran and launched himself into the air, Emmet following suit. They continued the lesson. 

—----------------

Ten days since Emmet fell. The young twins had been scarce for the last two days, citing that they had nighttime Pokemon to find. Ingo was nervous, but relented, so long as they checked in with him every so often. Emmet was exceeding at flight practice. He had gotten down the basics and was now practicing with wing shapes in the air, as well as navigation. He joined Ingo on his patrols of the Highlands and in doing his duties, learning more about how to survive in this harsh environment. Ingo also took him around other parts of Hisui, pointing out other Nobles and where the Pearl and Diamond Camps were. He also showed Emmet where Jubilife was, though he ensured that they flew a safe distance at night, to minimize the possibilities of being seen. 

As it was, Emmet was beginning to grow bolder. He swooped and even did somersaults in the air, trying to get Ingo to race with him, who still refused. He did not want to, not yet. It was during one of their excursions. They were high in the sky, enjoying the warm afternoon air on their wings and the light sun on their necks. They took turns swooping below each other, Gliscor flitting between them and trying to ‘tag’ them. It made Ingo’s mouth curl up at the corners. He had missed this. He had missed Emmet. 

“Ingo!” Ingo slowed, keeping a slow, steady pace with Emmet. 

“Hmm?”

“Who is that?” Emmet pointed down and a bit ahead of them to a small group of people moving through the Highlands. Ingo had not noticed them yet. 

“I am unsure. Let us ensure they do not require a conductor to get where they need to go.” 

Emmet nodded next to him. Ingo called, “All aboard!” as he fell into a dive, Emmet copying him. The wind rushed past Ingo’s face, making him cover his ears with his face wings as he descended quickly in front of the group until he snapped his wings out, landing softly with a flutter. He placed his cap on his head immediately and turned, facing the people. Emmet landed neatly beside him, also placing his cap on his own head. It was already dirty from its time in Hisui. Gliscor settled behind Ingo, just above his head. 

Ingo saw who it was and froze. His heart sank. 

There were several people dressed in a matching uniform of red, all wearing wide-brimmed straw hats. In front, leading them, was a man in all black armor with thick facial hair and an intense frown. Behind him was another man, wearing a skin-tight body suit and wrappings over his hands and feet. His hair flowed in the wind. 

Ingo stiffened. Emmet noticed and stood taller. Gliscor hissed softly. 

The group stood and watched them, stunned. Their leader was the first to recover. “Warden,” he said curtly. 

“Commander,” Ingo said just as frostily. Emmet’s eyes hardened. He knew who this was. 

He flicked his gaze between the two brothers. “What is this? A Zoroark?” He narrowed his eyes at Emmet. 

“I am Emmet,” he cut in before Ingo could speak. “I am Ingo’s twin brother. I fell ten days ago when the children fixed the sky.” He smiled, but it was tinted with something venomous, something dangerous. Ingo hoped he didn’t cause too much trouble (as much as he wished to do it himself). 

“Hmm.” He snapped his gaze back to Ingo. “It was nice to see you, Warden, but we must be on our way. We have a mission.” 

“And what might that be?” Ingo cut in, his voice as equally frigid as Emmet’s smile. 

“It is none of your concern-”

“If it concerns young Rei and Akari, then it most certainly is.” Ingo was struggling to keep his voice level and smooth. 

Kamado stared at him for a moment, his eyes calculating and sharp. “You know where they are.” He did not phrase it as a question. Ingo did not respond. “They have not returned to Jubilife in over two weeks. I am bringing them back-”

“You will not.” Ingo was shocked at how his own voice boomed out of his body, startling the Security Corps. 

“You hurt them,” Emmet crooned, monotone. “You hurt them verrry badly. I do not like people who hurt kids.” 

Kamado watched them again, unmoving. “They were only banished temporarily until the sky was fixed.” 

“Your two best Survey Corps members, who have done nothing but help you, even at the cost of their own lives, who are also merely children, were given the impossible task of fixing the entire planet,” Ingo cut in, his voice sharper than a blade. “And they succeeded. Not without help, mind you. The moment I’d heard of your actions, I searched for them myself. They were injured and terrified. I did not leave their side for days unless required to. Even now, they are scared to enter Jubilife because of your faulty actions.” Ingo lifted his head slightly, looking the Commander directly in the eye. “You made them your scapegoat. Since they came from the sky, it was clearly all caused by them, was it not? Was it not convenient for you, that these two mystery children with no family be dropped into your lap to do all your dirty work for you, so you can toss them away when you are finished with them? So that if they were to perish, no one would notice? So that you could sweep them under the moving train without taking any of the blame?” Ingo’s wings puffed up in agitation. 

“They were fine, were they not?” Kamado countered. “They lived. Everything is fixed. Why do you keep going on about this?” he thundered. 

“Because I will not stand by as somebody abuses my twins for their own fulfillment,” he retorted, his voice scathing. Kamado fell silent after that, watching him, his eyes slightly widened. 

He opened his mouth to say something when a catastrophic boom ripped the air around them. Ingo and Emmet whirled, looking up at the source of the noise. On the tip of Mount Coronet was a dark aura, something bad was happening up there. 

And then the screaming. Even from this far away, Ingo could hear it. It was a young girl. “Somebody please! Dad! Irida! Adaman, anyone!” 

Ingo’s heart stopped. He was running before he knew what he was doing, shouting in response, “Akari! I’m coming!” He pushed off the ground, his wings melting and changing shapes as he flapped as hard as he could, gliding up the mountain, Gliscor and Emmet not far behind him.

taglist: @ruyi-years

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[moo-nstone]

questions i have for the signs

libra suns – do you learn a lot from observing other people’s behaviours? because libras do so well in group settings, and they value their emotional intelligence and ability for being likeable a lot. once, a libra sun man came up to me and just told me that he learned a lot of his behaviours from observing others and that’s how he learned better coping mechanisms/better ways of expressing himself and his emotions. at first, i found that absolutely preposterous because as someone who’s always focused so much on my own individuality and authenticity, the thought of taking aspects from other people just repulsed me, but the more i think about it, the more it makes sense – after all, there’s so much to learn from others and since observational skills are so important, why not use them to better ourselves?

also, to my libra suns once again – how the hell have you managed to build a reputation for being stable and peaceful? i swear every libra i’ve ever met was absolutely unstable – the type to throw their phones on the wall during arguments, to randomly go up to me and start psychoanalysing me, to immediately go confrontational mode no matter if they were in the middle of class, simply because they couldn’t leave shit unresolved. i’ve noticed your tendency for playing devil’s advocate in every situation in the name of ���fairness” has you being VERY confrontational. it’s kinda refreshing not gonna lie.

now, ladies.. have we noticed how misogynistic cancer sun men can be or am i losing my mind? i swear to god i’ve never met ONE in my life who didn’t have extremely sexist opinions. even the ones who seem like great people and who get along with everybody – they still think that girls who sleep around casually have no self-respect and that sex workers are disgusting. also, hating on girls for doing the buss it challenge and for posting pictures where they’re showing skin and feeling themselves? saying they’re sluts? as if they’re not the same men who click on those videos? not only the misogynist part, but also extreme anger issues that come out at the most unexpected times. i believe it’s their traditionalist views and their hatred for their own femininity that has them projecting their insecurities onto other women. either way, cancer men terrify me. perhaps it’s that my father’s a cancer and he’s the blueprint of all terrible men in my life, or perhaps cancer men really are batshit crazy. either way, please change my mind lol there are probably some good ones out there but my experience has me believing otherwise

pisces mars – (18+) do you get pleasure from simply pleasuring your partner? i do this and i feel like it’s to a point where it’s toxic, every time i’m the one receiving i’ll be thinking about how i could be using this time to pleasure them instead, even if it feels really good. i don’t know what it is but the act of knowing i’m making someone feel good feels 1000 times better than everything else, it feels my soul and i think it’s a pisces mars thing. it’s crazy because it’s only in sexual matters, in day-to-day basis i’m very assertive but in bed i’m extremely submissive and just want to fulfil all of my partner’s needs. do you also have very intricate sexual fantasies that you’re constantly thinking about? also, are you masoquistic? i’ve seen other pisces mars talking about this, about how they get off on pain a lot and it makes me feel less alone. it might also relate to lilith in the 12th house because it indicates mixing pain with pleasure + escapism through fantasies + some very extreme fetishes like r*pe-play. let’s start this discussion lol

leo placements – how does it feel like being the baddest bitches alive? serious answers only. also stop making me fall in love with you it’s annoying

capricorn/scorpio suns, do you gravitate a lot towards one another? im a capricorn and i attract a lot of scorpio placements, and scorpios are the people who bring me the most intense personal transformations. it’s also definitely because i have scorpio in the 8th, but either way, i feel like these two signs attract each other like crazy because they’re the darkest signs. scorpio simbolizes death while capricorn simbolizes the devil, they’re both so difficult, complex and drawn to dark topics that i feel like it’s a match made in heaven – or hell. i’ve also observed that the most powerful power-couples in media are always relationships between capricorns and scorpios, too.

moon in the 10th house natives – do people baby you a lot? i feel like i’ll just be walking down the streets and my friends will be screaming at me to be careful like i’m a 5 year old, or offering to do things for me, or feeling an inherent need to supervise me as if i’ll get in deep shit if i’m left alone for more than 5 minutes LOL but i do think it’s something about this placement. moon in the 10th indicates being very emotional and getting easily overwhelmed, also a lot of charisma and being very sensitive when it comes to personal relationships. also the way we radiate authority makes others unconsciously be more obedient towards our needs, and we have a very strong need to protect others and create a family within our friend groups, which might be creating these dynamics.

leo suns/moons/risings – do you feel like having a low self-esteem quite literally contributes to the deterioration of your physical health? i think there’s such a stark difference between when you’re feeling insecure and in an unhealthy relationship vs when you leave the toxicity behind and work on your self-confidence, there’s an immediate glow up, like you’re literally glowing and it shows.

gemini suns – why do so many people hate you? even people who know nothing about astrology will say they hate geminis. genuine question because geminis are one of my favorite signs. i think it’s something about the way you easily adapt to other people’s personalities and mirror their energy, so you’ve built this reputation for being two-faced when you’re literally just.. socially intelligent.

air moons – how tf can you turn your emotions off? what do you mean using logic instead of feelings i will literally unalive myself

capricorn moons – how does it feel like having healthy coping mechanisms? oh wait, it’s not like you’d know LMFAOOOO

scorpio mars – are you as sexual as people portray you to be or do you feel a bit weird about the way people talk about you? because people always talk about scorpio mars as this sex machines, but like.. scorpio’s a water sign. very sensitive. i’ve noticed you guys literally avoid having sex with people because it’s like giving them a part of your soul, and you know you’ll get extremely attached to them afterwards. is sex a casual thing for you or can you only feel satisfied when there’s an emotional connection established? this goes for all water sign mars by the way.

scorpio risings – do you only listen to music that you feel has a deep meaning? my brother is a scorpio rising and he prides himself a lot on his music taste and how deep the music he listens to is. and as an aries rising im just like.. sir i listen to doja cat because hearing her sing about sex and fat tiddies makes me happy

[hamliet]

The Girl Who Gets to Have It All: Buffy Summers

So with @linkspooky​‘s encouragement, I have binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer and relived my childhood culture. And, it's a 10/10 for me. Not that it doesn't have flaws, but it's genuinely one of the best stories I've seen, with consistent character arcs, powerful themes, and a beautiful message. It's also like... purportedly about vampires and demons and superpowered chosen ones, but it's actually all about humanity.

Buffy was able to be a teenage girl, allowed to like the things teen girls are scorned for (boys, shopping, etc), to be insecure about the thing teenage girls are insecure about (future careers, dating, school, parents), and to be a superhero with its good and its bad aspects. The story wasn’t afraid to call Buffy on her flaws (sometimes she got in a very ‘I am the righteous chosen one’ mode) and to respect and honor each of her desires (to be a good person, to be loved, and more). The story listened to what she wanted and respected her desires, giving her the challenges needed to overcome her flaws while also never teaching her a lesson about wanting bad boys or romance is silly or any manner of dark warnings stories like to throw at teenage girls. 

It respected teenage girls--nerdy girls like Willow, jocks like Buffy, lonely wallflowers with trauma like Dawn, and popular/snobby ones like Cordelia, girls gone wild like Faith. It never once reduced them to the stereotypes that were lurking right there: each character was fully rounded, human, flawed and yet with respected interests and goals. This is so rare for a story that I’m still in awe. 

The story as a whole follows Buffy from 15 to 21, of her as she grows from teenager to adult. She acts like a teenager and grows to act like a young adult, wrestling with loneliness and duty. The adults, like Giles, Joyce, and Jenny, are not perfect either, but neither are they “bad parents” or “bad mentors” necessarily. Joyce in particular says something terrible to Buffy, but she tries to do better, and it’s rare to see a parent in YA stories shown with such nuance. Basically, it wrote the long-lasting adult characters as human beings, too. 

Speaking of growing up, I appreciated how Buffy’s love interests mirrored this. Angel was someone Buffy loved and admired, wanted to be like, but who was always either extreme good or extreme bad, and combined with Buffy’s own tendencies towards black-white thinking, made for a beautiful relationship to help her grow, but didn’t necessarily form a foundation for a long-term partner. Spike, on the other hand... they both saw each other at their worst and were drawn to each other even then, and were inspired to become better because they couldn’t bear to be a person who treated the other person so wrongly. They pushed each other to become the best them they could be, and believed in each other. Also, Spuffy is an enemies to lovers ship for the ages. 

(Also, most of the other ships were well-done or at least can be understood. Riley was very obviously wrong for Buffy which paralleled Harmony and Spike in being 100% wrong for each other. Cordelia and Xander were a fun ship even if we all knew it would never last, and Willow and Oz were beautiful and cute. But Xander and Anya and Willow and Tara? OTPs. As were Giles and Jenny, the librarian and the computer teacher.) 

That said, it’s not a perfect series. No story is. All of the characters and ships had problematic aspects to them worthy of critique, and the writing is very 90s in a lot of ways. It’s a product of its time, and in many ways it’s good society has progressed beyond some of the tropes/metaphors used in the show. In other way, though, the show was ahead of its time, and in a good way it wasn’t bound by the fear of purity policing with its takes on redemption (many characters would never fly today). 

So, in order of seasons ranked from my very favorite to my “still enjoyed it very much” (no season was actually bad, imo), here’s my review. I’ll also review my top 10 villains in the show, because Buffy does villains very well in terms of the redeemable and irredeemable.  

Season 7:  Yep, the final season was my favorite. 

