#And finally. Is it a want or need to be different aesthetically for the designs of Calomel and Amonea and Seraphin and the like

[kashverse]

if there is one child that must be appreciated, it is latte. a good latte deserves cute latte art, just as much as you deserve to witness the absolute chaos that will unfold when you put your boyfriend and a delicate artform in the same room. because, naturally, you—being the genius that you are—decide that these two gifts to humanity must be combined. your boyfriend, with all his charm, skill, or in some cases, sheer unrelenting ego, should absolutely try his hand at making tiny, adorable masterpieces in steamed milk. what could possibly go wrong? …a lot. a whole lot. but you’re in too deep now. the class is booked. the milk is frothing. and your boyfriend? oh, he is about to take this way too seriously.

now, if there’s one thing sukuna cannot stand, it’s being patronized. and somehow, standing there, all six-foot-something, surrounded by people who gasp use stencils for their latte art makes him feel violently disrespected. oh, you think he needs this? you think he can’t make art out of steamed milk? please. his hands were carving flesh into art long before this instructor was even a twinkle in their ancestor’s eye. but if you thought he’d refuse to participate, you don’t know sukuna well enough. no, he takes this as a personal challenge. he learns. he perfects. and when he finally presents his latte art, it’s a perfectly detailed demon face, sharp-toothed and menacing. “oh, uh… cute pitbull!” you say, nudging him before the instructor has a heart attack. sukuna nods sagely. yes. pitbull. definitely. but when it comes to adults he despises? oh, he’s petty. that one customer who dared to critique his “overly aggressive aesthetic”? congratulations, buddy, you just drank a latte cursed with an ancient sigil. sukuna watches them sip it with a smirk, arms crossed, utterly delighted with his petty vengeance. “how’s the flavor?” he asks, smug as hell. the customer just blinks, confused. they’ll probably have bad luck for a week. or diarrhea. who’s to say?

choso, on the other hand, has an existential awakening. at first, he’s simply fascinated. art… can exist in coffee? he stares at the swirling crema, eyes widening as he processes this revelation. the instructor barely explains the basics before choso stands up, dramatically setting his cup down. “this,” he announces, “is a reflection of the fleeting nature of life.” people murmur in agreement, assuming he’s some kind of deep, artistic genius. but oh, no. he’s spiraling now. “you create it, admire it, and then—destroy it with a single sip. isn’t that cruel? isn’t that… life itself?” you have to physically drag him out before he turns the workshop into a philosophical symposium on the ephemerality of human existence.

geto, meanwhile, is here for a completely different reason. does he need to learn latte art? no. does he want to? also no. but can he use it for his own agenda? absolutely. he skips right past the cute heart and bear designs and learns how to write with milk foam. the next thing you know, you glance at his cup and see “JOIN ME” written in elegant cursive atop a matcha latte. “are you serious?” you ask. he just smiles.

“art is meant to convey a message.”

“your message is cult recruitment.”

“my message is inclusion,” he corrects. you have to sit him down and give him a long lecture on why recruiting followers through artisanal coffee is not ethical. he nods solemnly but then winks at the barista like you didn’t just spend fifteen minutes trying to knock some morality into him.

toji, on the other hand, is struggling. “this ain’t for people like me,” he jokes at first, grinning. but five lattes later, he is no longer grinning. his first attempt at a heart? roadkill. the second attempt? roadkill that got run over twice. “babe,” you say gently, looking at the cup.

“don’t,” he warns.

“i just think—”

“DON’T.”

legend says he’s still in the kitchen at midnight, aggressively steaming milk and muttering “stupid fuckin’ foam” under his breath.

meanwhile, gojo…is fighting for his life in this class. he learned latte art off of tiktok one time and now thinks he’s god’s gift to coffee. he enters the workshop smug, flicking his hair and winking at the instructor like he’s about to change the game. and for a while? yeah. he’s decent. he gets the basics down pretty quickly and flexes at every given opportunity. but then. then. some sixteen-year-old prodigy casually creates a mona lisa on their latte. gojo short-circuits. his hair literally stands on end. “this is war,” he mutters. and now he’s hyper-fixated on beating this kid at latte art, muttering “i’m the strongest” while aggressively swirling his milk foam.

but then, there’s nanami, the epitome of poise, precision, and patience. he treats the class like it’s an artform—because to him, it is. he listens intently, follows instructions meticulously, and in just one session, his latte art is restaurant-tier. and it doesn’t stop there. every morning, without fail, he hands you a latte with an intricate, handcrafted design. a heart. a tulip. one time, even a self-portrait. your local café is begging for you to convince him to quit his job and work for them instead. he refuses, of course. but now? well. you kinda can’t start your day without a perfect latte from nanami’s personal, high-precision coffee service.

[soft-serve-soymilk]

See for everyone else their viscomm research is all serious like going out and taking photos and brainstorming and meanwhile me viddy games go brrrrrrrrr

[jellybonbons]

What You Need

Kenji Sato x fem!reader

CW: 18+ (mdni), sub!ken, dom!reader, established relationship, lots of pet names, pure filth, possessive behaviour, praise kink, handjob, fingering, strap-on blowjob, deep-throat, slight breath play, pegging, anal sex.

Words: 2.7k

AN: first ken fic and yes I spent my time making it visually pleasing cus why not

The Weeknd - What you need

Ken Sato radiates confidence and cockiness on screen, captivating audiences with his bold persona. However, behind closed doors, he reveals a much different side, far from the confident image people envision. Away from the spotlight, he’s just Kenji– an emotional, compassionate, and gentle guy.

After the exhausting press conference, Kenji finally retreats to his sanctuary. As he steps into his sleek, modern bedroom, the weight of the day settles on his shoulders. The room embraces a woody aesthetic, blending minimalist design with warm tones, natural textures, and soft ambient lighting that envelopes him in a calming atmosphere. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame a view of the night sky, allowing the stars to cast a serene glow inside, further enhancing the tranquil mood.

In the dimly lit room, you wait for him, lounging on his king-sized bed, dressed in a matching silk robe and nightgown, softly scrolling through your tablet. With your presence, Kenji’s facade melts away, revealing the vulnerability hidden beneath his public identity. Crossing the room, his tired eyes soften when they meet yours.

"Long day?" you ask softly, putting the tablet away on the nightstand.

Kenji nods, sinking onto the bed and resting his head on your lap. “You have no idea,” he murmurs against your thighs.

You gently run your fingers through his hair, the soft strands slipping between your fingertips. “Is there anything I can do to help?” you inquire, your voice fills with concern.

Kenji looks up at you with pleading eyes. “Just one thing,” he whispers, his voice barely audible.

“What is it?” you utter, leaning closer to hear him better.

“A kiss, please,” his lips pouting slightly.

Smiling fondly, you cup his face in your hands and press a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. “Better?”

Kenji chuckles softly, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Actually, no,” he admits with a playful grin. “I think I need more.”

“You’re insatiable,” you tease, leaning in to give him another kiss, this time with passion.

Kenji sits up, pulling you closer into his arms. His hands gently caress your back as he whispers between kisses, “You spoil me, that’s why.” The intensity between you grows, turning into a full-blown make-out session, passion igniting between you both.

As the kiss deepens, Kenji pulls away slightly, his gaze locking with yours. His voice is filled with neediness and a hint of vulnerability as he murmurs, “Baby, I need you,” his words are a plea tinged with longing. You stroke his cheek tenderly, meeting his gaze with concern and affection.

“What do you need, darling?” your fingers tracing soothing circles on his cheek.

Kenji’s eyes soften, his hold tightening around you. “I want you to take care of me,” he whispers. He leans in, pressing his forehead against yours, seeking solace and closeness in your embrace.

From the way he holds you and the tremble in his voice, you understand exactly what he needs.

You stroke his cheek gently and grinning. “Let’s get you comfortable,” you murmur, planting a tender kiss on his forehead.

He nods silently, watching you with affectionate eyes as you rise from the bed. You walk over to his walk-in closet, your steps quiet in the dimly lit room. Opening the closet door, you glance back at him over your shoulder.

“Take your clothes off, Ken,” you say softly yet commandingly. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kenji's gaze lingers on you for a moment longer, filled with a mix of desire and anticipation. He begins by shrugging off his jacket, letting it slide off his shoulders and onto the floor with a soft thud. Next, he unclasps his watch and carefully sets it aside on the nightstand, the metal band cool against his skin. 

He peels off his T-shirt, revealing the strong lines of his chest and the subtle definition of his muscles. Each article of clothing he sheds seems to heighten the tension in the room; the air thick with longing. He unbuttons his jeans and steps out of them, standing in just his boxers briefs.

Inside the small room, you quickly secure the leather harness over your underwear, not bothering to undress further because you don’t want to waste any more time — Kenji needs you. Your nightgown is short enough that it won’t hinder any movement, allowing you to move freely. With practised efficiency, you adjust the straps to ensure they aren’t too tight. Finally, you attach the pink dildo to the harness, making sure everything is in place before stepping out to rejoin him.

As you step out of the closet, Kenji's eyes widen with a mix of surprise and arousal. His breath catches in his throat, and you can see the desire intensifying in his gaze. The sight of you, still wearing your nightgown with the harness and dildo securely in place, ignites a fire within him. He shifts slightly, unable to hide his growing excitement.

His vulnerability melts into raw need, and he reaches out for you, his hands trembling with anticipation. "You look incredible," Kenji breathes, his voice husky with desire. "Can’t believe you’re my woman.”

"I know, darling," you reply softly as you approach him. "And I’m all yours.”

Kenji nods eagerly, his eyes never leaving yours. "Please," he whispers, his voice filled with longing. "I’m so tired from today.”

You cup his face in your hands, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "I've got you," you murmur reassuringly. "Just relax and I’ll take care of everything."

With a gentle but firm touch, you push him down onto the bed, guiding him until his back rests against the headboard. You climb onto the bed, straddling his lap, your eyes locking onto his with a mix of desire and tenderness. Leaning in, you capture his lips in a deep kiss. The kiss quickly intensifies, hands gripping his shoulders as you bite his lower lip, silently asking for entrance. 

Kenji parts his lips willingly, a soft gasp escaping him. Your tongue slips into his mouth with a blend of dominance and passion. His hands grip your waist, holding you close as you both lose yourselves in the kiss.

Breaking the kiss, you trail your lips along his jawline, nipping and planting soft kisses down to his neck. You can feel his pulse quicken under your touch. Kenji’s breath hitches, and his voice comes out in a needy whisper, “Hurry up and put it in already.”

You pause, looking into his eyes with a knowing grin. "Impatient, are we?" you tease gently, continuing to place kisses along his neck.

“Yes, been thinking ‘bout you,” he breathes, his eyes half-lidded with desire as he looks up at you. 

You chuckle softly, your manicured fingers tracing gentle patterns on his chest. "We can't rush things, Kenny," you murmur, your voice both soothing and commanding. "I haven’t prepped you yet."

Kenji lets out a frustrated, yet needy sigh, his hands gripping your waist tighter. With a tender smile, you press another kiss to his lips. "I promise, it will be worth the wait," you reassure him as your fingers trail lower.

Slowly, you pull his boxer briefs down. His aching cock springs free, standing proudly, the sight of it sending a thrill through you. You lick your lips at the sight, feeling the heat radiating from him.

You lean over to the nightstand, opening the drawer and searching for the lube. Your fingers brush against the nearly empty tube, and with a sigh of mild frustration, you pull it out. Determined to make it work, you squeeze out the remaining lube onto your fingers, carefully gathering every last drop.

Gently, you spread his legs, positioning yourself between them. You begin to massage the cold gel into his anus with careful strokes, your other hand slowly working up and down his length. The combination of sensations makes him gasp, his body shuddering under your touch.

You slide one finger inside him, feeling him tense momentarily before he relaxes into the intrusion. His breath comes in ragged gasps as you work a second finger in, stretching and preparing him. Leaning in, you capture his lips in a kiss, silencing his moans with your mouth. 

As you press a third finger inside, he groans into the kiss, the sound vibrating against your lips. He grips your silk robe tightly, his hands clutching the fabric with a mix of urgency and need. His body arches into yours as you take him to the brink of ecstasy.

Knowing his body so well, you sense he’s about to come, so you pull your hands away, eliciting a whine from him at the sudden absence of your touch. You glance at his hole and realise the gel isn’t quite enough for him to take you yet. A smirk curls your lips as you caress his jaw, an idea forming.

“Suck my dildo, baby.”

Kenji’s eyes widen with a mix of surprise and excitement. He nods eagerly, his breath coming in shallow pants as he anticipates what’s to come.

He pushes you to make space for him, his hands gripping your thighs as he leans forward, taking the pink dildo into his mouth. His lips and tongue work eagerly, coating it with saliva as you watch, your own arousal building with each movement.

“That’s it,” you coo, combing your fingers through his hair. “Make sure it’s nice and wet for you.”

Kenji fervently responds to your praise, his eyes shining with desire and appreciation. He gets off on your approval, each encouraging word making him suck harder, his mouth working expertly over the dildo. He moans around it, the vibrations adding to the growing heat between you both.

“You’re doing so well, Kenji. So eager to please me,” you purr, your fingers tightening in his hair. 

His eyes flicker up to meet yours as he redoubles his efforts, his tongue swirling around the tip,  lips sliding up and down the silicon shaft. The sight of him – the Ken Sato, so submissive and devoted – sends a wave of possessiveness through you.

You’re suddenly reminded of the press conference earlier, where one of the journalists had been flirting with him openly. The memory ignites a flicker of jealousy and anger within you, fueling your possessiveness. Without thinking, you push his head down onto the dildo, gripping his hair tightly.

"That's right," you say breathlessly, your voice edged with a mix of authority and jealousy. "No one else gets to have or see you like this."

Kenji's eyes widen slightly, but he doesn't resist. Instead, he works harder, his mouth moving more eagerly over the dildo, saliva dribbling onto the bedsheets.

"You’re my good boy," you murmur again, a possessive glint in your eye. "Only I can give you what you need.”

You push the dildo deeper into his mouth, watching as his nose brushes against the leather of your harness. Tears well up in his eyes, but he doesn't pull away, his hands gripping your thighs for support. You hold him there for a moment, savouring the power you have over him.

One…two…three…four…five…six…seven. 

Kenji's eyes look up at you, wide and glassy. His tears spill over as he struggles to breathe, but his desire to please you keeps him in place. You finally ease up after seven seconds, allowing him to take a gasping breath.

You wipe the saliva from his chin with a gentle touch. "You did great, Kenny. Proud of you.”

Kenji's breath hitches, his chest rising and falling with emotion. "Thank you," he manages with a hoarse voice. 

“You're welcome, sweetheart," you whisper, your voice firm yet tender. "Now, lay down on your back for me."