Overall Opinion: Buffy's finale is literally "f*ck them men, our power is ours" and while it seems cheesy it actually works (also, f*ck in both a literal and figurative sense). The series strongly hit all the themes: love as strength, and redemption. Buffy consistently shows love as her strength--*all* kinds of love. Friendship w Willow/Xander, familial with Joyce/Dawn, romantic with Spike/Angel. These types of love are also never pitted against each other as is so often the case in current-day media. It's beautiful. Also, Spike’s confrontation with Wood was so powerful in terms of exploring forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation: where they overlap and where they don't, and what it means to move forward. 

Unpopular Opinion: I have seen a lot didn’t like the inclusion of Potential Slayers, and while I agree they could have been better incorporated/characterized, it was a great way to show Buffy’s final stage of growing up to be ending her chosen one status and projecting/multiplying her powers over the world. 

Biggest Critique: Kennedy was female Riley--the anti-Tara to Riley’s anti-Angel (by ‘anti’ I mean opposite in every way). Kennedy was annoying and immature. Her role, like Riley’s, was less about exploring her as a character and more about her just being stamped as “love interest: lesbian.” 

Favorite Episodes: Beneath You, Lies My Parents Told Me, Touched, Chosen

Season 6: 

Overall Opinion: I said this on Twitter, but I felt like this was Buffy’s The Last Jedi or Empire Strikes Back moment. It is polarizing and dark, deconstructing the tropes it stands on--but by digging to the core of these tropes, it actually makes what’s good about them shine brighter. Everyone’s enemy was the worst versions of themselves. Giles left Buffy, Willow's struggle to relate to the world led to her trying to destroy it, Buffy hurt everyone through her anger, Xander abandoned Anya at the altar, Spike... yeah. It ages well as an integral part of the story, and the Trio were eerily prophetic. 

Unpopular Opinion: Dawn is a great character with a good arc. A traumatized teen acting out and struggling to come to terms with loss and identity? She wasn’t whiny; she was realistic. 

Biggest Critique: Willow’s addiction coding (I’ll discuss this below) and Seeing Red as an episode. I see the argument for both of its controversial scenes from a narrative perspective: Willow starts the season not grieving Buffy but instead being determined to fix it with magic and needs to learn to grieve, but. Still. Bury your gays is not a good look. For the Spike scene... he conflates sex/passion and violence (”love is blood, children” is something he said way back in season 3), but like Tara’s death, it had more to do with Spike (as Tara’s death did for Willow) than with Buffy’s arc, and as for the actual execution... they really botched that. Did it like... have to go on that long or go that far? No. Also, the framing was good, but inconsistent with the rest of the series (Xander to Buffy in the hyena episode, Faith to Xander and to Riley, etc.) 

Favorite Episodes: Once More With Feeling, Smashed, Grave

Season 3 (tied with Season 5):

Overall Opinion: The opening continuity of Buffy meeting Lily/Anne after saving her life in Season 2 was sweet. The Witchhunt episode had really powerful subtext: stories of deaths that aren’t even true are actually demons that possess the town and convince them to turn against their children in the name of protecting the children. It’s a good commentary on, oh, everything in society. Faith’s character arc was fantastic, and her chemistry with Buffy was off the charts (look, I may be Spuffy all the way, but Fuffy has rights). The finale was satisfying in so many ways, seeing the entire graduating class unite to destroy the Mayor and the school with it, symbolizing Buffy et al’s readiness to move on to college. Oz's relationship with Willow was very sweet and meaningful for a first romance for Willow. 

Unpopular Opinion: I actually don’t really have one. Maybe that the miracle in Amends was earned? I think you can make a decent case that Season 3 is the best written of the seasons, but can only truly be thematically appreciated to its full potential in the light of subsequent seasons (which finish Faith’s arc and deconstruct Buffy’s).  

Biggest Critique: It forgot Buffy killed the hyena guy in Season 1, making her continual insistence that she can’t kill people very ????? 

Favorite Episodes: Lovers Walk, Amends, Graduation Day Part 2 

Season 5, which ties with Season 3:

Overall Opinion: The entire season is about family and what it means, from Tara’s to Buffy’s to the Scoobies. I loved Glory aka Enoshima Junko as the Big Bad, I loved Dawn’s interesting meta commentary on retconning (like, the fact that she’s retconned in matters), and most of my ships are still alive. Joyce’s relationship with Spike is one of the most heartwarming aspects, and Spike’s arc’s desire is clearly highlighted: he wants to be seen as a person. The episodes after Joyce’s death are the most honest portrayals of grief I’ve ever seen, and absolutely brutal to watch. 

Unpopular Opinion: Buffy’s choice at the end seems a deliberate inversion of her choice at the end of Season 2 (sacrifice a loved one to save the world), but it actually isn’t: much like at the end of Season 2 where Buffy skips town because she’s devastated after killing Angel and doesn’t want to sort out being expelled, her mom knowing she’s the slayer, and her own trauma, Buffy’s sacrifice here was as much about her wanting the easy way out of relationships, family, college, etc. as it was about saving Dawn. Buffy’s death is coded as a suicide, which Season 6 emphasizes as well. 

Biggest Critique: Like Season 3, I don’t have a lot to critique here. I wish the suicidal coding had been a little more obvious in Season 5 itself, but also I’m not sure it could have been more obvious; it’s pretty apparent if you pay attention. Maybe also that Buffy and Riley’s relationship failing should have been more squarely blamed on Riley, you know, being insecure and cheating. 

Favorite Episodes: Family, Fool for Love, Intervention. 

Season 2:

Overall Opinion: Heartbreakingly tragic but exciting and revealing at the same time. It asked the viewer interesting questions about redemption and forgiveness and atonement through Angel being honest about his past, and then decided to show us his past now reenacted, challenging us. And still, we saw them save him in a parallel to saving Willow in Season 6 (but Season 2 was tragic because it wasn’t enough, while Season 6 was not). Jenny’s death was agonizing, and the scene were Angel watches Buffy, Willow, and Joyce get the news through the window was powerful. We didn’t have to hear them to get the grief. 

Unpopular Opinion: Jenny’s death isn’t a fridging; it works for her arc too when you consider her history. She worked to save the person whose life she was tasked to ruin, and it cost her her own--yet she still succeeded, because Jenny brought joy and wisdom to the show. Kendra’s death, on the other hand... was because they needed the stakes to be high--but we already knew that before she died. So, her death was useless. 

Biggest Critique: The subtext was Not It. It was essentially “do not have sex. Your older boyfriend will lose his soul, kill your friends, you’ll lose your family, your school, your home, and have to kill your true love or else hell will literally swallow earth.” 

Favorite Episodes: School Hard, Passion, Becoming Part 2.

Season 1:

Overall Opinion: I really liked it; it’s just lower on this list because the others are just better. It’s a great introduction to the series and to its characters, from Giles to Buffy to Willow to Jenny to Cordelia. It has great subtext a lot of the time (for example, Natalie French as She-Mantis is a literal predatory bug who engages in predatory behavior with students). Additionally, it subverts the typical YA trope of two guys and a girl, in which the girl is usually the least interesting character. Buffy and Willow were both fully fledged characters from the beginning with distinct strengths (even before Willow became a witch, as she wasn’t one in season 1 yet), while Xander was the more ordinary of the group. 

Unpopular Opinion/Biggest Critique: Xander’s arc showed its first flaws that unfortunately continued throughout the series: his writing was either very good or very indulgent in ways it never was for other characters.  (cough, the hyena episode, cough, in which he gets to skirt responsibility--and acknowledges that he is skirting it--for something the show will later hold others to account for). Xander’s just kind of inconsistent, which weakened his character over all. (Which is why both his love interests--Cordelia and then ultimately Anya--were good for him: they did not indulge him.) 

Favorite Episode: Witch, Nightmares. 

Season 4:

Overall Opinion: it’s still a good season. It’s a good portrayal of college and the growing pains of branching out, the strains of college growth on relationships (romantic and platonic). It shows us the first hints of Spuffy, giving us some serious Jungian symbolism between Spike and Buffy early on, and does well in establishing Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara as beautiful OTPs. Faith and Buffy’s foiling is fantastic. The Halloween episode was very fun as well. However, it suffers because its Big Bad, Adam, is not all that compelling thematically--yet, he could have been. See, the final battle pulls off the Power of Friendship in a really strong way but notably the season does not end there. Instead, it ends on dreams of each character’s worst fears, continuing what we saw in Nightmares in Season 1. Why? Because it shows us that the characters’ wars aren’t against monsters, but monsters of their own making: their flaws. Adam, as a literal Frankenstein, exemplifies this, but it wasn’t capitalized on as well as it could have been. 

Unpopular Opinion: Beer Bad isn’t a bad episode, at the very least because Buffy gets to punch Parker. It’s not one of the series’ best, obviously, but it does give Buffy an arc in that she gets her daydream of Parker begging her to come back, but she has overcome that desire and her desire for revenge. If we wanna talk about bad subtext in Season 4, Season 2′s Not It sex subtext continues in the Where the Wild Things Are episode in this season; it’s a powerful callout of abusive purity-culture churches, until the fact that the shame creates a literal curse undermines the progressive message it’s supposed to send. Also, the Thanksgiving episode (Pangs) is a nightmare of white guilt and Oh God Shut Up White People. 

Biggest Critique: Riley is awful. Like Kennedy, he had “love interest:normal” stamped on him and that was it. The thing is, he could have worked as an Angel foil, representative of the normal-life aspect of Buffy to Angel’s vampire/supernatural aspect, but the writers never explore this and seemed to even try to back away from that later on. They threw all the romantic cliches at the wall to see what sticks, from klutzy “I dropped my schoolbooks, that’s how we met” to cliché lines that had me rolling my eyes. Do you know how bad a romance has to be to make me dislike romantic tropes? 

Favorite Episodes: Fear Itself, Hush, Restless

Villain rankings: 

Dark Willow, the only villain to be truly sympathetic. While the addiction coding was insensitive and, while unsurprising for its time, aged extremely poorly. That said, Willow’s turn to the dark side after Tara’s death worked well for her character and the story: it was believable and paid off what had been building since Season 1's “Nightmares” episode (Willow’s inferiority complex). 

Glory managed to be genuinely terrifying, and humorous/enjoyable too. Her minions and their numerous nicknames for Glorificus were hilarious, as was her intense vanity. Her merging with Ben--a human being who genuinely wanted to be kind and good--added complexity and tragedy to her role. 

The First. A really good take on Satan. The seventh season as well as the First’s first appearance in season 3′s “Amends” had kind of blatant Christian symbolism, and so the First being essentially Satan works. Their disguising themselves as dead loved ones and the subtle manipulation they used to alienate people was really disturbing and well done. 

The Mayor, who was a terrible person but a truly good father. He provided an interesting contrast to the normal ‘bad dad’ bad guy character, in that he provided Faith exactly what the other characters refused to: he saw the best in her and offered her parental support, while the heroes didn’t and wound up pushing her away. 

The Trio, who were villains ahead of their time: whiny fanboy reddit dudebros, basically. The stakes seemed so much lower than fighting Glory, a literal god, the previous season. But that’s why they worked so well for Season 6′s human themes, and were especially disturbing because we all know people like them. I also appreciated the surprisingly sensitive takes on Jonathan and Andrew, who got to redeem themselves, but Warren did not, and I don’t think he should have either. 

Angelus + Drusilla. I’m ranking them below the Trio because Angelus was just sooooo different from Angel that it was difficult for me to feel the same way for him. He was still Angel, so it wasn’t possible to enjoy his villainy, but he also wasn’t nearly as sympathetic as Dark Willow, had no redeeming qualities like the Mayor, and wasn’t as disturbingly realistic as the Trio. However, the emotional stakes were excellently executed with him as the Big Bad, in that you were never quite sure how to feel and it just plain hurt. Also, Drusilla was a favorite recurring character. She was sympathetic and yet batsh*t enough to be enjoyable as a villain at the same time. 

The Master, who was just completely camp and really worked as an introductory villain. He was scary enough to believe he was a threat, and was funny enough to introduce the series’ humor as well. He was, like Glory, an enjoyable Big Bad. 

The Gentlemen, the one-off villains of Season 4′s Hush who were genuinely terrifying. It’s not as if they got a lot of explanation or any backstory, but they didn’t need it. 

Caleb, the misogynist priest. Fitting with the First’s Christian symbolism, Caleb serving as a spokesperson of all bad religious beliefs felt appropriate. He was also a good foil to Warren--being actually supernaturally powered instead of a wannabe--and to Tara’s family in being full-out evil. I despised him. 

Snyder. Okay Snyder is not a Big Bad like Adam is, but let’s face it: Adam is lame compared to the other villains. But Snyder as a principal? He was so irritating and yet really well used in the series to critique overly strict, hypocritical teachers. Like, we all know teachers like him. I loved to hate him, and his ending was so satisfying. 

[robuttsinyourthighs]

Can we get some hc (and nsfw hc’s) of starscream being in a poly relationship with the decepticons

LONG POST AHEAD OH BOY. Please hit me up with others specifically if you want them since I might not cover each con.

Okay first and foremost we have the given Knock Out x Breakdown x Starscream poly relationship

Starscream is insecure because he joined their relationship well after theirs was fully established.

He didn’t know how to conduct himself the first few times they were all alone and trying to get intimate because the dynamic had shifted and he didn't feel in control and still struggles with it

There's a lot of trust issues that they need to work through and it isn't easy

Starscream thinks Breakdown didn't want him and was just tolerating him with Knock Out for the longest time but then learns Breakdown was the one that had wanted him to be welcomed into the relationship.

In berth they like to sandwich Starscream whenever possible.

Knock Out and Breakdown Eiffel towered Starscream and got away with the finishing high five ONCE. The second time didn't end up so pretty.

When they find out that Starscream enjoys his wings being cleaned Breakdown takes full advantage of that intel by always buffing him until he gets overcharged.

Starscream finds out Breakdown has never been fully satisfied with his valve so the commander teams up to double stuff him with Knock Out and they now alternate who gets sandwiched.

Starscream struggles with jealousy since sometimes the two like to have alone time with just one another but he’s getting better and starting to trust that he isn’t going to be cast aside.

Starscream told them from day one he doesn’t like pet names.

Breakdown calls him Screamer.

Knock Out calls him Star or Screamy.

Next we have Shockwave X Soundwave X Starscream

Starscream was approached over some lovely high grade by Soundwave to consider some fun times with himself and Shockwave

Shockwave just wanted to watch

After some casual encounters they wanted to make it more official and Starscream, being Starscream, was iffy.

Soundwave saved him in battle once and it was the hottest thing Starscream had ever seen.

Shockwave has an oral kink. He likes to use and watch others use their mouths.