Kenji obeys without hesitation, shifting to lie back on the bed, his eyes never leaving yours. You grab a pillow and slide it under his hips, positioning him perfectly. You watch as he settles, his body displaying eagerness. You position yourself over him, eyes scanning his body, admiring his form as you prepare to continue.

You angle the dildo at his entrance, teasing the tip in first, watching his reaction. His eyes almost roll back, and a low groan escapes his lips. Slowly, you push yourself in, feeling the resistance give way as his body accepts the intrusion. The mixture of his saliva and the lube allows for a smooth glide.

He moans loudly as you fill him, the sound echoing in the dimly lit room. His hands grip the sheets, knuckles turning white as he adjusts to the sensation.

“You’re taking me so well, baby.”

His moans deepen, his body arching towards yours, seeking more of your touch. You lean down, your lips brushing against his ear. "Do you like that?" you whisper, your breath hot against his skin. "Tell me how it feels."

"Feels...so good," he pants. “Can you move, please?”

Without hesitation, you begin to thrust into him, your movements slow and deliberate at first. The friction builds as you move your hips against his, each thrust eliciting a gasp or moan from his parted lips. His hands find your hips, trying to pull you closer, deeper, as his need grows more urgent.

The room fills with the sounds of your bodies moving together, the soft creak of the bed, and his breathless whispers of encouragement. "More," he pleads, his voice thick with desire. "Please, more."

You quicken your pace, each thrust becoming more powerful and precise, hitting just the right spots to drive him wild. The look of pure ecstasy on his face fuels your own arousal, and you lean down to capture his lips in a searing kiss, muffling his cries of pleasure as you take him to the edge.

"Harder," he murmurs against your lips, his voice a desperate plea. The silk robe clings to your skin, becoming an annoyance in the heat of the moment. With a frustrated growl, you almost rip the delicate fabric off, tossing it aside without a second thought.

Now free of the robe, you feel the cool air against your heated skin, heightening your senses. You grip his hips firmly, your nails digging into his flesh as you increase the intensity of your thrusts. Each movement sends waves of pleasure coursing through both of you.

His hands clutch at your back, sliding the nightgown off your shoulders until it pools around your hips. His nails leave faint trails on your skin as he tries to ground himself in the overwhelming sensations. You lean down again, your breath hot against his ear, "Who’s making you feel good, hm?"

"Just you ma’am…please, don’t stop," his voice shaky with desire. 

Your movements become even more frenzied, driven by the sight of his pleasure and the sound of his desperate pleas. The nightgown, now bunched around your waist, adds tantalising friction as you thrust into him. His head tilts back, exposing his neck to your kisses and nips, each contact sending shivers through his body. 

You admire the marks blooming on his skin, every bite and hickey, a visible claim that he belongs to you. His eyes flutter shut at every thrust you make. “Eyes on me, pretty boy,” you command.

He struggles to comply, his eyes wide and glassy as they lock onto yours. He can feel himself getting closer, so you move your hand to his aching cock, helping him with his release. The combination of your touch on his cock and the way your dildo hits the right spot sends him into overdrive. 

Kenji's breathing becomes erratic, his body trembling under the intensity. With a final, powerful thrust, he comes hard, his release coating his torso in thick spurts. The room is filled with the sound of his cries of pleasure mingling with your heavy breaths.

As the waves of his climax subside, exhaustion quickly takes over. His eyes close, and he falls into a deep, satiated sleep. You chuckle softly, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead. Carefully, you pull out, eliciting an unconscious whimper from him, and begin to clean him up. You wipe away the sweat and arousal with wet wipes, ensuring he's comfortable and clean before pulling the covers over his body.

Watching him for a moment, a sense of satisfaction washes over you. You brush a few strands of hair from his forehead, “Rest well, darling,” you whisper then quietly leave the bed to deal with your own...problem.

[minamorsart]

Character sheets for an upcoming mini comic!!! Introducing new outfits, including Celeborn ✨

Explanation of design choices below!! Galadriel will not be wielding a sword in the comic, I just wanted to draw her in a cool pose :P

To start, I am definitely not as comfortable with drawing medieval armor/clothing as I am sci-fi, at least not yet! Much research needed! ✊😤 And though I am most certainly still a novice when it comes to character design, I tried to approach this from an animation standpoint and opt for more simplistic designs, as beautiful as the intricate wardrobes are in TROP.

For Sauron, I took inspiration from the armor he is shown wearing in the exposition scene at the beginning of S1E1, as well as his outfit in the S2 finale. He's properly converted back to the dark aesthetic, but hasn't quite reached cape level yet! So instead of a cape I gave him a drapey tunic similar to the red one he wears with his Númenor armor as Halbrand. And the gold accents could be seen as symbolizing his vanity, but at their foundation represent his ties to Galadriel and him coveting her light.

For Galadriel I was inspired by her silver outfit in season 2, as well as Legolas's outfit in The Two Towers. I wanted to bulk her up with the shoulder armor, while still hopefully maintaining her femininity. I'm keeping the silver aesthetic because I think it really suits her, but I also added darker colors to her clothes to indicate that she is being more and more influenced and tempted by the darkness. So we can see that with the golds on Sauron and the dark grays on Galadriel, they are always on each other's minds ;)

Lastly, for Celeborn there was a lot more planning needed for his design! The most important thing was that, purely from a character design standpoint, I didn't want him to look like Sauron. Though Sauron is fair and beautiful, to me he should still have rugged features because of his apprenticeship with Aulë and his skills as a blacksmith. He's a Maia who works with his hands, and I wanted that to come through in his design. This means a more square and sharper face (to hopefully match Charlie Vickers' face shape), tanner skin, and a bulkier build.

In contrast, though I don't know much about Celeborn, I do know that he is a prince, which probably means he doesn't have the need to labor or work with his hands. Therefore I gave him paler skin, longer hair, and a slender build, as well as a longer and pointier face to lean into the Elf aesthetic. I don't want him to look extremely identical to Galadriel, either, so I gave him even blonder hair, almost white compared to her gold. And though I want him to look differently enough from Galadriel so that they don't look like siblings, I'm also fine with them sharing some similar characteristics. This shows that on the surface they would appear to have a lot in common and therefore are perfect for each other, being a prince and princess and all, but of course we know that that is actually a very different story ;)

[pickingupmymercedes]

It was always them - Lewis Hamilton 1/3

An Invisible String Theory Story - It was always them (pt.1). It still is (pt.2). It will always be (pt.3).

pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Reader!

warnings: none, it's pure fluff.

wordcount: +1K

a/n: I need to give all the props to @greedyjudge2 for getting me to finally write this.

As always, I'm open for feedback, come say hi!

______________________________________________________________

The soft hum of the apartment filled the quiet morning. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, a warm glow washing over the NYC living room.

Lewis was sprawled on the sofa, a cup of coffee in hand, his eyes glued to his phone, scrolling through his emails.

The soft padding of bare feet interrupted his focus. He looked up to find Y/N, a bouncing figure of energy, emerged from their bedroom. Her hair still damp from a shower as her eyes sparkled with excitement, a stark contrast to the lazy demeanor he expected on a Sunday.

"You have to see this, Lew," Y/N's voice, filled with excitement as she chirped, her voice carrying a playful lilt and, in her arms, she clutched a stack of thick, glossy papers.

"Is this what I think it is?" he replied, a lazy smile spreading across his face. He set down his phone and reached for her, pulling her into a warm embrace.

Y/N wriggled out of his arms and sat down beside him, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. "The first draft of my Balmain collection," she said, her voice barely containing her enthusiasm.

Curiosity piqued; Lewis raised an eyebrow as he sat up straighter, "Oh?"

His heart swelled with admiration. He knew how much this meant to her. After five years of revolutionizing sports fashion with Ferrari, she had decided to take on a new challenge. It was a bold move, but watching her grow and evolve in high fashion had been nothing short of inspiring.

"Let's see it then" he said, his voice steady, gesturing for her.

Y/N carefully laid the sketches out on the kitchen island, a pristine expanse of black marble. Lewis got up and enveloped her in his arms as his eyes scanned the sketches.

The designs were definitely a departure from the sports-inspired aesthetic she was so known for, but they still carried her signature flair. The colors were bold, the silhouettes modern, and the overall aesthetic was undeniably Y/N. It was a perfect blend of her signature sporty elegance and the high fashion world she was now navigating.

"I wanted to create something that was both timeless and modern," she explained, her voice soft. "Something empowering"

"These are incredible, Y/N," Lewis nodded, impressed. "You've done that and more," he said sincerely.

A radiant smile spread across her face. "You haven’t even seen them all" she said, her voice filled with mock disbelief. "I was worried it was too much of a departure from my usual style."

"It's not," he assured her. "It's just a different expression of your talent. You've always been able to adapt and evolve."

She nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I know, but I had never strayed that far."

Lewis turned her in his arms and caught her chin so she would look at him "I'm here to support you every step of the way," he said softly. "I know you can do this. You're one of the most talented people I know."

She leaned into his touch, a small smile playing on her lips. "Thank you, Lew. It means the world to me."

He let her go as he reached for the sketches and continued to look through them, he noticed a recurring theme - strong, independent silhouettes but always with a softer note. It was a reflection of Y/N herself.

"You've captured the essence of Balmain perfectly," he said, his voice filled with admiration. "It's bold, but it's still undeniably you."

Y/N beamed. "I wanted to push the boundaries of what Balmain can be," she explained. "To create something that's both classic and contemporary, strong and feminine."

Lewis nodded "You've definitely achieved that." He picked up a sketch of a tailored blazer, the fabric adorned with a subtle Balmain monogram. " It's them but it feels fresh and modern."

Y/N's eyes lit up with gratitude. "I'm glad you like it," she finally said, her voice trembling slightly. "I was kind of nervous about showing you."

"Why would you be nervous?" he asked, taking her hand in his. "I have complete faith in you."

She squeezed his hand. "It's different when it's your own full collection. It's like putting a part of myself out there."

"You're going to kill it," he assured her. "I know it."

He’d always admired her ability to create something out of nothing. From transforming the world of F1 fashion to now, venturing into the realm of high fashion, she was a force to be reckoned with. And yet, despite her accomplishments, she still sought his opinions, her eyes darting to him every few seconds as he went through all the designs.

Y/N explained her inspiration for each piece, the symbolism behind the colors, and the story she wanted to tell. Lewis listened intently, offering his feedback when asked. He was impressed by the level of detail and thought that had gone into every aspect of the collection.

"I love how you’ve sneaked motorsport elements into the designs," he commented, pointing to a dress with intricate leather detailing.

Y/N grinned. "I knew you'd appreciate that," she said. "It's a nod to our roots."

Lewis chuckled. "You're getting too good at this, you know."

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do" she replied, playfully batting his arm.

Just then, as he studied a particular sketch, a memory flickered to life.

He was still a Mercedes driver then, trying to flee from the frenetic energy of the paddock. But amidst the chaos of the circuit, a figure had caught his attention. He saw her standing amidst the chaos, a breath of fresh air in the sea of team uniforms.

She was wearing a tailored pantsuit in a shade of crimson that echoed the Ferrari red, a bold statement in a side of the paddock dominated by neutral tones and controlled imagination.

He'd been drawn to her immediately, a silent acknowledgment of her presence.

He'd asked around, of course. Who was this woman who commanded attention without even trying? The answer both surprising and intriguing: the responsible behind some of the newer Ferrari designs he'd admired from afar. The one he was sure had a new eye behind them.

Y/N's voice pulled him back to New York. “Earth to Lewis?” she teased, waving a hand in front of his face. “You okay there, lover boy?”

He blinked, snapping out of his reverie. “Yeah” he managed, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “Just thinking.”

“About what? Questionable fashion choices?” she asked, feigning offense.

He chuckled. “Far from it. I was actually remembering you a few years ago and that crimson pantsuit.”

Y/N rolled her eyes playfully. “Smooth. But I'm glad you remembered. I was hoping you would.”

______________________________________________________________

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[nicolekart]

Jentry Chau vs the Underworld – Kit theory 

Okay, so I recently finished watching “Jentry Chau vs the Underworld” and got a little hyperfixation about it, but I see that not many people are talking about this cartoon.

And since I don't have a chance to do any fan art for the time being, I'll at least do a little bit of writing.

A small disclaimer: This is not a super specific theory, but more of a loose thinking and musing about additional storylines, because I think these characters and the story had much more potential than was tapped, or they were given to tap. I know I'm probably reading too much into things, but let's just be delusional for 5 minutes. You know… for fun.

I guess I don't need to say there are spoilers?

So, what if the plan for Kit's character was a bit different beforehand, or if we have some hint of what will happen to him next?

It's just that, I admit, I feel that his plot could have been handled better, more deeply (like many things in general), and I can't shake the feeling that there is a certain inconsistency that scratches at the back of my head - which is the bird motif.

1. The theme of a bird with 1 wing from another post

Link to the post.

When I saw this post, some way into the early episodes, I began to pay more attention.

It is about a mythical Chinese creature in the form of a bird with one eye and one wing, which has to unite with another bird in order to fly. The author of the post draws attention to this sense of incompleteness, of lacking something, which Kit has in regard to the lack of a soul.

The creature's other name is Jian, and it is also described as a good omen, a symbol of protection, a messenger between the divine and mortal realms.

2. His design

Link to the post on IG

 One of the character designers shared concept art of Kit, in which he has a medallion signed as using this very creature's theme. In the end, Kit appears to have a plain pink necklace.

However, the wing motif remains on his shirt.

In the shirtless art, we see a scar (which didn't make it into the series either), but it's on the same side as the missing wing would have been. Also, the design on the shirt. 

Maybe the plan was to rewrite the Jian myth, where he didn't just have one wing, but lost it?

2 Kit's character in the intro

And while the design thing can be explained by the fact that it was an old concept that didn't make it into the final version, why were some of the wing motifs left, like his shirt (but about that in a moment).

The main question is, why was it left in the intro in such a literal way? Just for aesthetic reasons? Didn't they want to show what kind of demon he is right away? Why are his eyes purple when he has white ones in the show? On the other hand, Michael's eyes when he has visions are identical to those in the episodes?

In the post, the artist mentions that the theme of the one-winged bird is a tragic story, and yet Kit is a tragic character in a way, and that he looks so dramatic in the intro... But doesn't it seem a little off to you? I mean, as much as possible... it might have been the only reason to use such a motif, but all in all, why would one demon have the attributes of another demon/mythical creature?

4. The feather theme of the woman in the vision

 As I mentioned, there are still the feather/wing motifs.

In episode 6, in the visions that Cheng haunts Kit with, there is a woman who first turns into dark feathers, and then has a medallion that might resemble a stylized wing. 

They say everything in animation is intentional, so why?

5. Torn pages from the bestiary

This is probably the least solid guess, nevertheless....

It seems that most demons in the bestiary have 2 pages dedicated to them. (Even probably Ed considering that the one on the page next to him is his picture).