Soundwave is a very cuddly partner so he and Starscream often snuggle tight in berth, Shockwave just lays below them.

Shockwave enjoys efficiency so sometimes while addressing Megatron on a call he'll entertain Starscream under the console ;3

Soundwave can sit for hours just watching his two nerds in the lab, even when they aren't doing anything spicy with each other.

Starscream loves being on top of Shockwave because his chest is a lovely perch to lean on while he rides him.

Next up Dreadwing & Skyquake x Predaking x Starscream (pretending he never betrayed either of them and if Skyquake lived)

Dreadwing and Skyquake both wanted Starscream so they both unintentionally cornered the poor bastard and told them, very cordially (and LOUDLY), that they wanted to court him.

Starscream didn't know what to do because the brothers treated him POLITELY and respectfully. They gave him gifts and went on walks after shifts, taking turns so as not to flank him at all times. He was sure this was some attemptb on his life. He was sure of it.

Starscream grew to respect and appreciate their calm demeanor, though Dreadwing is more the calm one then Skyquake.

Predaking also wanted to approach the seeker after they'd been "training" before he discovered his root mode, but he approached the seeker's current suitors to challenge then.

Skyquake and Dreadwing entertained his challenge but admitted they only wanted Starscream's happiness. They offered to let the dragon approach Starscream

Starscream thought he was being pawned off at first and didn't speak to any of them for a month before they all, once again, cornered him to talk.

The idea of having 3 partners was not that hard of a concept for Starscream, he was just surprised the idea came from two larger seekers and a dragon (really the dragon thing was the most crazy part of it)

Starscream is extremely vocal in berth and Skyquake appreciates it, talking dirty with him and encouraging it.

Dreadwing tries to keep himself quiet so he can hear all the little sounds his jet makes before he starts getting loud.

Predaking gets riled up when the other is vocal and often finds himself snarling and roaring with him.

Skyquake and Dreadwing will couple with Starscream at the same time but very carefully so as not to hurt him, but Starscream doesn't mind. It takes a long time to try and convince them that it's okay to be a little rough with him but it isn't their thing.

Predaking, on the other hand, gladly obliges Starscream's request. All three usually join in the aftercare at least.

Starscream is happiest when they all pile together in a massive nest of a berth on the rare chance that they all have the same time off to rest.

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Makayla Part One

Sam Winchester x Reader

Words: 2767

Summary: Five years after abandoning your former hunting partners, you turn up at the bunker pleading for the Winchester’s help. Old wounds open for Sam and Dean goes into protective brother mode. Everything changes when you tell them why you’re there. 

Notes: I imagine this taking place in season 12. 1) because I think Sam is extremely attractive in this season and 2) I wanted to involve Mary. As always, reviews mean the world so don’t be shy! This is going to be another mini series, probably having three or four parts, so be sure to keep me updated on what you think. 

Special shout out to my amazing beta reader Sarah, @suckmysupernatural​ . I love her so much and honestly, she’s helped me so much in getting these imagines out for you and she has some absolutely killer writing of her own!

Want more Supernatural? Find it HERE

-

The violent rattling of the door was starting to scare her. She was crying, but you didn’t have time to comfort her. You grabbed her duffel bag, swept her up in your arms, and you ran like hell. You got to the car and rapidly buckled her into her car seat before feeling a hand yank you backwards. 

“Mommy!” Makayla cried. The vampire bared his fangs at you and you landed a punch his his nose, stunning him long enough for you to grab the machete from the front seat. 

“Kayla, baby, close your eyes.” You instructed before you lobbed off the vamp’s head with one clean swing. Blood splattered your clothes and the body landed with a thump. Your daughter’s tear filled green-blue eyes opened again and you quickly stood in between her and the gory mess. “Everything is going to be okay.” 

You jumped in the driver seat and practically floored it, ignoring the crunch and bump as you drove over the dead vampire. You drove for about an hour and pulled off into a motel parking lot. Makayla was still crying so you climbed back into the back seat and pulled her into your lap. It was quiet for a moment as her tears slowly stopped. 

“Mommy?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Can you tell me about him again? So I won’t be scared?” You brushed her brown hair back and kissed her forehead. God, she looked just like him.

“Kayla, you must have heard the story a thousand times.” Her innocent look morphed with enough sass to convince anyone. Now that, you were sure she got from her uncle. 

“I want to hear it again.” Adding a pout for good measure, she cuddled up closer to you. “Please?” You chuckled and let out a sigh of defeat. 

“Alright, alright.” Truth is, sometimes it just hurt too much to remember. But Makayla always wanted to hear more and more about her dad. “You’re dad and I had been friends for a long time. We traveled together, along with your uncle, for years and years, killing bad monsters and saving good people.”

“Dad was good at killing monsters, right mom?” A proud smile spread across her face. 

“The best.” You held her tighter, remembering how he used to smile at you when you’d defeat some evil spirit or demon. How you missed that smile.  “After a few years of traveling together, your dad and I fell in love. He protected me and I protected him. We were happy.” This was the part of the story you could never get through. “But one day, I had to go away.”

“Why?” Every time she asked you this and every time you just gave her the same answer. 

“I’ll explain one day. When you’re older.” You ran your fingers through her hair, looking at the stars through the sunroof. “But after I left, I had you.”

“And now we have each other’s backs.” Kayla beamed. You smiled. 

“That’s right.” 

“Mom, what was he like?” No matter how many times she’d heard it, she always wanted to hear more.

“Your dad was the kindest, bravest, and most caring person I’ve ever met. He was sweet and strong and he gave the absolute best hugs in the whole wide world. He had green-blue eyes that lit up when he smiled-”

“Just like me!”

“Just like you.” You pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “Your dad showed me what love is. And when I had to go, somebody up there,” You pointed to the stars, “wanted to make sure I could pass that love onto someone else. So they gave me you.” You were both silent for a while, Kayla drinking in your words and you trying to keep your emotions in check. 

“Tell me something new, mom. Please?” She had heard all of this before, but she never could get enough. In her mind, her dad was a superhero. You thought for a moment. 

“Well, your dad had the best laugh. Even after an exhausting day of fighting bad, bad monsters, he could light up the room. His big brother meant the world to him. And me. We were a real family. He was from Kansas. And his name…” You took a deep breath. “Was Sam.” 

-

Five Years Ago

“Sam look out!” You shouted. He ducked and you shot the shape-shifting bitch in the heart. You watched as the false-Jessica crumpled to the ground. This particular freak had a vendetta against Sam for taking down one of its shape shifting buddies. To get revenge, it took the form of Sam’s dead girlfriend, Jessica. Even after seven years, the memory of her still hurt him more than you could ever know. 

For a while, you both just stood there. Sam was frozen, staring down at the shapeshifter’s body, the loss of what could have been lingering sadly in his eyes. You wanted to reach out to him. To hold him and comfort him so that the memories didn’t become nightmares tonight, even though you knew they would. But you knew that you weren’t what he needed. 

“It wasn’t her.” You said, trying not to look at her. Shape shifter or not, she was beautiful. She had been everything he ever wanted. She was normal. And you knew that he would always love her. 

“I know.” He sighed, finally tearing his eyes away from the body. He walked around it and pulled you into a hug without another word. Just holding you reminded him that he was okay. That even after everything he’d lost, he still had you. 

“Hello!” A voice shouted from the basement. “Could you cut the Nicholas Sparks crap and get me out of here!” You and Sam looked at each other. 

“Dean.” In the heat of the fight, you had honestly forgotten that he was caged up in the basement. 

After freeing Dean, you disposed of the body and headed back to the motel for a much needed shower. Sam let you have dibs, despite Dean’s protests. The boys opted to go grab some take out for dinner, telling you they’d be back soon. 

“You okay?” Dean asked, letting Sam drive since his head was still pounding from getting knocked out. Sam took a deep breath. 

“I will be.” He had you now. 

“Y/N kicked ass today.” Dean noted, giving his brother a look. 

“Yeah.” Sam chuckled. “Yeah she did.” Dean shook his head. 

“Uh oh.” 

“What?”

“That is a dangerous look, Sammy.” Dean turned on the radio and Sam quickly switched it off. 

“What look?” 

“You know what look.” When Sam still didn’t understand, Dean sighed. “You love her.” Sam shifted in his seat. 

“Dean, Y/N and I have been together for almost two years now. Maybe...” Sam kept his eyes on the road, but his mind was only thinking about you. “Maybe I do love her. What’s it to you?” Dean laughed. 

“Just buckle up, Sammy.” Deep down, Dean was afraid for his little brother. Y/N was a survivor. And he knew that she would do anything to keep herself from getting hurt, even if it meant hurting Sam in the process. 

-

Present Day

You wouldn’t have come if you had any other choice. You were so far in over your head that you had nearly gotten Makayla hurt and that couldn’t happen again. You needed the help of the best hunters that you knew. So there you stood, outside a worn down looking building in Lebanon, Kansas. Knocking didn’t work and you knew that you weren’t getting through that massive metal door, so your only option was to wait. Luckily, you had a family friend in Hastings who had chopped a few vampire heads in their hunting glory days watching over Kayla. 

You froze at the sound of a gun cocking. 

“Who are you?” It was a woman’s voice. Maybe you had the wrong hideout. 

“I’m looking for the Winchesters.” Still facing the door, you felt the rifle press against the back of your head. 

“Who. Are. You?” She asked again. 

“I’m an old friend.” 

“What do you want with Sam and Dean?” She pressed the rifle a little harder into your skull. 

“Who are you?” You challenged. “How do you know Sam and Dean?” You moved to turn around, but you were knocked out cold as she slammed the butt of the rifle into the back of your head. 

When you woke up, you were tied to a chair in what looked like a kitchen. 

“What the hell…” You groaned, your head aching. A woman was standing in front of you- presumably the one that gave you the concussion. 

“I got you in passed the wardings, so I’m assuming you’re human or some kind of creature.” 

“I’m a hunter.” 

“Even if that is true, what do you want with the Winchesters?”

“I need their help taking care of a nest of vampires.” The more you looked at her, the more familiar her face looked. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” She just narrowed her eyes. 

“Sam and Dean will be back any minute so they can figure this out.” She sighed and walked out of the kitchen. 

“Are you just going to leave me here?” You shouted in annoyance. You didn’t have time for this. You didn’t like being away from Makayla. She had grown up as one tough little girl, but you knew she got scared when you were gone for too long. Thinking of your daughter, you felt a sense of dread wash over you. You were going to have to tell him. But how could you? How do you tell Sam Winchester that he’s had a daughter for the past four years? 

The loud clanging sound of the bunker door opening pulled you out of your planning. You heard Dean’s voice echo down the hall. 

“Mom! We’re back!” Wait… Mom? “Well, I’m back, Sam went to get more coffee, but I think he’s secretly buying conditioner.” 

“Dean, we have a small problem.” You heard your captor tell him before her voice dropped to a whisper. 

“You tied up a girl in our kitchen!” Dean exclaimed and she told him to keep his voice down. He appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. He froze when he saw you, his face changing from worried to pissed. 

“Hey Dean.” You greeted, giving him an awkward smile. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” He growled. 

“Can we talk after you untie me?”

“I don’t think I want to.” 

“Dean!” With an aggravated huff, he moved behind you to undo your constraints. “That woman is your mother?”

“It’s a long story that I really don’t feel like explaining to you.” You wiggled your wrists free and stood up, swaying slightly from the dizziness. Dean crossed his arms. “You need to leave.”

“I need your help.” 

“I don’t care.” The last time he was this mad at you was the last time you saw him. You would never forget the look of disgust on his face before he got in the impala and drove away. “You can’t be here when Sam gets back.” 

“Dean, you know I wouldn’t be here if I had a choice.” You pleaded. You didn’t blame him for hating you. You broke his number one rule. You hurt his little brother. Before he could respond, you both heard the bunker door again. 

“Dean, why is there another car outside-” Sam started to ask, his words catching in his throat when he walked into the kitchen. “Y/N.” He gasped, his eyes going soft. 

“She was just leaving.” Dean gave you a hard stare. 

“Sam I-”

“What are you doing here?” Sam stood up straighter, pushing his emotions aside, his eyes turning hard like his brother’s. 

“I know that I have no right to be here.” 

“No. You don’t.” His jaw clenched as he resisted the urge to throw his arms around you. Five years since ditching him at a motel in Missouri, why show up now?

“But I need you.” You tried to keep calm, but so many thoughts were bombarding your already pounding head. “I need your help with a hunt.” 

“Why the hell would we help you?” Dean scoffed, getting angrier and angrier by the second. Sam just looked hurt. 

“This is just about a hunt?” He shook his head. He was stupid to think you would come for anything else. 

“Look, I wouldn’t have tracked you two down if I thought I could find anyone else. But everyone knows the Winchesters are the best hunters around.” You had to drop your pride and just say it. “I’m in over my head here, Sam.”

“I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but that sounds like a you problem. Not an us problem.” Dean motioned for you to leave, but you stood your ground. 

“Sam, please.” You were almost tempted to get on your knees and beg, but your phone started to ring. “Damn it.” You muttered, answering to a worried sounding Naomi. 

“You better get back here, Y/N.” She whispered into the receiver. You could hear Makayla singing along to the radio. 

“Are you driving?” 

“There was a group of men I don’t know at my house so I’m taking Kayla to a motel run by a friend of mine. You better hurry up with those hunting pals and come and get her. She’ll be safer with three of you than just me.” 

“They’re going to need a little more convincing, Naomi.” You hissed, feeling Sam and Dean’s eyes burning into you. She sighed. 

“Well one of them’s her daddy, isn’t he?” 

“Naomi-”

“You’ll have to tell him one way or another. Just get them up here.” She hung up without giving you a chance to argue. You turned back to the brothers. 

“I need you to come to Hastings.” 

“Like hell-” Dean started but Sam interrupted him. 

“Why?” The way he looked at you made you feel like something heavy was weighing on your chest. You couldn’t breathe, let alone tell him about Makayla. 

“I… I can’t tell you.” Before Dean could explode on you, you continued. “I have to show you.” 

“No, no way. I am not driving an hour just to-”

“Okay.” Sam agreed, earning a very irritated glare from his brother. Dean’s eyes darted between the two of you. He ran his hand down his face. 

“Fine. Fine! But I am driving.” 

-

You rode in silence. You offered to take your own car, but Dean insisted on you riding with them. He probably thought you would just cut and run again. So you were forced to endure an hour of agonizing, angry silence. They had told their mother- yeah, their dead mother who was now kicking your ass- that they would be back soon, so it was just the three of you. Dean wouldn’t even turn on the radio. Sam couldn’t look at you. 