However, the Painted skin demon only has one page, and the next pages are torn out. I know that this could just be a hint as to the further plot of the episode, and the whole scene was just to show Jentry the missing pages. But if I remember correctly, they weren't addressed anymore in the plot (like a lot of things in general but well).

The point is that why would the pages torn out of BESTIARIUS contain anything about Jentry's powers if they originated from the Yellow Emperor and, as Gugu suggested, are worthy of a god. I would assume that the power that some mythical emperor might have possessed would rather have come from the Gods, which is why the demons fear it so much, or the Mogui who crave it so deeply, since such power is not available to Diju beings.

So what if these pages are a continuation of the Painted Skin Demon chapter. What if he wasn't always like this? Maybe there is a further (earlier) part of the legend? What if they combined two of the myths together? Like the Fallen Good Omen, for example, that's why he loves people so much and wants to be among them again.

Although in the scene at the end of the episode his chapter is already on another page, not next to the torn out pages....

6. Potential rebirth/return to the former form/getting his soul back from Diju

What if Jentry was right and the soul is not a uniquely human thing. I'm not saying that all demons have a typical soul, because they would probably have already figured it out. But maybe they can develop/ grow one? Or something similar to it. Gugu says they'll give them a funeral... all of them. That means Kit, as well. What if, thanks to this ritual, his soul could pass to the afterlife, or to Diju given that he did however kill some people and generally has things to repent for?

Maybe in a later storyline they could get his soul back, he could be reborn. Or, theorizing about bird motifs, he could return to favor as a good omen.

From other stories, like Journey to the West, we know how often Heaven liked to punish celestial beings (and that's how the one-winged bird is described – a celestial being, not a demon) by turning them into demons, or how often animal-like creatures escaped into the human world and took the forms of demons.

That's pretty much it. I just wanted to point out a few things that I found interesting.

What do you guys think? I haven't written anything like this for years and I feel a bit weird 😅

And please, if you haven't already, watch JCVTU. We need season 2. 💗

[minus-plus-zer0]

The Bakusquad Gaming Group - Ch. 2 - Appearing on His Stream

| Masterlist | The Bakusquad Gaming Group Masterlist | | Previous | Next | ♡ Genre: Fluff ♡ Pairing: Gamer!Bakugou x Gamer!Reader ♡ Tags: Crossover (MHA x multiple franchises), gaming AU, Quirkless AU, aged up

You were still reeling from your first ever collaboration event with Dynamight, one of the more recent gaming channels to hit the big leagues. After the event ended, you went to bed and rolled around from pure giddiness. It wasn't just about the increase in views and exposure that mattered to you and your own gaming channel. No, what you really cared about was him.

You couldn't really explain these odd feelings in your chest as you cuddled up with your gaming plushie, but you knew it was his damn fault. Maybe it was his handsome face, or maybe it was the way he seemingly flirted with you, but something about him drew you ever closer.

But you had never heard any rumors about him dating, so you had no idea what to expect from a guy like him. You hoped he liked you as much as you thought he did.

You knew you had to keep the ball rolling. Your viewers on your channel kept asking for more videos between you two. And Bakugou specifically said he wanted you more in his life (or at least in his career). So you had to give them more.

You checked your viewer count and other related statistics. The stream garnered increased attention for both of you, but Bakugou still had the higher follower count. Given your channels had almost entirely different content save for some occasional overlap, you didn't really know how to compare yourself to him or how to overtake him. Bakugou's fans stuck around for his sheer skill and his determination to beat any level, no matter how difficult. You didn't really feel you could compete with that, given your cozy game aesthetic.

But you had to try.

Over your sugary breakfast cereal, you mulled over whether to text Bakugou then and there. You hemmed and hawed over it for several minutes before finally sending a text.

"Morning! Did you check your stats? Both of us went up, I think."

"Yeah I noticed."

"You think that was more due to you or to me?"

"Don't even ask me that. I'd say it's more due to me, 'cause I clearly got the bigger bump."

You knew he was an arrogant guy on his videos and streams, but it still kinda hurt to hear that. You hoped you had proven yourself to him already.

He continued texting. "But you still did a great job last stream. It pisses me off. That's the first time somebody's kicked my ass that badly."

You hummed to yourself happily, doing a tiny dance in your dining chair. You knew he didn't give out those compliments that easily.

"Now that I know what you're capable of," Bakugou texted, "you better get ready when I surpass you and your channel."

You bit your lip. You knew what Bakugou was capable of. But you wanted to show him you were capable of something great too. Cozy gamers like you were looked down upon as not real gamers, and you wanted to prove everyone wrong. You just needed the confidence to know that you even could.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you, of all people," you texted. "But I am up to the challenge!"

"Come over to my next stream," Bakugou texted. "A fan sent me some weird anime game that's more your style than mine. We'll play the main co-op storyline and we'll show the viewers who's really the best."

Your heart swelled. He was inviting you back! He saw you as a threat!

"Yes of course I'll come over! I'll show your chat who's boss. The cozy gamers will win!"

Somehow, you landed yourself at Bakugou's apartment for the first time ever.

The window views were almost always beautiful, the garden was well-groomed, the gorgeous pool out back was ready to use, and the location was in a great spot. Your apartment wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't as good.

Of course he'd live in a place like this. And of course he could afford it. Bakugou's parents were well-known fashion designers and his own channel probably made enough income to get by. None of the other Bakusquad streamers lived like this (in fact, most streamers generally didn't).

You tried to ignore how much his mere apartment complex intimidated you. You knocked on his door, a plate of sugar cookies in tow as you fixed your adorable outfit.

Bakugou opened the door seconds later, looking sharp in his black jacket and orange shirt. You gave him the cutest tiny wave of your hand.

"Hey!" you said. "I brought cookies! It's just a thanks that I always give when people invite me over. I didn't want us getting hungry during the stream."

"Cookies, huh?"

He took a cookie and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully.

"Well? What do you think?"

"...It's good." He sounded surprised. "Text me that recipe later. Can't believe this shit." He pointed at you accusingly. "This is the second time I've felt outdone by you."

Your heart swelled. You followed him inside his apartment as he kept munching on your cookies.

"Do you really mean it? I'm so happy! Now you're seeing what I'm truly made of."

He took your plate of cookies and set it down on the kitchen counter nearby. "I already kinda knew not to underestimate ya. I've also heard you talking about baking in your videos."

"You saw my cozy lunch stream two weeks ago?" You gasped, acting flattered like you were a superstar. "Were you eating lunch with me? Were you in the chat?"

Bakugou crossed his arms and leaned against his kitchen counter. "I never talk in your chats. Your chat members are too freaking weird. I'd rather listen."

"So you're one of the lurkers," you said, walking around him all coy. "I appreciate all my viewers, even if they don't talk. But I didn't realize you were so shy."

"I'm not shy." His eyes narrowed into slits. "And quit teasing me. You probably watch my videos the same way."

You couldn't wipe that cocky expression off his face because he was right. Your mildly offended face told him that much and he just chuckled.

Bakugou showed you around the rest of his house, and you were more than eager to poke your head around every corner. The place had a brilliantly modern feel to it, leaning into darker wooden colors to give it a mature feel. There wasn't a pillow out of place on the living room couch, the dining room table had a brilliant shine, and you noticed that the kitchen counter was even still wet from cleaning.

Wait, still wet?

"Did you clean just before I got here?" you asked, dabbing your index finger upon the surface. Bakugou looked at the offending spot like he wanted to smash it and buy a new counter entirely. "You didn't have to do that for me, Bakugou!"

He stomped over to you and ushered you away from the spot. "It's only normal to clean up before guests arrive! Of course I would! Next room!"