You shouldn’t have come. You should have found another hunter- anyone else. The little voice in your head suggested maybe this was just an excuse. A reason to see him again. You had to remind yourself that you were here for Makayla. You would do anything if it meant keeping her safe. But how were you going to tell him?

You arrived at the motel before you could really think of a plan. Naomi said she was in room 6 and she met you outside, thankfully. 

“Is she okay?” You asked quietly. Naomi nodded, eyeing the two men getting out of the car behind you. 

“She’s inside now watching old Scooby-Doo reruns.” She pulled you aside. “So what did he say?” 

“I haven’t told him.” You gulped. Her eyes widened. 

“Well, honey, you better think of something fast.” She motioned to Dean and Sam, who were now walking towards the door. 

“So what is it? What do you have to show us?” Dean huffed. Sam just watched you with curious eyes. 

“Okay, there’s something I need to talk to you about before I open this door.” You took a deep breath, trying to come up with a plan. 

“Mommy!” And there goes the plan. Makayla ran out of the door and latched to your leg. Sam and Dean froze. You bit your lip, putting a hand on her head. 

“Guys, this is Makayla.” You picked her up. Dean’s confusion started to morph into understanding as he looked at her dark hair and bright eyes. You couldn’t read Sam’s face. “Makayla, this is Dean. And this...” You felt terrified tears spring to your eyes. “Is Sam.”

-

Continue to Part Two

General Tag: @rae-gar-targaryen; @takemepedropascal; @childhood-imagination;  @mylovegoesto;

Supernatural: @desimarie12; @deandreamernp; @vicmc624​; @halesandy​

Sam Winchester: @theamuz

[luxekook]

love bites | ksj

*written for the FWL luv library project*

⇥ pairing: kim seokjin x reader

⇥ genre: non-idol au, co-workers to lovers, smut, fluff

⇥ summary: you’re stuck working the evening shift on valentine’s day at bangtan bistro. as the city’s most expensive and exclusive restaurant, the bistro draws in couples both old and new with partners looking to propose or to impress. your tolerance for PDA and cringey lovebirds has never been lower. throw a flirty chef into the mix and you’re in for a bumpy ride that might just conclude with a happy ending.

⇥ word count: 5.4k

⇥ warnings: 18+, smut, cursing, bad puns from jin, numerous health-code violations (from fraternizing all up in that kitchen), oral (m + f receiving), protected sex (wrap it b4 u tap it, folks), workplace romance, threats of violence from yoongi

⇥ beta'd by the amazing @shadowsremedy​ (thank you, heath! could not have done this without you, your feedback, and your general support!)

“Will you marry me?”

I screech to a halt, completely astounded at the goddamned audacity of the man kneeling before me. Did he really just ask that? At a time like this?

I shift my weight from one foot to the other as I try not to outwardly show my disgust over the scene unfolding before my very eyes.

“Oh my god, Chad!” The date of this Chad finally launches herself from her seat and into his arms, “Yes!”

The restaurant breaks into applause. My forehead breaks into a sweat.

My left arm feels like it might snap at any moment under the weight of the tray of food that I’m meant to be serving this goddamn theatrical couple. The thought of quitting crosses my mind for the umpteenth time that evening.

A camera flash temporarily stuns me, and I feel a tiny twinge of satisfaction. My looming presence in that commemorative photo will hopefully be a reminder to let servers do their damn job before launching into a whole ordeal.

God, I must have been off my fucking rocker when I agreed to work the Valentine’s Day dinner shift. At least the tip money would be worth it.

Gritting my teeth, I flash my best fake smile and offer words of congratulations to the sniffling couple who finally reclaimed their seats.

“Enjoy your meal,” my mouth says with a smile.

“I wish I could sear you like that filet mignon you ordered, Chad,” my glare says with promise.

Thirty seconds later, I’m in full whisper-rant mode at the corner server station. My friend and fellow server Tabby half-listens as she punches in an order at the kiosk.

“And then this Chad in his fucking khaki suit flails to the ground to pop the question like he didn’t see me walking towards them with all seven entrees they ordered. So then I’m stuck hovering over their table with a giant-ass tray of food while they cry and hug and kiss until, finally, finally, they park it back in their seats so I can serve them.”

I groan, hitting my head against the wall, “What did I do in a past life to deserve this?”

“Kill someone, probably,” a voice pipes up from behind the station’s kitchen window, “Oh wait, you would do that in this life, too.”

Kim Seokjin, head chef of Bangtan Bistro and my partial employer, is leaning over the window’s counter, eyes full of mischief as he watches me.

“Oh, what’s this? Are you volunteering to be my very first victim?” I mirror his position leaning over the window’s counter and give him my best side-eye, “I’ll send you my application for victims on Google Docs.”

“Sounds kinky,” Seokjin grins, “Count me in. My Gmail username is Hugh Chefner. No capitals or spaces.”

“I despise you,” I say biting back a smile.

“You lo-o-ove me!” He sings, heading back into the depths of the hectic kitchen.

And, unfortunately, he’s right. Damn Kim Seokjin and his insane level of gorgeousness, charisma, and dramatics.

Against my better judgment, Seokjin has shimmied his chaotic self right into my well-guarded heart. Despite all of the prickliness my typical demeanor displays, I can’t help but melt under the warm gaze of such a handsome man.

Seokjin is the first person that has ever been able to pique my interest lately and keep it. Yes, it might have something to do with his extreme attractiveness; but, it more-so has everything to do with his genuine kindness and weird sense of humor.

Shit, I’ve gone soft. If we’re arguing Nature vs. Nurture here, this is totally Nurture’s fault.

Bangtan Bistro is co-owned by seven men - each as fine as the next. Being surrounded by good-looking and kind-hearted men day in and day out will definitely fuck with your brain, your body, and eventually even your fucking heart.

Kim Namjoon, a tall, dimpled sweetheart of a man, acts as general manager. Namjoon typically resides in the back office of the restaurant running numbers and going over other business ventures. He used to frequent the front of the restaurant to check on customers, but Jimin has since banned him from that activity after the infamous Spaghetti Incident of 2019.

Park Jimin, as the overseer of staff and servers, commands the restaurant floor with a crinkly-eyed smile and a ferocious temper. Fortunately for his direct subordinates (READ: me), his temper is most likely to be focused on rude customers and his messy business partners. Jimin honestly is the ideal boss because he has our backs and will never hesitate to help anyone out.

Late one Saturday evening, a man refused to leave the restaurant after being cut off from his bar tab. Jimin full-on squared up with him in defense of the poor server who had to break the news to the drunk patron. Luckily, the Bistro’s head of security, Jeon Jungkook, took over before Jimin actually popped off.

Jungkook, as the youngest partner, is shockingly tall and muscular. He definitely provides the intimidation needed for those types of escalating incidents. Despite his tough exterior, Jungkook is a complete softie.

I once caught Jungkook in the kitchen after close attempting to make cookies for a girl he had a crush on. I walked in to see Jungkook standing over a tray of the unidentifiable charred monstrosities and pouting in the most ridiculous way. Needless to say, I helped him bake a new batch with the oven not turned up to 500 degrees so that “they would cook faster”.

Min Yoongi had found the pair of us bickering and had just rolled his eyes and scooped a mouthful of raw cookie dough. As the head bartender, Yoongi is the absolute best at mixing drinks and the absolute worst at customer service. I swear the man gets far too much pleasure from getting people thrown out. He’s also notorious for watering down the drinks of customers he doesn’t like. He’s petty like that. I live for it.

Once, Jung Hoseok tried to take a picture of Yoongi for the restaurant’s website, and Yoongi threatened to shove a sharpened cocktail umbrella through Hoseok’s eye. I had never seen the Bistro’s head of marketing and resident sunshine flee so fast. Hoseok later ended up using an old picture of Yoongi in retaliation; rumor has it Yoongi is still plotting his revenge to this day.

Kim Taehyung often grumbles about how he’s going to be put out of a job since the restaurant naturally provides daily entertainment. As the head of entertainment and events, Taehyung helps to secure live music and special guests. He’s also the most handsome man I have ever seen - with the exception of one Kim Seokjin.

Seokjin, as head chef, is responsible for planning the seasonal menus, overseeing the kitchen staff, and preparing the more challenging dishes. He’s even taken it upon himself to be the resident comedian, which the other six partners vehemently and openly detest. Still, that backlash has not stopped him from naming each evening special with puns. His last Seokjin Special was called “Chicken Pot Bye Felicia”. It had resulted in Yoongi banning Seokjin from the restaurant for a full week. He still hasn’t dared to make another pun, but I can tell it will only be a matter of time.

Basically, Seokjin is an entirely goofy and beautiful mess of a human. Yet, I can’t stop myself from falling deeper and deeper into the trap that is loving someone outside of your league.

When I first arrived at the Bistro for my inaugural shift, I was greeted enthusiastically by Jimin, who I’d met previously in my interview. Jimin had introduced me to each of his partners - each as handsome as the last. Honestly, my eyes and nerves had been exhausted after meeting almost all of them. Then Jimin had ushered me into the kitchen.

“Hey, Jin-hyung!” Jimin had yelled over the cacophony of sizzling pans and murmured conversation. I had watched in awe as the hottest man I’ve ever seen entered my line of vision and stopped before me. Tall and broad-shouldered, he had a face that could inspire priceless works of art with full pink lips, high cheekbones, and devilish dark eyes.

“You summoned me, Jiminie?” The man had laughed in a slightly squeaky manner before he noticed my presence, “Ah, who might this be?”

I had cleared my throat in hopes that my voice wouldn’t crack under the sheer weight of this man’s attractiveness, “Hi, I’m (y/n). I’m starting today as a server.” and thrust my hand out with a shy smile.

He had blinked. Slowly, a smirk eased onto his face as he grabbed my hand. Instead of shaking it, he had brought it to his lips. “A pleasure. I’m Seokjin,” he had murmured, lips brushing against my knuckles. My cheeks had felt like they were on fire as Jimin screeched at Seokjin for harassing me.

“It’s her first day, Jin! Lay off the theatrics,” Jimin had turned to me, “Sorry about him, (y/n). He’s a desperate flirt.”

“Desperate? Me?” Seokjin gasped, “Worldwide Handsome does not do desperate.”

“Did you just refer to yourself as ‘Worldwide Handsome’?” I had gaped at his open arrogance.

Seokjin proudly had puffed up his chest, “Yes. What else could I possibly be called?”

“Well, definitely not Worldwide Humble,” My mouth had said before my brain caught up.

The room had seemed to pause before Jimin erupted in peals of laughter as Seokjin spluttered, “Yah, Jiminie, you can’t let her talk to me like that!”

Still laughing, Jimin had choked out, “(y/n), you officially have a job here until you die.”

Ever since that first encounter, Seokjin and I have established a working relationship based on banter or what Tabby refers to as ‘flirting’. I refuse to believe that ridiculous notion.

Tabby finally finishes entering her order into the kiosk and turns to me, “So, any hot plans for tonight?” Her eyebrows wiggle up and down suggestively.

“Does solo Netflix and chill count as hot plans?” I deadpan as I peer around the server station divider to covertly check on my tables. I lock eyes on Chad and his fiancé, who already seem to be arguing, and I make an executive decision to not go check how their meal is going.

“No!” Tabby’s whisper-yell commands my attention, “That definitely does not count, (y/n). Why didn’t you find someone on Tinder? I even made you that bomb-ass profile.”

I pointedly look everywhere but at her.

“You deleted the app, didn’t you,” she glares at me, arms folded, “I slaved over that profile! There were only so many tasteful cleavage shots of my best friend that I could stomach in one sitting!”

“What the fuck, Tabby! Since when do I have any—”

“Tasteful cleavage shots?” Seokjin’s elated voice practically shouts from the kitchen, “Let me at ‘em.”

His hands launch towards us through the kitchen window and make grabbing motions.

“Seokjin,” I tsk mockingly, “Are you trying to grab my tits again?”

“Again?” Tabby cries, whirling on Seokjin, who looks at us in horror.

“I wasn’t! I swear! I just wanted to see the pictures! I didn’t want to grab your boobs…” He trails off, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like ‘not any more than usual, anyway’.

“Seokjin-hyung! (y/n)!” Jimin blazes into the service station, “I’ve had it up to here with your bickering. You’re both on closing duties tonight - alone.”

“What?” I exclaim as Tabby slinks away. Traitor. “We’re just joking with each other! Right, Seokjin?”

Jimin’s gaze swings from me to Seokjin, who is suddenly suspiciously calm. My eyes narrow. A silent conversation is definitely happening without my participation.

Finally, Seokjin just shrugs with a grin, “Sounds fair to me, Jiminie! (y/n) and I will work hard all night if we have to.”

“Fair?” I choke, “All night?”

Jimin, following Tabby’s lead, scurries away as my attention is diverted by Seokjin’s idiocy. “Scared to be alone with me, (y/n)?” Seokjin’s lips break into a sly smile, “Don’t worry, I don’t bite… much.”

With that parting remark, Seokjin winks at me and disappears back into the kitchen.

“Fuck me,” I breathe out. How would I survive this?

Five hours later, the last patron has been ushered out of the restaurant with the staff right on their heels. I curse as Yoongi waltzes out the door, fanning himself with a crisp fifty-dollar bill and winking obnoxiously. “Have fun!” He cackles, locking the restaurant doors behind him.

“No, please don’t offer to stay and help,” I grumble, sweeping stray pieces of lettuce out from under a table, “I am more than happy to stay here until the ass-crack of dawn with the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.”

“The biggest, huh?” The voice chuckles right in my ear, “How did you know?”

“Goddamnit, Seokjin!” I slap a hand to my heart, “Don’t sneak up on me like that, you oaf!”

Whirling to face him, I stutter to a halt. He’s taken off his heavy chef’s coat and is now left in a tight black t-shirt that clings to his body in a manner that has to be illegal.

I swallow hard, and for a split second, I swear Seokjin’s gaze latches onto my throat.

“Is it hot in here?” I mutter distractedly, tugging at the collar of my stiff white button-down.

“Yes,” Seokjin practically purrs, “It’s scorching.”

Choosing not to acknowledge him, I spin on my heels, grabbing the full dustpan of debris I collected and head towards the back of the restaurant.

Emptying the dustpan in the trash, I walk over to the supply closet to return the broom. The restaurant floor is finished. Now, I just had to see how much of the kitchen Seokjin actually cleaned.

Pushing through the swinging doors of the kitchen, I screech to a halt as I’m faced with a complete and utter miracle.

“What in tarnation?” I gasp, taking in the pristine kitchen full of glistening stainless steel and sparkling countertops. “Kim Seokjin!” I yell, “You damn wizard! How the fuck did you clean everything this fast?”

“You could say I was motivated,” his reply sounds entirely too close. I spin to face him and gape as I notice the bouquet of red roses that he’s holding out to me.

Taking in my speechless appearance, Seokjin smiles smugly and opens his mouth to continue.

I cut him off, “Tell me those aren’t the roses from the fucking table centerpieces... I threw those in the trash, Seokjin!”

His ears turn an alarming shade of magenta, “Yah, just accept the gesture, (y/n)! This is peak romance, you know!”

“They are covered in filth, dude!” I squint, peering closer, “Is that a piece of spaghetti in there?”

Seokjin yeets the makeshift bouquet back into the garbage, “Why can’t you just appreciate my efforts?” He pouts excessively, “Don’t you like me?”

Red alert. Red alert, my mind whirs.

“Sure,” I let out a nervous laugh, “We’re friends. Of course, I like you.”

He steps towards me, “Sure, we’re friends, (y/n), but friends don’t usually want to fuck each other.”

That bitch said what now?

“Did you inhale too much Clorox?” I panic, “Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?” Thrusting three fingers in front of Seokjin’s amused face, I widen my eyes as he suddenly grabs my hand.

“Baby,” he says lowly, sending a delicious shiver down my spine, “If you keep being so adorable, I may just have to keep you.”

Well, shit, okay. “Say less,” I breathe and then immediately slam my mouth shut.

I receive a classic Seokjin grin in return for my idiocy, and my knees shake. Honestly, who the fuck allowed him to be that devastating?

Slowly, his grin slips away, and his eyes ignite with raw desire, “Tell me what you want from me, (y/n).”

My mind short circuits, automatically reverting to my default mode of sass, “Uh, peace and quiet?”

“Really?” Seokjin murmurs, stepping even closer still, “So you don’t want me to kiss you? You don’t want me to turn you over and fuck you until you scream?”

My breathing is ragged. His eyes burn with a hunger I had never seen before, and I’m crumbling.

“Answer me,” Jin demands, desperation seeped in each word, “Please.”

“Seokjin—” I gasp, dumbfounded, “Where the hell is this coming from? We’re coworkers! You’re my boss!”

His eyes flashed darkly as he moved his head closer to mine, “That’s all irrelevant, baby.”

“Irrelevant—!” I stab a finger into his firm chest, “Oh, you little shit, you can’t just say that you want to fuck me and then say that our working relationship is irrelevant! I could get fired. You could get fired!”

“That’s highly unlikely given the fact that everyone else knows my plans to ask you out right now.”

“Hold on a second,” I narrow my eyes, “Are you saying that you purposefully planned for us to stay late tonight to clean the entire goddamn restaurant just so you could ask me out? Are you fucking insane?”

“I prefer the term ‘quirky’,” he quips, “But, yeah, I may have paid everyone $50 to leave us alone for the night.”

“Well, that explains Yoongi… that shady motherfucker,” I internally make note to plot my vengeance. “Why couldn’t you have just slid in my DMs like a normal person, Seokjin?” I groan, “I would have responded to a ‘you up’ with a ‘yes, come over’.”

Seokjin whips out his cell phone. “Does this apply to right now?” he asks, typing furiously.

My phone dings with several Instagram notifications.

hughchefner: u up

hughchefner: wyd

hughchefner: date me?

(y/n): bet

Seokjin’s eyes shoot up to mine after he reads my response, “Really? You agreed to date me by saying ‘bet’ in an Instagram DM?”

“Yup,” I shrug, “No take-backs. Also, to answer your previous questions: Yes, I do want you to kiss me with your insufferable mouth, and, yes, I do want to sit on your dick. Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Say less,” Seokjin echoes my earlier statement and captures my mouth with his. I wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him back with equal fervor.

“(Y/n),” he groans right as my tongue swipes teasingly against his lower lip.

His hands slid down my body, pausing only to squeeze my waist gently before settling firmly on my ass. His fingers dig in hard and I let out an embarrassingly loud moan.

“You like that, baby? You like when I’m rough?” Seokjin pulls his lips off mine and murmurs sinfully, “God, I want to devour you.”

I lift my chin up and challenge, “Do it, you won’t.”

His eyes flare, “Oh, babygirl, you were made for me.” Seokjin’s lips return to mine, moving at a slow but ravenous pace.

Still kissing me, he picks me up and places me on one of the kitchen’s stainless steel counters. His hands grab my thighs, tugging them apart to make room for him to stand between them. A harsh groan rises from the depths of his chest as our bodies align.

I hook one leg around his waist and tug him closer still. Pulling my lips away, I lean my head back as I slowly trace his muscles through his shirt. He watches me with his puffy lips parted, his breathing hard. His eyes are wild and I’m loving every second of it.

The room suddenly feels too hot. My hands dart up to shakily begin undoing the buttons of my shirt. Seokjin’s eyes follow my movements with fascination. “Let me,” he purrs and proceeds to rip my shirt from my body. Buttons scatter on the floor with sorrowful little bounces.

“You bitch,” I yank his hair, “That was my good work shirt.”

“I’ll buy you ten more,” Seokjin’s voice is rough and full of desire as he takes in my lacy white bra. Suddenly, his mouth descends to suck at my nipple through the thin lace.

“Damn, you are so fucking sexy,” he pulls his mouth away, “Can I take this off?”

I nod like a bobblehead in 60mph winds, reaching around my back with one hand to undo the clasp and then throwing my bra clear across the kitchen. It lands on top of one of the fridges and I shrug. I’d retrieve it later.

Seokjin tugs off his own shirt, revealing planes of tanned skin. I don’t hesitate to run my hands up and down the definition of his abs and watch in fascination as his muscles constrict under my touch. I run my hands lower, tracing his defined v-line.

No wonder they call it the Adonis belt, I muse, pondering if he’d let me lick it.

Huffing in impatience at my slow exploration, Seokjin returns his mouth to my nipple and sucks hard. My eyes nearly roll into the back of my head. He bites down gently and then blows on my nipple slowly. I moan at the sensation. I watch him through unfocused eyes as his hand slides down the front of my body. He reaches the button of my pants and pauses.

Seokjin pulls his mouth away from my nipple, his lips swollen and pink. “You have to say yes, baby.” His breath hits my ear, making me shiver.

I hold out my hand for a high-five and declare, “We stan a man who asks for clear consent.” Chuckling, Seokjin slaps my offered hand and then links his fingers with mine.

“Also,” I continue, looking into his eyes, “It’s a fuck yes.” I pull our linked fingers close to place a kiss on his knuckles.

“Cute,” he grins, “Now, can I take off your pants?”

“Take off yours first,” I order.

“So eager,” he laughs, making quick work of his black jeans. My mouth instantly waters at the sight of his hard cock straining to be released from the confines of his bright red Versace boxer briefs.

“Why am I not surprised that even your underwear is extra?” I mumble, flicking the button of my pants open.

Laughing, Seokjin takes over, tugging my pants down my legs. He then pushes my matching white lace panties aside and cups my pussy, applying pressure. I roll my hips into his hand.

His fingers trace lightly up and down my pussy, before one dips inside me. “Fuck, you’re so wet for me,” he groans.

“Always,” I breathe out. Suddenly, he pulls his hand away from me. I pout. Seokjin laughs at my expression and then licks his finger.

“Jesus fuck, (y/n), you taste so sweet. Let me eat you out,” he pleads.

I smirk, saying, “I thought you’d never ask,” and then gasp as he kneels before me, grabbing my hips. Seokjin moves to tear my underwear off, and I’m quick to place my foot on his forehead to stop his approach. “I swear to god, Seokjin, if you rip these, I will get Namjoon to permanently ban Seokjin Specials.”

“You’re evil,” he grins, “I love it.” He makes a show of slowly taking my panties off before throwing them carelessly behind him. He then yanks the same leg I had used to thwart his panty-tearing plans and throws it over his shoulder before returning his fingers to my pussy. Seokjin’s thumb circles my clit while two of his fingers thrust into me at a maddening rate.

My fingers grip his hair when I finally feel his tongue licking up the juices that have started to run down my thighs.

After sucking what will probably become a massive hickey onto my left inner thigh, his tongue licks a path straight up my folds until it circles around my clit maddeningly. “Goddamnit, Seokjin, stop teasing,” my voice cracks in desperation, but my plea works. His tongue flicks at my clit lightly before his lips close over it and suck.

“Fuck,” I moan, “I think I like you eating me out more than I like eating your cooking.”

He pulls back to briefly land a light swat on my pussy and I choke on air as painful pleasure shoots through me. “Take that back,” he growls, “My cooking is second only to my handsome face.”

“God, I fucking hate you,” I drawl. The emphasis in my words portrays the exact opposite.

Seokjin sends me a shit-eating grin before his tongue returns to lick at my swollen clit, up and down, and then in a slow circle. His fingers brush open my folds just enough for him to sink his tongue into me. “O-oh,” I throw my head back, one hand moving up to pinch one of my nipples while the other latches back into Seokjin’s hair.

“I’m s-so close, baby,” my words slur as I shamelessly beg, “Don’t stop.”

He immediately pulls away.

“Oh, fuck you,” I seethe. I yank his head back by his hair until his neck is stretched in a long line. His hair is a mess, and I’ve never seen anything hotter.

“I just want to feel you come when I’m inside you, baby,” he smiles, my wetness glistening on his lips.

“Fine,” I shimmy off of the counter onto shaky legs, “Two can play at that game.”

“What?” Seokjin’s brows furrow in confusion.

It’s my turn to drop to my knees. “Oh, shit,” he curses as I tug his boxers down to reveal his hard cock. It’s silky and gorgeous, and I can’t stop staring at it. Seokjin, of course, notices. “You like my cock, babygirl? Take it. It’s yours.”

It already was, I think, as my gaze darts up to meet his.

Without breaking eye contact, I lick his reddened tip, almost moaning at his taste. “Fuck, babygirl,” Seokjin throws his head back. I smile wickedly. I could definitely get addicted to ruining this beautiful boy. “Look at me,” I command, feeling so powerful when he immediately listens.

Slowly, I suck down on his length, hollowing out my cheeks. My eyes stay on his as he groans, and I can tell he’s straining to keep from thrusting into my mouth.

“Please, baby, fuck—!” He moans as I swallow around him and then release him from my mouth with a pop. My hand darts up to grip him tightly, pumping him. Moving slowly, I suck one of his balls into my mouth, rolling my tongue around it gently. Seokjin chokes, “Fuck me.”

“We’ll get there, baby,” I tug my mouth away and grin up at him.

I suck him as far down as I can. His control snaps and he begins to thrust wildly into my mouth, panting.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” his eyes scrunch up as he chants, “I’m gonna come.”

I release him ruthlessly.

“Goddamnit,” he cries, “I knew that was coming, but it still hurts.”

“Well,” I wiggle my eyebrows at him, “If only you had a pretty little pussy ready for you to fuck… Oh, wait.”

Seokjin chuckles, “I see I wasn’t able to fuck some of the sass out of that mouth. We might have to try that again later.”

“Gladly,” I grin back at him, “You have a condom?”

Seokjin picks up his discarded jeans from the floor and digs around in the back pockets. “Aha!” He yells, hoisting up the glimmering gold foil in triumph.

I roll my eyes before snatching the condom from the idiot. Tearing the foil packaging open with my teeth, I grab Seokjin’s length and pump him a few times in preparation.

“Stop being a tease,” he mumbles, thrusting shallowly into my hand.

“Stop being so hot,” I challenge, leaning down to lick his pre-cum dripping from the reddened tip of his cock.

“Impossible,” Seokjin smirks before tugging me back up to face him.

He drops his lips to mine and sucks on my bottom lip. Pulling away slightly, he tugs at it in a stinging bite. Withdrawing his mouth from mine, he spins me around and bends me over the counter.

I feel the head of his cock running teasingly over the folds of my pussy and I gasp, “Please, baby, I need you inside me.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He thrusts into me in one sharp movement. We both gasp as he fills me, gliding in and out.

“Harder,” I moan.

“Fuck,” he mutters, “I’m trying to last over here.”

“Why? We have all night,” I pout before an idea pops into my head, and I taunt, “Wait, are you telling me you’re a one and done type of old man?”

“Oh, you’re going to regret that,” Seokjin mutters darkly.

His hard cock fills and stretches me, pleasure emanating within me from every sharp thrust of his hips.

“Your pussy is mine,” he growls, “I’ll fuck you from against the wall after this. I’ll fuck you until you can’t sass me anymore. And I’ll fuck you all night, baby, and every night after that.”

I clench around him as his dirty words wash over me. “Those are all great ideas in theory,” I gasp out, “But I really want to ride you first.”

“Oh, babygirl wants to fuck herself on my cock?” Seokjin slaps my ass before pulling out, “Well, come on.”

I stand upright and turn to see him walking towards the large island in the middle of the room. He hops onto it and lays down, placing one arm behind his head, and the other one slowly strokes his cock.

“You better get that hand off your cock before I decide to never let you into my pussy again,” I say darkly as I move towards him.

His hand flies off his dick at the speed of light, his eyes wide as they focus on me.

When I get close enough, I climb up onto the island and kneel with one leg on each side of his tapered waist. I slowly sink down so that just his tip is inside me and squeeze.

A garbled moan escapes Seokjin, his hands shooting out to grab my waist in an attempt to push me down further.

“Someone’s eager,” I whisper, bending down to press a quick kiss to his lips.

“I’ve been fucking eager since you were hired.” He smacks my ass and then groans as I reflexively sink down another inch.

“Yeah?” I question, sinking down another inch as his eyes squeeze shut, “You should have said something sooner, baby. I could have been riding you hard for months.”

Seokjin pouts, “Well, there’s no time like the present?”

“God, you’re such a dweeb,” I grin before taking him to the hilt. We both let out strangled breaths as I shift slightly, before placing a hand on his neck.

Keeping my hand there, I lift up and begin riding him hard. My body slides up and down onto his cock at a fast pace. Sweat drips down my back. Seokjin grabs my ass, his fingers gripping my skin, and pounds up into my pussy with brutal and possessive force.

“O-oh, fuck.” There’s something about riding Seokjin that just feels so good. My hips swivel and roll against his. The pleasure steadily builds, and I try to distract myself by biting down on Seokjin’s neck.

“I’m gonna come,” he moans, “Are you close?”

I pull away from his neck and sit up, arching my back to give him a deeper angle. He thrusts up into my g-spot and I gasp, “Shit, yes, I’m close. Come with me, baby.”

I clench my walls around him. Seokjin’s eyes are scrunched shut as he continues to pound into me with harsh strokes.

He shifts one hand from my ass to gently circle my aching clit, and I light up. My walls clench and pulse, locking down on Seokjin so tight that he comes, his hot seed filling the condom as he shudders.

I collapse against him and shove my face into his sweaty neck.