But of course, you soon noticed more things on his extremely short tour. When you threw something away, you saw that his trash can was still filled with used paper towels and even an empty cleaning spray. His bathroom also still smelled lightly of fresh cleaning products. You didn't even have to look hard to find these clues once you realized it.

Bakugou still tried to drag you away from it. He led you to his bedroom, where his gaming setup was. You didn't really understand what he was getting so worked up for.

You stopped him before you entered his bedroom. "Bakugou, it's okay! You don't have to be so insecure about this. It's normal to do an early spring cleaning before somebody visits. Were you worried about impressing me? Don't worry, I'm super impressed!"

Your cheery face tried to convince him just as much. His more serious face examined yours.

"''Course I want to fucking impress ya," he said, leaning against his closed bedroom door. "Do you even know who you are? You're a celebrity. I've watched a ton of your damn videos. And now you're here. With me. I thought you'd feel the same pressure, since you're my fan too."

His words warmed your heart. "Of course I feel the same! I wanted you to think I was cool too. Honestly, I would've been a little heartbroken if you didn't like my cookies." You laughed, rubbing your arm awkwardly. "But I also can't believe you're intimidated by me. You don't have to worry, because I love everything that I am seeing!"

"You're always such a sap," he said. Then, he leaned closer to you. "But thanks."

Bakugou turned and opened his bedroom door, walking inside and gesturing you to follow. It was a bit of a random thought, but you really liked the look of his broad shoulders from behind. You followed him, blaming his earlier behavior for getting you to think of him like this. You couldn't space out here thinking about his body, he might notice!

And he did notice. Bakugou briefly caught you staring and raised an eyebrow before you trailed over to him in his bedroom.

"Wow, so this is where the magic happens," you said, desperately trying to distract him.

Bakugou's bed had a nice, slick black spread and his gaming setup was set a decent distance away from the area, ensuring that nobody would ever see where he slept. In fact, you've never seen that part of his room from his videos. His closet and drawers were closed, but you didn't really want to peep into them anyways. His shelves were filled to the brim with video games and some books, and there were heavy weights around the corner. Bakugou had a few choice gaming posters above his bed and a few figurines around his computer. No raunchy anime figurines were ever displayed, that was more Kaminari's and Midoriya's style.

"Done ogling?" Bakugou asked, his arms crossed. You didn't know if he was referring to his bedroom or himself, but his smug face made you not want to test him on his true meaning.

"You'd do the same if you visited my apartment," you said, shrugging like you were voice positively innocent. You both knew better.

"You really sure of that?" He moved just a bit closer.

"I know you're just as curious as me."

"Well I wouldn't have invited you over if I wasn't."

"Awww. You really just say the randomly cutest things, huh?"

He scoffed and turned his head away, but he couldn't hide his smile from that angle.

You helped him with setting up before the stream started. With the two of you working hard, you got through the setup process quicker than he would've done alone. You chatted here and there in the mean time, and eventually you caught him laughing at a few of your goofy jokes. At first he tried to hide it, but he soon stopped and you got to hear a full bark of laughter, which was rare even throughout his videos.

During the setup, you occasionally caught Bakugou staring at you. Every time, he sharply turned away and pretended to be overly invested in his computer again. He was like a little school boy around you sometimes.

Once you two finished, both of you posted on social media to alert your viewers that the stream would start soon. You both got into your seats in front of the computer and his moderators rolled into the chat. Eventually, the game started. Your shared face cam turned on and you beamed at your viewers.

"Hey guys!" you chirped. "I'm joining Dynamight today on his stream again and we're gonna be playing an old favorite of mine! It's super nice to see you all here. I hope some of you remember me from our last collab. In fact, I think I see a few familiar faces here in the chat from my own fanbase..."

"You don't gotta be that nice to them, you know," Bakugou said, leaning on one arm of his gaming chair towards you. "She may find you guys sweet and stuff, but I don't. I've seen how you guys post. You people are total dicks."

"Well, too late!" you said. "I can't take back my kindness, now can I?"

Some of his viewers remarked they were shocked to see somebody else on his face cam, let alone in his house.

"isnt that his bedroom?" said one viewer. "did they break in?"

"are you guys dating?" asked another. "also did they break in?"

"See what I fucking mean?" Bakugou said, gesturing to the chat displayed on the computer screen. He slapped the hand to his forehead and groaned.

"Come on guys," you said. "It's not like that... It's just easier to play the game when we're together like this. Local play is better than online play for this game."

But the commenters still kept going. "theyre dating! dynamight liked her social media posts before this and we have evidence!"

You highlighted that comment with Bakugou's mouse and keyboard and poked him in the shoulder. "Wait, is this one true? You've liked my posts?" You poked him repeatedly in the sides. "You're giving me social media engagement?"

Bakugou glanced at the computer screen. "Ugh. They're reading too much into everything. Ignore them and move on."

"Fine, fine," you said. "Settle down chat. We're here for the game, not to gossip. You can do that on my streams instead and next time, it won't involve my life..."

"It better not!" Bakugou cried.

You grabbed your controller and proceeded through the game's main menu. The game's intro played out before you two, something you'd seen a hundred times. You read the text out loud for the chat's sake.

The game was an anime-styled fantasy beat 'em up. You'd play co-op with Bakugou to traverse through varied fantasy lands in order to defeat a dragon that was summoning monsters all over the kingdom. The commenters described your voice as soothing, and Bakugou paid rapt attention to you as you spoke.

The character selection screen popped up. Bakugou chose to play as a barbarian, while you played as a white mage. The first level took place in a castle overrun with monsters and you two got to work on cleaning up.

You were hit with all sorts of nostalgia upon fighting the first waves of castle monsters. You recounted some of your old memories of this game to Bakugou and the chat. Bakugou was much more critical of the game than you ever were with your nostalgia goggles, but you liked hearing his perspective because it was so different from yours. Some of the viewers even agreed with him.

"These controls are really fucking unintuitive," Bakugou said, his fingers smashing rapidly on his controller. "Shit! I didn't want my stupid character to fucking do that! No wonder your kid self struggled with this game."

"It's an older game so it's not super robust," you said, while your white mage killed the castle monsters much more smoothly. "It's not so bad once you get used to it. Here, let me show you the ropes."

"I can handle it!" Bakugou said, not tearing his eyes from the screen.

"Pretty please? It'll only take a second. I promise it won't be that long."

"Tch... Fine."

You guided him through killing the castle monsters, giving him several tips and pointers until he got the hang of things. Once he got over the learning curve, he started killing things just as well as you did. You knew he'd only get better than you if you underestimated him. You cleared the first level together and proceeded to the huge town outside of the castle.

"...Guess this game isn't that dumb," Bakugou said, looking over at you. "You see how good I did there? Your advice wasn't half-bad."

"Yes, yes, I saw. You did very well!" You clapped your hands together excitedly, your gaming chair swiveling slightly because of it. "Oh it's so rare to see a game redeem itself in your eyes!"

"I never said it was redeemed," Bakugou retorted. "I'm just giving it a fucking chance, that's all."

"That's all it needs, actually."

Sure enough, Bakugou started to enjoy himself more as you continued to explore the town. He still snarked at some of the monsters' anime-inspired designs (which you reluctantly found funny, despite his mean-spiritedness) and he still raged a bit when things didn't go his way, but you were there to calm him down, killing off any monsters that were giving him trouble. You had never seen his rage die down like this on his other streams, and it was a little unnerving! You felt the need to rile him up all over again, just for fun. So you challenged him to see who could kill the most enemies, and he accepted.

The viewers enjoyed seeing you two pull off complex combos as you competed to see who could kill the most enemies level after level. The chat tried to keep tally of how many monsters you both killed per level, but it was clear you were mostly neck-and-neck. You were essentially enemies on the same team. You both cleared several levels pretty soundly with how eagerly you two steamrolled the competition.

Hours passed as you two explored new maps and defeated various mini-bosses, all the while taking a few breaks during the stream. Even though you and Bakugou fought almost the entire time, you loved spending time with him since his reactions were always funny. You always knew how to get a rise out of him.

Finally, you both traveled to the top of the mountain where the dragon rested. The dragon summoned multiple enemies to distract you, and this was your final chance to get ahead of Bakugou. For most of the game you had focused on avoiding as much damage as possible and being overly cautious, but now you attacked without regards to your health. Near the end of the battle, you were almost dead.

Once the dragon was near low health, it collapsed to the ground and both of you wailed on it repeatedly. You feared that Bakugou's barbarian would be faster than you, but you spammed your fastest attack even though it dealt the least amount of damage. Through sheer luck and button mashing, you ended up getting the final blow in. The game showed off your attack in slow motion as the dragon died.

"Chat, who won?" Bakugou said, his eyes shooting to the monitor. "Who fucking won?"

"Give them space, Bakugou," you said, holding him back from the monitor he was currently trying to terrorize. "Yelling isn't gonna make them work faster."

"Tch. You'd be surprised. Wait--WHAT?!"

You barely came out on top. Multiple chat members were able to corroborate each other's numbers. You cried out in happiness. Bakugou threw his controller down onto the table, groaning. The story's outro rolled, showing that you saved the kingdom. The credits showed the aftermath and your characters being celebrated, but Bakugou looked none too happy at this development.

"That was SO much fun," you said, kicking your feet. "I can't believe I won!" You poked Bakugou's ribs again and he simply looked away from you, shaking his head. "Oh I hope chat enjoyed our playthrough. Did you guys like the game? The plot twists were super awesome. Gosh, the story and the gameplay still hold up. Don't you agree, Bakugou?"

Bakugou still refused to look at you. "...Guess it's not that bad..."

"Ohhh?" You got up into his face, forcing him to look at your disgustingly cute smile. "That's a different answer from before! You came into this game hating it."

Bakugou frowned. "That's--ugh... Fine. It was good." You squealed. "Hey! I said it was good. I didn't say I fucking loved it to death. Don't get all cocky and smug with me just because you got me to admit that. This game's learning curve's still a bitch."

"You say that but you did soooo well once you got the hang of things, so I disagree!"

"That's only 'cause I'm me. And also 'cause you literally taught me everything 'cause you've been playing it for years. This is first and foremost a kid's game and most kids would've hated these controls." Bakugou sighed and then leaned back in his chair, looking up to think. "Anyways, the plot's cliche as fuck. The anime art style's hit or miss. The animation could be better. And the game poses this shit as a happy fucking ending even though the townspeople are all probably dead 'cause we couldn't save them in time."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. Even some of the chat members were agreeing.

"...But in the credits," you said, "we see everyone happy and alive!"

"I don't buy it. That's only the survivors."

"You're just seeing what you want to see," you said, patting him on the head to accentuate your point.

He sharply turned to you, defensive and afraid of your soft, loving pets. You could almost hear the chat members gossiping about it now.

"Oh, and another thing!" you said. "Did you know they're coming up with a sequel?"

"WHAT?!" Bakugou sat straight up. "No. We're NOT playing it! Stream's over."

"But thanks so much to all of you for watching! Thank you! Love you!" You sent Bakugou's face cam all of your kisses, to which he observed without any sense of joy. "And don't forget to follow me on social media!"

"Don't add that last part!"

Bakugou stopped the stream. You put your hands on your hips. "Don't end the stream on a grumpy note! Bet you're just jealous that the camera got more love from me than you."

"WHAT?!" Bakugou looked like he could pop a vein. You laughed lightly in the face of his predicament as he muttered complaints and protests under his breath.

It was a daring proposal that you had to suggest. But secretly, you hoped you weren't wrong!

Bakugou went through his typical stream outro routine, such as posting on social media and downloading the video file for later. Once you two finally shut everything off, you relaxed back in Bakugou's extra gaming chair, gawking at the silly boy while he towered above.

"I really had a fun time today," you said, tugging on his black jacket. "Thanks again for inviting me over. I know I give you grief, but I really mean it."

"You're coming back over again," Bakugou said, pointing at you. "...Right? Couldn't tell who the chat loved more, me or you."

"I think they loved us both," you said, lightly spinning in his extra gaming chair. "They said they've 'never seen someone take verbal pot shots at you and get away with it.'"

"You didn't get away with it," he said, stopping your spinning with one hand on your chair and then coming up to you, face-to-face. "I almost won, remember? Despite this being your game."

"Oh, yeah..." You hung your head.

Bakugou looked concerned. "...The hell's wrong?"

"...I'm just a little bummed at myself for not doing as well as I'd thought. Maybe I'm a bit rusty, but I really wanted to be better than you at this game since I've spent so many years on this. Especially since this is gonna be saved on your channel forever."

He patted you on the head and you looked up at him with your pretty doe-eyes.

"Quit worrying," Bakugou said. "You did good. In fact, you're real fucking tough, just like I expected. But do better next time, I wanna see you at your strongest."

You gave him a small smile. "Of course."

He chuckled. "Didn't expect you to get all insecure on me. You're really worrying for nothing, again. I've wanted to meet ya for a long time and I got to see your skills firsthand. I'm not gonna complain about those results."

You felt silly upon realizing that much, and maybe that was a good thing.

"I'm gonna upload this to YouTube later," Bakugou said, sitting back in his own seat. "And--well... I need a good thumbnail. Do you wanna be in it? If... if that's okay with you."

His face looked so innocent. The biggest, brightest, dorkiest grin appeared on your face. He immediately grew apprehensive at the mere sight of such a thing.

"You are sooooooo shy sometimes!" you said, giving a fully belly laugh. Bakugou looked terribly distraught, but you snuffed that feeling out of him real quick with your next response. "And yes, of course I'd love to be on your thumbnail. The viewers will be so happy to see you've made a new friend! But you have to be there with me!"

"FUCKING SERIOUSLY?!"

With your approval, Bakugou would place both of your beaming smiles on the thumbnail of his video when he uploaded it later. The Bakusquad better not tease him for this, because you wanted all the opportunities to yourself.

After the stream ended, Bakugou invited you out to eat ramen with him at a nearby restaurant. You agreed, not wanting the night to end. You both rode on his orange motorcycle, your arms tight around his waist as you clung to his back the entire ride. When you arrived at the restaurant, he removed his helmet, his head facing away from you with pink dusting his cheeks. He appeared effortlessly beautiful under the street lamp glow. Perhaps because of this, he wouldn't face you.

"C'mon, let's go," he said, and he headed into the restaurant with his helmet in tow. You followed after with your own.

You sat down in a booth and surprisingly, Bakugou sat down next to you instead of across the table. You got your menus and the waiter walked away.

Bakugou briefly stood to dump both your helmets on the seat across from you two. Once he sat back down, he addressed you directly. "I'm paying this time. So choose whatever ya want."

"What?!" You put the menu down like it offended you. "No, no, no! You invited me over to your stream, the least I could do is pay you back!"

"You being on my stream benefits both of us, dummy. There's nothing to pay back. Plus, you brought me cookies earlier, so I've gotta pay you back for that."