I can feel his laugh bubbling up from his chest before I hear it. “What’s so funny?” I ask, lips brushing his skin.

“Namjoon’s going to kill us for the number of health code violations we just committed,” his laughter causes his cock to shift within me, and I bite back a moan.

“Well,” I lift my face up from his neck to look at him, “We have nothing to lose at this point then, huh?”

I slowly lick my lips, and his eyes drop to them. The only noise left in the restaurant is our heavy breathing. “Round two in Namjoon’s office?” he suggests.

“Bet.”

a/n: this was so fun to write :) hope you all enjoyed it! happy valentine’s day!

© luxekook. please do not repost, modify, edit or translate.

[ishleep22]

Kereshus: The Argonian Water Mage

                                  (Final Reedit I promise)

                                                                                    An Elder scrolls story by Branton Lawrence

On the 26th of Xeech (known to the rest of Tamriel as the 26th of Sun’s Dawn), out of a luminous blue egg came a little Saxhleel boy named Kereshus. Kereshus was a small, relatively skinny Argonian with a unique light blue glowing scale all over his body. These scales are the most prominent on his face with a unique pattern on his forehead. His mother and father were confused by his appearance since no one in their tribe have ever had glowing scales to this extent and with such vibrancy. They took him to the village Tree-Minder and asked him why the hist gave him such distinct details. The Tree-Minder informed the family that he was born with an extraordinarily strong connection to Aetherius. So strong that it had a noticeable impact on his physical appearance. His mother asked why he specifically was given this connection and not his sister. The Tree-Minder told her “The Hist works in ways we will never understand. We will never truly know why your boy here was given such power. All I can tell you is nurture and take care of him. When the time comes, I will send someone to train him in the ways of the different magical schools.” His family left the Tree-Minder to begin caring for the little boy still with many questions on their minds on how to take care of such a gifted child.

Kereshus was born into a family who prided themselves on their warrior skills. His father was a renowned warhero. A giant red Argonian, taller then most high elves and beefier then most orcs. He had tones of scars all over his body from the numerous battles he has been in. His code name was Tyranno, which is known throughout Black Marsh for his victories against Dunmer Slavers and rival tribes. He was extremely strict and to the point. He didn’t play around with anything or anyone no matter who they were. His mother might not have been as well-known as his father(mainly because she’s was a very good assassin/ scout), but she was in every way his equal. She was always there, watching his back from afar or sticking her axe into anyone who got too close to him. She also had a no-crap view of life, but she was a lot less strict and a lot less narrow-minded than he was. They were a perfect duo and anyone who trifled with them found themselves headless. They finally settled down and had 2 children over the many years they were married: One of them was Kereshus the other was his older egg-sister, Am-Lee.

Am-Lee was her birth name, but she very quickly picked up the title Loves-To-Wander. Am-Lee was also a skilled warrior but her true passion was exploring. She loved discovering new places and any chance she would wander off in whatever directions she was facing. This caused some conflict with her father because she would constantly wander off during his lessons. This at first aggravated him to no end because he could see the untapped potential she had as a warrior but instead, she wasted her time climbing trees and going into places she was not supposed to go. But one day he decided to follow her to see what it was she enjoyed about exploring. He found it hard to tail this spry little lizard as she went deeper into the swamp, but he also found it entertaining in a way. After a while climbing, sprinting, and swimming they found a little circular alcove with a cute little pond at the bottom. It was a very strange thing to see in the middle of such a dense portion of the swamp. Am-Lee sat down by the edge of the pond collecting all the odd things she could find. He went up to her and put his hand on her shoulder causing her to go into full defensive mode. She flipped him over her shoulders making him land face-first into the pond. She quickly jumped onto him baring her teeth and claws. Then she realized she had just flipped her dad making her quickly jump off. She expected for him to give her all the forces of oblivion for wandering off and attacking but instead, she got to see him laugh for the first time. “I’m half surprised you didn’t finish the job; Almost cracked my damm skull open,” he said as he stood up. “I see your claws are sharper the I originally thought.” “You aren’t mad at me?” She warily asked. “Mad? No, more like surprised that you are paying attention to me!” “Your head is always in the clouds that I was convinced you that you were too high to hear me!” He chuckled. “When did you find such a beautiful little place?” “I found it 2 weeks ago when we were out hunting.” She told him. “I don’t know why but this place is just so inviting.” “I feel what you mean, little one.” “This place breaths an aura of serenity that you rarely find in these swamps.” “Hey why did you-“ “Tail you from one side of black marsh to another?” “Well because you’re my daughter and I just have to know where in oblivion you wander off to.” “By the hist, you do know what’s out there, right? It’s not safe to tread in these dark waters by yourself especially for a youngling!” “Yes, father, I know of every danger in this swamp. I also know these waters like I know my own scales.” “These waters have swallowed up Saxhleel who thought the same way you do.” “Hmm could have sworn there was only one of me.” She replied.

She prepped herself for the worst of it but again he replied calmly and gently. “You’re right. There is only one of you. Only one Am-Lee, and that’s why I came out here with you. Because I would hate to see such uniqueness disappear into the swamps forever.” She lowered her head, unaware of what to say. “Look, Am-Lee, I know you adore being out here. And I also understand that nothing I do will stop you from coming out here. So, all I ask is that you stay safe and don’t take unnecessary risks. If you see anything that looks a bit off, dive out immediately; understood?” “Yes, sir.” She replied. “That’s my little hatchling. Now come, it’s your brother's hatching day! We finally get to figure out what’s going on with him.” Before they left, her father marked this place down on his map. So, he could easily return here since he wasn’t as good as tracking as Am-Lee was.

When Kereshus was born, Am-Lee became a bit protective of him. I mean he was so skinny, and the blue glow coming off his scales was so intriguing to her. And he’s a magic user, which she had never met before besides the Tree-Minder in her village. She spent every second of her free time just admiring Kereshus and taking care of him. She went from explorer to caretaker in seconds devoting all her time to taking care of him. For some reason, he had a little trouble learning jel, their native language but had an easier time learning basic Tamrielic. He did end up being fluent in both but still, his family took note of the struggle he had to connect with other Argonians in the beginning. When Kereshus got older, Am-Lee and he became close friends with each other who always liked to challenge each other. While Kereshus was still skinny, he could hold his own with a sword even being the only one in the village to go toe-to-toe with his sister. When their father wasn’t training them, she watched Kereshus train in the arts of magic from many mages from all over Tamriel. One of them even showed Kereshus the arts of music, teaching Kereshus how to play the lute. He already had knowledge and a love for drums and other Saxhleel instruments, but the lute quickly became his favorite. He played tunes for his family every now and then until he gained enough courage to play for the entire village. He was shy at first, but he quickly opened up to everyone, and soon, his whole village adored him. He was a quiet, yet charismatic Argonian who loved his family and friends. But he didn’t let this love for his sister make him any less a rival to her.

It was the Annual Village Brawl where Saxhleel tested each other in one round battle until one person yielded. It was Kereshus vs Am-Lee and the whole village was watching. They battled furiously against each other until Kereshus got the upper hand and accidentally slashed her eye. In a panic, he quickly ran to see if she was ok. Am-Lee took advantage of this flipping Kereshus to the ground putting her sword to his neck. “Yield?” She asked. “Yah yah, I yield. Hey, are you ok?” “Kereshus, you know I’m fine. I’ve taken bigger hits from people bigger than you.” “But did those hits leave a mark like that?” “Well, I’m not blind so again it really doesn’t matter.” “I know but- “What did I tell you about this? When I say I’m fine, I’m fine. You know if I wasn’t fine, you’d be the first one to know.” “but- ““By the hist, you worry too much. Come on I have something to show you.” Am-Lee leads Kereshus to that circular alcove that she hadn’t been to in so many years. “What is this place?” Kereshus asked. “A place I found a while ago. I used to come here every day before you were born. It’s still as peaceful as I remember it being.” So why did you bring me here?” “Well for 2 reasons: One I have a question for you and two I have a gift for you.” “Well let’s start with the question; What is it?” I was wondering if you’d like to be my traveling partner. I’ve always loved to explore as you know but I’ve never had anyone to watch my back out here. Father says it's unwise to explore out here by ourselves and I believe him. So, what do you say? You down for it?” Before Kereshus could answer they heard rustling bushes nearby. Whatever was coming wasn’t anything small, so they readied their weapons. Out came a half-naked Argonian, who looked like he was feral. “Are you ok, sir?” Kereshus asked. The man didn’t say a word, just stared at Am-Lee with his teeth bared at her. “Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down. And stop looking at me like that before those beautiful teeth disappear.” He still stood there, staring at Am-Lee. Kereshus whispered to Am-Lee, “Maybe we should just go. I don’t feel like dealing with this today.” “I can't just leave him here; this is my area!” “Well, then you can fight them.” “Them?” Kereshus pointed to the pond as another Argonian raised from it. “Wow Kereshus, never known you to be so thin-scaled.” “I’m not thin-scaled, these guys just make me feel uneasy is all.” “Fine, let’s go then, hatchling.” As they turned to leave, one of the feral Argonians started to bellow.  The water rippled with the vibrations coming from him as the other one also began to bellow back.  As they bellowed, they began to morph. Their bodies morphed into large creatures.  With huge teeth, sharp claws, and eyes full of hate. “Kereshus don’t tell me they-““Turned into Werecrocs? No, why would I even suggest such a terrible thing?” Kereshus and Am-Lee began running back towards the village. Kereshus used his powers to try to slow the Lycan down as Am-Lee tried to get away. But no matter how many tons of water, no matter the electric currents he sent through those streams nothing would stop these 2. They just kept coming and coming like an unrelenting force through the damp swamps. Feeling like nothing he could do would stop them, he stopped running. “What in the hist are you doing, you egg sack?” “I’m holding them off so you can get help.” “But you’ll die, fool.” “I will if you don’t stop flapping your jaw; Go!” Am-Lee left Kereshus to deal with these lycanthropes by himself as she got help.

One of the Werecrocs dashed towards Kereshus, claws outstretched. Kereshus narrowly dodges before the other one rams him into a tree. Kereshus didn’t know if he was hit hard or if the one who rammed him was smiling at him. The croc who lunged at him was about to lung at him again before the other stopped him. While Kereshus was laying on the tree he got a good look at them. The one who rammed him had dark red scales, sprinkled with black dots all over his body. He was taller than the other one and appeared to be a little bit more muscular than him although not by much. The other Werecrocodile had a much more mosey, rugged, and devilish look to him. Scars all over his dark green scales with a gash on his head freakishly like the one he accidentally gave his sister being in almost the same spot.  The red one appeared to be way calmer and more tactical while the green was all twitchy and jumpy. Like he would turn around and pounce on Kereshus at any second. After a monument, the red one walked towards Kereshus. He grabbed Kereshus by his arm and was about to bite it off when Kereshus shot a scalding hot water ball into his mouth with his free hand. In pain, it reeled back letting Kereshus go. Kereshus then attempted to stab him with his sword but was hit with a strong whack of the red one’s tail. Kereshus landed as the other one bolted towards him. Kereshus rolled backwards as the jagged claws of the Mossy Werecroc came crashing down. He then retaliated by throwing mud into its eye as he swung his sword to hit him. The mossy croc closed a translucent membrane over his eyes to block the mud and grabbed Kereshus by the head. He then started to squeeze and squeeze wanting to crush Kereshus head. Kereshus dropped his sword and then blasted the croc back with a mix of water and lightning. As he did this he saw out of the corner of his eye the other red croc’s jaws wide open. He fell backwards as the jaws went right by his head. Kereshus landed right next to his sword, jumping back onto his feet. As he did so the mossy croc had recovered and was again dashing towards Kereshus, this time much more telegraphed due to most likely being weakened water and fire. Kereshus saw an opening and sidestepped the croc shoving his blade deep one of the scars it had on its back. All this did though was get a loud hiss out of it as it appeared to barely be phased by it. Kereshus stumbled onto his feet as an idea pooped into his head. He conjured up a huge wave that sent the 2 Werecrocs flying back. As they came to, Kereshus was nowhere to be seen as he was in the trees. Part of him was tempted to run away but he didn’t want to risk them finding his village. He caught his breath and began trying to think of ways he could finish this fight; if he could at all. “Ok,” He thought to himself,” The green seems to be getting more and more tired. So, if I can separate them and knock them both out, even for a few seconds, I could grab my sword and kill the green one. Maybe then the other one would back off.” He wasn’t 100% down with this idea but it's all he had. He got up from the branch he was sitting on as the two of them began looking for him. Kereshus started to pelt them with high-speed water balls with the occasional lightning strike and fireball.  Both Werecrocs took cover from the volley as Kereshus jumped from tree to tree pushing them to take cover in different positions until they were back in the alcove. Kereshus, still launching spells at them both even though they weren’t hitting, Maneuvered his way to the other side of the pound. While his glowing scales weren’t as bright as they were normally, they were still visible. He stood there, even though a little bloody and beaten, with his glowing scales shining and teeth bearing at them. Looking ready to continue fighting (Even though he knew he barely had any Magicka left in him). The mossy croc roared and ran toward him as the red croc realized that Kereshus had intentionally missed all those shots in the alcove. The mossy croc was an inch away from stepping on the line of runes placed by Kereshus. The red croc reached out to stop him from stepping on the runes, but it was already too late. A massive explosion of water and lightning erupted out of the swamp send both crocs flying. Kereshus took cover behind a tree to avoid the explosion and debris. The red croc went flying backwards into a random part of the swamps and the mossy croc smashed into a tree a yard away from Kereshus. “This is it!” Kereshus exclaimed as he ran over to the limp body of the Werecroc. He jumped on its back and began pulling and pulling trying to get it out. “For the love of the hist, COME ON!” he said straining himself trying to pull it out the blade. “Did he heal over it or something? I can’t be that tired.” “No,” said a deep voice from underneath his feet, “You’re just weak.” Before Kereshus could react the mossy green Werecroc grabbed his tail and launched him off his back. “Damm mages are always a pain to fight. Always hurling fire at your problems.” He said pulling the blade out of his back. He looked down at Kereshus. “My friend was wrong for trying to toy with you thinking we had 2 easy prey for our lord. At least killing you now would most definitely satisfy him.” He broke the sword with his mighty jaws and spit the piece at Kereshus. He grabbed Kereshus by his face neck lifting him off the ground. “Well before I do that…” he says as he punches Kereshus in the face sending him flying into a rock. “One last hit, for my partner.” He said in a deep, eerie voice as he smiled menacingly at him. He sat Kereshus up, getting ready to bite his head off. Kereshus had no fight left in him to resist so he waited for the end to happen. Before the jaws of death could close around his head, he heard the whistle of an arrow come flying through the swamp. Straight into the eyes of the Werecroc. He dropped Kereshus down roar out in pain as multiple more arrows rang out through the forest. Kereshus’ mother and the village hunting party had arrived and started pelting the croc with arrows. And out from overhead, his father came crashing down onto the croc slamming down onto it. He rolled back to his feet with his battle-axe in hand and charged at the Werecroc. Dodging all of the wild attacks of the now half-blind Werecroc, he got several gashes on the Werecroc before it finally fell to its knees out of exhaustion and pain. Kereshus’ father looked it in the eye before embedding his battle-axe into its skull. His father ran over to him wondering if he was too late. His mother and sister were right there behind him. “What happened to the other one?” Am-Lee asked. Kereshus was half-unconscious but was able to point in the direction the dark red Werecroc flew. His father let out a grunt as he led most of the hunting party in that direction. His mother order 2 members to stay and help her. “Get the stretcher, now!” She barked continuing to tend to Kereshus as much as she could. “Hist be praised, you're still alive!” Am-Lee said relieved that she didn’t leave her brother to die. Before he could respond, his mother stopped him. “Shushhh, little one. You’ll get all the time to brag to your sister about how much of a hero you are after you get healed. Right now, I need you to rest.” The other 2 Argonians came back with the stretcher and lifted Kereshus onto it. As they began to walk, Kereshus looked over to Am-Lee getting her to come closer to him. He whispered to her,” I’d be glad to be your traveling partner”, before falling unconscious.

A few months passed by since that entire situation. Although his father had no success in finding the red Werecrocs, they theorized that he was long gone since no one had gone missing nor had anyone seen him. Looking past that both Kereshus and his village were doing extremely well. He had fully recovered from the fight and was feeling better than he ever had. His father was training some of the best shock troopers in all black marsh while his mother became a merchant. She was a great aid to the village's economy but that didn’t stop her from training a squad of elite archers in her free time. While they were in aiding the village’s daily affairs, Kereshus and Am-Lee began exploring. Their adventures took them all over Black Marsh, meeting the different cultures and tribes that inhabited the land. They even started to make plans to explore outside of Black Marsh. Kereshus was keen on visiting Cyrodiil and Elsweyr while Am-Lee wanted to explore Skyrim and Hammerfell. They agreed upon Skyrim, both wanting to explore the ancient Nordic ruins. Kereshus planned on visiting the bard’s college and the College of Winterhold. Both to learn about the Nordic culture and to learn more about magic from the college. But they had to pass through Cyrodiil anyway to reach Skyrim. They said their goodbyes to friends and family (Which for Am-Lee also involved mostly passive-aggressive farewells to all the rivals she had made. Kereshus found the amount of pettiness coming from his sister incredibly hilarious which he predicted was intent.) but for some reason, they couldn’t find their father. “Come to think of it I haven’t seen him all day,” Their mother told them while preparing a meal for them. “Ever since that suspicious dry-skin came into town.” “What suspicious dry-skin?” Kereshus asked. “Some man, think he was imperial.” She replied. “Didn’t say a word or bought anything. Just walked around town and then left.” Was he scoping out our village?” Am-Lee asked with a bit of excitement in her voice that Kereshus knew meant “New adventure!?”. His mother also noticed it and quickly replied, “Hey don’t worry your father’s business when you 2 have business of your own. Isn’t today the day your hatchlings go on your big journey across this continent?” “Yes,” Kereshus responded. “But we were hoping to say goodbye to you and father before we departed.”  “We can wait, Kereshus,” Am-Lee said. “Because I’m not leaving without saying anything to him.” They heard a chuckle from the door to their home. “That would be the first time in your life you said anything before wandering off.” Their father said as he came in. “Didn’t think id miss my young ones leaving over a thin-skinned land strider, did you?” “Father, you’re ok!” Am-Lee exclaimed, reaching to hug him but then hesitated instead giving him a salute. “I’m not your commander right now, Am-Lee.” He spoke in a voice that Kereshus hadn’t heard, ever. “I mean it’s not like you would listen to my commands anyway, you slithery salamander.”  He joked hugging them both. “I could never be prouder of both of you. My finest warriors are ready to explore the world and make names for yourselves.” “Wow, I expected for you to rant to them about staying in the village.” Their mother joked preparing tonight’s meal. He then proceeded to say something to her in Jel that ruffly translates to something incredibly flirtatious (which Kereshus and Am-Lee both fully understood, making them gag at such thoughts). The 4 of them laughed and helped prepared what would most likely be their last meal together for a long while.

Their mother went all out on getting food for this meal. Kereshus’ Swamp Hen and Crayfish salad, Am-lee’s Swamp-eel broth, their father’s favorite giant wasp gizzard with a snail-gin. She even got them freshly sweet rolls from a traveler from Cyrodiil which Am-Lee had gotten Kereshus into eating when he was just learning to speak Tamrielic (being the first word he had said in the language) which became a sort of tradition between them 2 on their hatching days. Although finding a baker who is willing to come to the most dangerous provinces for non-natives for whatever reason is extremely rare even if their part of the swamp is hospitable enough for weekly trade with other cultures. They enjoyed their family moment for a few hours but then his father got the whole village involved in a celebration for his kids with lots of dancing and singing that even the foreigners got involved. But Kereshus felt off like his own essence was being sucked from him. Am-Lee noticed from the crowd she was in and went over to check on him. “What’s wrong? Couldn’t handle the Phlegmwine?” She laughed punching him in the shoulder. He didn’t respond to this as he fell into a pond behind him. Am-Lee was about to make another joke when she was gagged and turned invisible. Another invisible figure came towards Kereshus and dragged him into the marsh.

“Wake up!” Someone said harshly. Kereshus and Am-Lee woke up bound together. The boards around him slowly shaking from side to side and the sound of waves all around him indicated to Kereshus that they were on a boat. Where they were going was one thing he couldn't tell however.  “Ah our 2 guests of honor are finally awake it seems.”  Said cloaked figure standing in the shadows. “Hey, who are you and where have you taken us!” Am-Lee hissed. “Where you are doesn’t matter. I would be concerned with your lives.” “Why don’t you stop acting like a tuff guy from the shadows and show yourself?” Out of the shadows came a Dunmer, a dark elf. “Who are you?” Kereshus asked. “Someone you, or anyone you know, doesn’t even know. Someone who has a… slight problem with your father.” “Ok but how about you take your problem up with him,” Am-lee growled. “or are you afraid that he would tear you in half.” The elf chuckled at the comment “It would be like that monster to rip someone apart.” Kereshus tried to muster up power for a spell, but nothing seemed to work. “You think you could just blow your way out of here? Welp not with those cuffs on.” He said this while pointing to the cuffs Kereshus had on. “Only Mephala knows how hard it was to get you 2 n’wahs. Your mother is always checking for food that has been tampered with. But all we needed was a tiny amount of Magicka draining laced sweet rolls that only you, my glowing friend, could notice. Then getting your sister was just so trivial in comparison.” What do you want from us? Kereshus asked. “Oh, I just need you two as a message. For any scaly barbarians who think they can burn down my land! And take those who I loved from me.” He sat there staring at the dagger in his hands. “When our father finds out about- “Am-Lee started before getting cut off by a thump to the head by the pommel of his sword.  “Silence, Lizard! Save your voice for what's about to happen next.” The Dunmer pulls out a coin that he had in his pocket. “You see this? Your fate rests in this septim. If it lands on its head, then the girl lives. If tails, then the boy lives. Since I only need one of you alive for this message to your father, let’s just see which one of you has miss fortune’s favor.” Kereshus begins to plead with the elf. “Please, sir! You don’t have to do-“” “There is no need for you to even try talking me out of this, n’wah. It won’t stop what’s coming.” Kereshus and Am-Lee Looked at each other into each other’s eyes. Both fearing what was going to happen to the other one. The elf flips the coin high into the air. As it flew, Kereshus prayed that the coin would land on its head. Am-Lee prayed the opposite, that the coin would land on its tail. Before the coin landed, the elf caught it midair. He unsheathed his sword saying the words: “Sorry, my dear. It seems that luck isn’t on your side.” As he walked up to her Kereshus started to plead with the mer, yet his words fell upon deaf ears. Am-lee calmy told Kereshus “Don’t let this dry skin stop our plans. Once you killed this thin-scaled fool, continue our journey to Skyrim. Explore a few dungeons, meet the locals, and practice more of that magical stuff even more for me, Egg-brother.” After she said this, the elf grabbed her by her horns and slowly slid his blade across her throat. Kereshus roared out gaining a surge of energy coming to him as he fries the cuffs into nothing more than just burnt leather, he charges at the mer tackling him into the ground, digging into his flesh with his bare claws. Other people from above the deck came down when they heard the yells from the hooded dark elf. They drew their weapons while the more magically inclined ones summoned hellish whips that they swung at Kereshus. Kereshus dodged those and proceeded to launch everyone back onto the deck in a large tidal wave coming from his finger tips. A few either snapped their backs from the force they were launched into the hull of the boat or just completely going overboard. He knew he was running on only his biological energy right now since the cuffs had kept him from regaining Magicka. So, with the little amount of energy, he had left in hobbled his way back to his sister who was limp on the ground. He fell next to it. He physically couldn’t move or walk anymore so he crawled toward her trying to heal her. But sadly, it was too late. All that he could bring out of her were a few words: “Keep wandering, for me, please?”

Kereshus woke in a cage. The only things that were in there were a bed and a bucket. Kereshus didn’t care that he was now a slave, he cared more about his sister he had lost. He grabbed his head and began to whimper. He had no other feelings but sadness. Not only did he lose his sister, but he had also lost his best friend. He failed to protect the only person he had to. He let his father, mother, and most importantly himself down. He sat there whimpering until someone knocked on his cell door. It was a young Dunmer woman who came with a tray of food. “Is everything alright, sera?” Kereshus said nothing, blocking his face with his legs. The women looked around to see if there were any guards around and then opened the cage. She sat down in front of Kereshus putting the tray on his bed. “Look you’ve been in here crying for a few hours now. The guard half wanted to knock you out again, but I stopped them. Those boneheads.” Kereshus still sat there saying absolutely nothing. “Alright, I understand we aren’t technically supposed to be having this conversation. I also understand that you don’t trust me for good reasons. But can you at least eat this so that you don’t starve to death?” She picks up the tray and places it in front of him. As she leaves, moves his knees from in front of his face. “Kereshus. My name is Kereshus.” “Well hello Kereshus, my name is Verlanna.”

Verlanna came to Kereshus multiple times a week to bring him food. With each visit, she sat down to have talks with Kereshus. He started to open up to her, teaching her about Argonian culture and his village. He told the story of how he took on 2 Werecrocodiles by himself, which he still was surprised that he had done. Over time, he opened up about his family and his sister. Even opened up about his sister’s death. Verlanna was horrified hearing and what happened. And disgusted that the man she considered a friend would ever do such a thing. She wanted to do something about it, she was sickened by the mistreatment of these people at the heads of slave masters. So, she and a group of like-minded Dunmer plotted a revolt. They would need a distraction to free the slaves. Verlanna suggested that they get Kereshus’ father involved. He's leading a group of elite Argonian shellbacks would be a perfect distraction allowing all the slaves to be freed. Also, his family would want revenge for their daughter’s death. So, she set out to visit Kereshus’ village to meet his father and plan Kereshus’ escape much to Kereshus’ worry that his father would do to her. Upon arrival, Verlanna was met with an incredibly angry Argonian and afraid-looking outsiders who he had kept at the village ever since that night. Kereshus’ father was not in the mood to deal with a Dunmer when she saw her until she told him about Kereshus which got his attention. At first, he almost killed her right there if it wasn’t for Kereshus’ mother intervening. Verlanna proved to him that Kereshus was alive by telling the stories he told her and that she planned to save him. He asked about Am-Lee’s fate which she reluctantly told him her fate which they began to sob. “So that voice we heard that day must have been our little hatchling. Her last words carried over the winds by the hist to us.” “I am truly sorry for your loss. And Id likes to help you in getting your son out of captivity.” Verlanna suggested. “How would you help us? Haven’t your people done enough to mine?” Kereshus’ mother said with a sobby growl. “I have a plan to getting him and other slaves out. There are those of us who think our traditions of slavery need to go. But I can only do that with your help.” They both whipped their tears off their faces and went full battle strategist mode. The plan was to distract the guards with a frontal assault while Verlanna’s people got the slaves and non-combatants out. While Verlanna wanted to avoid bloodshed entirely the only option was to minimize death that was already going to happen.

“We are under attack!” Verlanna yells as she runs into the compound. “By whom?” Her old friend asked. “Him.” He knew who she was referring to, so he quickly ordered his men to ready themselves for battle. He grabbed his blade out of his office and ran outside. Verlanna grabbed the key and ran down to Kereshus’ room. She opened the cage and released Kereshus from his cuffs. “Come on we have to go!” “Where is he! Where is that murder!” Kereshus hissed loudly. “He’s probably already been captured by your father’s troops. Now we have to go!” They left the building grouping up with his father and his mother. In front of them there he stood. Before anyone could say anything, Kereshus leaped onto the man tearing into him with his claws. He then proceeded to beat his face in with a rock. Verlanna pulled Kereshus away from him but all that was left was a mer that was unrecognizable. A bloody mess laying on the ground. This didn’t make Kereshus feel any better, however. His father walked up to him putting his hand on his shoulder. “That worthless piece of meat deserved more. “I couldn’t save her.” Kereshus sobbed. “No one could. Even with your being as gifted as you are. His father helped him to his feet. “Did you find her? Kereshus asked. “Yes, we did. We’re taking her back to be laid to rest in the marsh.” Kereshus feared her body was lost forever hearing that they found her body put some relief in his mind. “Come young one, you’ve been through a lot.”

And so there Kereshus was, watching his other half sink into the mud of the marsh. With the rumbles of the village singing in Jel, with low sounds resonating in their bodies, somberly moving their tails across the grass of the marsh. Afterward, Kereshus had a long talk with his father and mother about what to do next. The words Kereshus heard didn't come from Am-Lee, but instead come from her final thoughts as she passed on. Water magic was a rare skill that not only gave him power over water but also the power to control what was in water: memories. When a mortal dies, while their body decomposes into the earth and their soul goes to whatever god they believe in or demon that has enslaved him, Their memories flow into the rivers an oceans of Nirn. Kereshus had tried this skill before but was unsuccessful in all of his attempts to do it consciously. He doesn't know how he did it but he some how projected his sisters final words into the minds of his family so that they all could hear her one final time. While the words Am-Lee spoke still lurked in their minds they didn’t want to split up. Nor did they think it was a good idea for all of them to leave the village. They decided to let Kereshus go to Skyrim after having multiple hour-long prayer sessions with the hist for almost 2 more months. With the help of Verlanna, who got him a boat to Skyrim, they planned his journey in the name of Am-Lee. But before Kereshus sets of his father gave him something. “We had meant to give you these things before… that day.” “What are they?” Kereshus asked. “It’s a silver sword for when you run into any of those demon werecreatures.” It was a finely made sword, that looked like it was made by the same smith that made his. “Also, here your sister made this for you.” It was a drum, nicely made woven together by multiple bits from around the swamp. The sound it made when Kereshus hit it was so nice on his ears. He sat there staring at it for a minute before the boat arrived. He gave his mother and father a very long and loving hug. He also said his goodbyes and greatly thanked Verlanna for all her help and then set off to wander Tamriel in his sister’s name.

[catflowerqueen]

Still not quite finished with Gates, but I’m nearing the finish line for the main game? I think? So I have some more structured thoughts below. 

(Apologies for the length, but... well, that’s part of why I’m putting it under the cut)

Most of the mechanics I think are an improvement on Explorers—and definitely on Rescue Team, since Explorers introduced a lot of improvements (like the way healing items are handled—in Rescue team you had to throw them at your allies, and only the hero could eat them directly from the bag). I like how Gates handles experience for allies left at home, and the way that you can level up individual moves and share them among everyone rather than using a ginseng on a single move for a single pokemon (that I don’t think retains that level up if you forget it but then go and remember it again? I can’t recall that part), and some of the team skills are useful… but the problem is that they are really luck-based in terms of actually acquiring them. I’ve only gotten two so far. Comparatively, IQ skills were very much based on the individual, but also a lot easier to get, allowing for a sort of customization aspect? It allowed more care and a better sense of victory, at least.

The V-wave thing is pretty cool, though, especially when paired with how exp works, even as annoying as I find Victini.

Getting rid of the hunger mechanic is I think positive overall? It does free up some inventory space, which is nice, but it also removes a bit of the puzzle and challenge for some of the longer dungeons—and I can’t help but wonder if the reason they did so is just because of how many dungeon layouts in Gates were comprised of many, many sprawling hallways with tons of intersections and small, unnecessary turns and corners, but only, like, three rooms—meaning that everyone would starve to death if the hunger system was involved. I know Explorers had some of those, too, but those were mainly for later stage dungeons, where bigger challenges were expected. It also makes a lot of the dungeons… really boring and repetitive? Like, the graphics are great, but there isn’t really too much variety of the non-plot dungeons beyond differences in color schemes? And while the puzzles involved are excellent, there aren’t really a lot of them, and so far Inflora Forest is the only one where the puzzle is still relevant after making it through the first time—the other ones seem to keep the bridges and stairs you make the first time around, leaving those sections rather superfluous.

And while I like how Companion mode lets me have more of a casual sort of playstyle, and I can build up Paradise and do mini-games without interference from the plot… It kind of makes Post Town really unnecessary beyond specified plot scenes? Like… I don’t have to wait to open any Treasure boxes. Once a dungeon ends I get instant gratification of finding out what’s in them (assuming I have enough money). Same thing with the gold bars. And since Quagsire operates as a shop as well, there is really no need for Kecleon (in Post Town—the ones in the dungeon are still extremely useful) beyond maybe him having some rarer items on occasion—but even then, getting certain shops in Paradise also makes him even more redundant.

 (Though, speaking of Paradise shops: Elite boutique—not worth it. Maybe if all shops operated that way—were only around for a specific period of time before inevitably closing—it would be less grating… but there was no warning that that shop would only be run for a few days before closing forever, in addition to the fact that I have to watch Gurdurr’s sad face and laments about destroying the place [after a big part of his backstory involved someone deliberately destroying his work, mind you!] when they could have easily solved it as running more like the travelling salesmon in post town—you never know who or when someone will show up, or how long they’ll stay, but the possibility is at least there that someone will show up again.)

I also don’t like how you can’t stack missions—it really takes the emphasis off of the actual “exploring dungeons” part of the game, and puts it more on trying to build up Paradise. Which is fine, but it just doesn’t feel like traditional gameplay for a PMD game, you know?

As far as characterizations goes… It’s honestly kind of a mixed bag for me in comparison with some of the other games? Like… I do think that, overall, your immediate team and allies had better characterization visible in story, following the plot. As in, they came right out and showed you in the cutscenes, and didn’t depend on you going and talking to them individually in town, reading their diaries, and playing special episodes. I don’t think that the partner is the absolute best-characterized one writing-wise, but they were very, very well-done and do show good growth throughout (Rescue Team is the worst, mostly because of how bland they actually are—especially in the Post Game, where they are completely optional, and no longer follow you around or really talk to you at all like an individual character, rather than just another pokemon you recruit from dungeons [and on that note—I’m kind of sad that Gates got rid of the feature that actually let you talk to your team in the dungeons themselves. Sure, most of what got said was the same ten or so bland lines for everyone, but… I still liked having that option to just turn around and discuss things, especially since at some points it was unique based on where in the plot you were!)

But at the same time… that does take a little mystery out of it? Like… it makes your own (the actual, physical player’s) relationship with them a bit… less rewarding? You aren’t actually working at forming them, this way, the way you would be if you were exploring the town, happened across someone from the guild, and then decided to talk with them. That way, learning all these cool little hints and quirks was almost like a puzzle itself, something you had to work for, something that really embraced the idea of exploring and immersion.

Which is also kind of why I’m of two minds about the fact that the hero does actually have scripted lines, beyond just their thoughts and the little “running motion” indicative of things being said, but not actually described. There aren’t as many dialogue trees, you don’t really get to make that many choices, and the lack of space left up to the imagination… well, it doesn’t make me resonate with the hero as much as in other cases? I don’t really feel like they’re “me,” or could be “me,” so while they do feel in-character for the “character” of the hero… it just doesn’t feel like I’m actually the hero. It doesn’t leave space for that option the way that the other games do.

As for other characters… honestly, it’s kind of hit and miss for them as far as characterization goes, and I think a lot of that has to do with my earlier remarks about how unnecessary Post Town feels most of the time. I feel like they were really over-ambitious with their ensemble cast? Because, sure, some of them like Leaveanny, Swadloon, Lillipup, and Herdier I thought were well done… most of the others were rather forgettable? There were some travelers like Trubbish, Mienfoo and Dwebble that I really like, but I think that most of the others just don’t get enough characterization. Sure, it’s nice that a lot of them care about the player and greet them as their own individual, clearly trying to convey that relationships are being formed… but I just don’t care that much for the town as a whole? The others don’t really grab me, or add that much to the plot at all? Especially since half the time bigger plot discussions only really happen with the group in Paradise?

Like… Explorers had a lot of people, but the fact that they did travel in and out of town, and would sometimes go missing for days, but clearly had their own little stories and plots they were following was really interesting! Same with Rescue Team—the Pokémon Square was small, but it actually felt like a lived-in town? And I’m pretty sure the main towns of PSMD that you were actually using as a hub had that too—Serene Village definitely did. But Gates… I just don’t really see it. They were too ambitious, and they fell flat. I feel like maybe they could have fixed this if you were allowed to visit it in Companion Mode, too—or if they just didn’t let you visit any non-Paradise shops and only allowed Quagsire to edit your party—or if they shrunk it down so that the only thing there was Swanna’s place and the hill, and had the individual characters visit on a basis similar to Explorers, but… yeah.

As far as plot/story goes… well, some of that is hard to determine, just because of how much is involved in a good story. Characterization, like I said, is fine overall, but the story does seem really… low stakes? For the most part? Especially when compared to Rescue Team or Explorers. I think it has good progression over all—especially when compared to the mess that was PSMD!—but there isn’t quite as much of an overall… driving force? I think?

Like… okay, I know I’ve said before that it is a little weird that the hero in Explorers—and I guess also in Rescue Team—spends so much time focusing on other stuff rather than figuring out exactly what happened to them, why they turned into a pokemon, why they have amnesia, etc. (especially since that is part of their stated reason for joining the Guild in Explorers), but in all fairness… what else are they really supposed to do? They have amnesia, they have no clues as to a starting place to even look, it makes sense that they would want and need a safe place and routine figured out so that they can even start looking. And there are some hints pretty early on about their backstory/the state of the world (in dreams and dimensional screams). But the Gates hero… well they actually do have something of a starting place, and they have far more reason to really care about figuring all that out. For one thing, they do not have amnesia. The game makes that pretty clear, and the partner even makes comments on that—asking about friends and family, etc.

So why aren’t they making more of an effort to figure out how to get back home so they can actually reunite with those loved ones?? Or at least commenting on why they might not be concerned about that?? And since the hero doesn’t have amnesia, they also clearly remember the fact that they were called to the pokemon world specifically because someone was asking them for help—and they had a visual description of who they assumed that someone to be. They have a starting point. Why are they not asking around about that?? Why did they wait for more dreams to happen first? And, while it did get brough up in game a little bit, with them commenting on how maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea for them to be taking one of the spots on that initial Great Glacier Expedition because they do, actually, have some responsibility they’re supposed to fulfill, and they don’t know if they’ll have more dreams on the way… they still go on that expedition! Without bringing any of that up verbally, or to the partner who has by that point already agreed that they will go with the hero to save that pokemon as soon as their dreams clear up more.

But… like… they shouldn’t just be being so passive about this??? There are things they could all be doing to prepare! And maybe that is getting into some different facets of the partner’s personality, and showing how really dependent they are on the player—like, having their reluctance to do more be because of how much they really don’t want them to leave after (which does get brought up a little bit)… but I don’t think that’s quite what the game was going for—and if it was, then that needed to be made clearer.

So I guess over all… I think that Explorers is a better game to play if you do want something more story/plot driven, and want to, well, explore things a bit, while Gates is better for a more casual sort of play. Like… the actual plot almost seems like the side story or Special Episode in the face of building up Paradise.

Though, that probably does say more about an individual’s playstyle over the game itself, huh?

I guess… if you’re more into direct characterization via cutscenes, Gates is better (though there are times I wish it showed more of the visuals—like for some of the party scenes, or the housebuilding scene). But if you want a more integrated plot, Explorers is better—or Rescue Team, but it doesn’t have as good of a post-game).

And PSMD… well, I still stand by my earlier statements that I think the first part of the game was great, and the partner was the best-explored/characterized of them all… but it quickly lost plot cohesion and most of the adult characters are terrible people who should not be allowed around children—and the player character really got screwed over by basically everyone and never got closure for any it.

(Also, I can’t actually say anything about DX, since I don’t have a Switch, but from what I’ve seen it’s basically just Rescue Team with some improvements to gameplay mechanics? The story seemed to be pretty much the same from what little I saw.

Oh, and also Ekans’ sprite looks very, very weird.)

...I think that’s everything I had to say for now.

[missmentelle]

hello, i am a college student that was recently diagnosed with adhd unfortunately my insurance does not cover the medication and i can’t afford it at the moment. Can you give me tips on how to stay on track academically without medication for now? procrastination is a big problem for me i tend to get anxious about important assignments and wait till last minute. btw, i wanna say that you’re amazing for taking time out of your busy life to help people on here for free!

Hey! I can definitely understand the struggle - I went through undergrad and graduate school with unmedicated ADHD, and I definitely had to put a lot of effort into developing compensatory strategies that my classmates did not have to deal with. The things that I would recommend are:

Make sure you are in a program that truly interests you. This might sound like sort of silly advice, but you can actually use your ADHD to your advantage. Remember, ADHD is not a lack of attention span, it is an inability to regulate your attention; while you might have a hard time paying attention to things that don’t interest you, you can easily work for eight uninterrupted hours on something that does catch your interest. Do your best to make sure that your program of study truly captures your attention. I actually started my undergraduate degree in a computer science program, because I thought it would make me more employable - I wasn’t particularly interested in it, though, and just switching into a field that I was actually interested made an enormous difference in being able to devote my attention to my assignments. My GPA jumped from a 3.2 to a 3.8 in a single year, because I was finally playing to my strengths. 

Talk to the Office of Disabilities at your school. They may be able to point you toward low-cost options for affording the medication you need, or for getting some counselling for your anxiety. Even if you can’t access those things, having a diagnosis of ADHD can get you some essential academic accommodations at most schools, including a distraction-free testing environment (testing in a quiet room, separate from everyone else), getting extra time to write your exams, getting extensions on assignments, being allowed to record your lectures or even having access to a note-taker (basically a classmate who gives you a copy of their notes, in case you have issues with spacing out during the lecture). Don’t be ashamed about asking for accommodations - other students aren’t facing the same obstacles that you are, and these are just a way to even the playing field. 

Work in short bursts with regular breaks in between (ie. the Pomodoro Method). One of the most effective ways to stay on-task is to set a timer for 20 minutes, work until the timer goes off, take a five-minute break, then set a timer for another twenty minutes and go again. After four or five 20-minute work periods, take a 20-minute break before going again. This stop-and-start method is often called the “Pomodoro method”, and it can be extremely useful for making yourself power through work that you aren’t particularly motivated to do - that ticking timer is a huge incentive. There are a lot of free apps out there that can help you implement this method automatically; I personally use an app called “Focus To-Do” and I highly recommend it. 

Create a distraction-free working environment for yourself. As you’re well aware, your brain is much more easily distracted than most, and it’s important that you create a work environment that gives you the greatest chance of success. Make sure your desk is completely clear except for essential study materials. Put your phone on “do no disturb” mode while you study, and put it out of arm’s reach so you are not tempted to check it. Consider installing a browser extension that will allow you to block distracting websites. If you are going to study in pairs or groups, make sure you choose study partners who are actually focused and on-task, and not partners who use studying as a chance to socialize. 

Use caffeine (unless it makes you anxious). The treatment for ADHD is stimulant medication, and although it is nowhere near as powerful, caffeine is a stimulant that can somewhat boost your powers of concentration. Drinking coffee or tea while you study can help you stay focused. This only works, however, if caffeine does not make you anxious - if you find that it makes you feel jittery and worsens your anxiety, this is not the study tip for you. 

Prioritize your workload. Sometimes, you only have so much focus and concentration to go around, and it’s essential that you save those cognitive resources for the projects that really matter. If you have a term paper worth 30% of your course grade and an assignment worth 2% of your course grade, the term paper needs to be your priority. If you have to half-ass the assignment to make sure that your term paper gets done, then that’s what you need to do. 

Getting through college with ADHD presents additional challenges, but it is possible - plenty of us graduate every year, and with good grades to boot. Do what you need to do to get through your college career, and try not to let setbacks and bad days get you too discouraged. Best of luck to you!Miss Mentelle