"Bakugou, that's really not--"

"Pick something!" Bakugou handed you back your menu. "It's not that big of a deal. You know I'm loaded."

That arrogant grin of his always knew how to get under your skin, one way or another.

"Thank you," you said, as you held your menu. "You really are too sweet to me sometimes."

"Well we're friends now, ain't we?"

You both examined the various dishes on the menu, with Bakugou already moving on to check the drinks. You tried to look for the cheapest yet yummiest items, but you mentally shrunk back at the sight of how spicy some of these dishes could get.

"I didn't bring you here for nothing," Bakugou said, seemingly reading your mind. He peered over your shoulder, checking out your menu. "I brought ya because I wanted ya to try some of these hotter dishes. It'd be a waste if you didn't try 'em. You're always vlogging about going to those cute damn cafes. Bet they don't got nothing like this."

"I don't know..." You frowned. "I don't want to end a good day with a stomach ache... And it'd waste your money too..."

"There's normal versions if you really can't handle it," Bakugou said, setting his menu down on the table. "But you should still try something new. This is one of my favorite places to hit post-streams and sometimes one last good kick is what you need right after a big day."

Your gut reaction was to avoid foods that hurt you like the plague. But with Bakugou right beside you eyeing the strongest foods on the menu, you felt the urge to outdo yourself today. You didn't want to seem weak in front of him.

When the waiter came back over, you ordered the lowest level of spice for your ramen. You were feeling risky today.

Bakugou, however, wasn't impressed.

"You chose 'mild'?!" he snapped. Some of the other patrons peered over to look.

"Yes!" you said, clapping your hands together. I'm trying something new, just as you asked! Aren't you proud?"

Bakugou looked confused, but he could tell you weren't even kidding this time. "But that's not even their best shit..."

"Bakugou, it's okay! It looked delicious."

"What if ya don't like it? I don't want you thinking I got crap taste if you don't like it."

You shrugged. "I think we just have different tastes in food, Bakugou. There's nothing wrong with that. Plus, since I'm eating with your money I'll be sure to enjoy every bite! So chin up, okay?"

Over your meals, you two chatted about the various games you've played recently. Bakugou was surprised to learn that you played a lot of the shooters he covered on his channel. You two had more in common than you would've ever previously believed.

You really loved talking to him. This was the first time you managed to truly befriend someone on your level, someone who could understand your lifestyle. You didn't have the same gaming circle of friends Bakugou had with the Bakusquad, and even then none of the Bakusquad even scratched his number of followers. You two were soon becoming in a league of your own, higher than the rest but not quite at the top yet.

Just then, a thought occurred to you.

"Why did you start streaming?" you asked. "You don't really seem like the 'nerdy' type. And if I didn't know you any better I would've thought you would've gotten a career related to sports. I just don't expect tough guy gym rats like you to be full-time gamers."

"Tough guy, huh?" Bakugou cocked his head at you.

"Just answer the question!" you said, before loading your mouth full of food.

"Fine. It's 'cause I love kicking ass in-game and I wanna show everyone undeniable proof that I'm the best. I'm sick of watching a bunch of nobodies acting like they're somebody onscreen. It's a real pain watching other people play when they don't know what they're doing."

You slurped your food. "So... spite is what fuels you."

"Kinda," Bakugou said, bringing food to his mouth. "And you?"

"Well, I can't say I agree with your mindset," you said, setting your chopsticks down. He raised an eyebrow at you. "But I also didn't expect much else. I'm the opposite of you, I think! I wanted to start up this platform because I love sharing my experience with games with other people, and just being there with them. After building up such a big fanbase, I know I have to use my platform for good and to spread a positive message, instead of abusing my power and getting into drama and scandals like other celebrities."

"So you're saying that I'm like one of those celebrities," Bakugou asked, resting his hand on his fist.

"Nope!" you chirped. "You're nothing like them! You get into arguments, sure. But you're not evil! You've just got an ego, but you've also got the skills to back your ego up. That's so cool. And you're passionate and more honest than most, which I really admire. Like, you're mostly the same person on and offscreen, except you might be even sweeter in private... I tease you about it sometimes, but I really appreciate how nice you've been to me."

"Y-yeah, of course," Bakugou said, his face a little too serious. "You may still not get it, but... I look up to ya. So it's insane hearing you say that to my face. I actually modeled my channel after yours early on... You're basically my fucking hero."

"What?! Really?"

"Yeah. I must've found your channel first before you ever found me."

"Well you should've reached out then! You're my hero too!"

"Hell no! You would've rejected me with the numbers you had at the time." Bakugou relaxed against his seat, looking into the distance wistfully at the thought. "I always thought you would've said no." Then he turned to you. "But seeing how things turned out, I'm glad you reached out first. 'Cause that's how we got to this point now."

"...I'm glad I reached out too."

(This chapter was supposed to come out days ago, but as it turns out it's actually like 20 pages long and super hard to edit. Still, I'm glad I took my time because I'm really more satisfied with these results than I would have been if I didn't edit!)

[ggukiepie]

the agreement (drabble i)

pairing: jungkook x fem. oc

tags: smut, fluff, college!au, fuckboy!jk, this is a flashback !!!! how it all began for our ooyg couple <3, mentions of cheating (brief)

warnings: kissing, fingering, a lil bit of breast play, protected sex, missionary, oral, multiple orgasms

word count: 5k

a/n: surprise !!! wrote this way long ago, here we get a glimpse of oc and jk's dynamic as friends <33 enjoy ! can be read as a standalone / part 1 / part 2

..••°°°°••..°°••….••°°..••°°°°••..

Jihyo forced all of you to have a picnic—to sit on the grass and not at some table like you all usually do. Especially since midterms just ended. Said everyone needs a little breather, some change of scenery. She assigned things to bring. Said she wants to have a picnic for the vibes. Or the aesthetic. You're not really sure but you comply nonetheless (and Mingyu threatened all of you to bring the stuff you're assigned to bring, or else you're not allowed in his car anymore). You think she's doing something cutesy like this because you all haven't seen each other in a while, been so swamped with exams and projects to submit.

You're sitting on a red and white picnic blanket—brought by Jihyo of course—enjoying the food brought by Jimin and Jungkook. It's just take out, really, but it's the effort those two boys did that make it a little special. You're in charge of the dessert and you can't wait to eat the cookies you baked.

You're wearing a dress to complete the vibes, one with a floral design and a sweetheart neckline. It doesn't really differ from your usual outfits but you don't mind. You feel the sun shining down on your shoulders as you're listening to Jungkook and Mingyu bicker about who's turn it is to wash the dishes.

"Stop fighting!" Jihyo finally says as the two start picking the pepperoni off the pizza and are chucking it at each other. Jihyo's not really mad because you can see she's trying not to smile, not to laugh, too enamored with Mingyu. They recently had just gotten together so they're still in the honeymoon stage. But you think they're endgame and will be like that forever. You wish you had a love like that. You're not looking for it now though, you know it'll come at the right time.

What stops Mingyu and Jungkook bickering is Jimin shouting that it's time for dessert. You laugh at your friends as they all make a grab for the tupperwares where your baked goodies are. You make good cookies. It's one thing you're proud of. You've made enough for everyone so you remind them of that. Still, it doesn't stop Jungkook and Jihyo from fighting over the last cookie. You only have a small piece for yourself. You have some extra back at your place, for you and for a certain someone who always asks for extra.

"You have more right?" Jungkook whispers from beside you. The others are busy eating and chatting away so they don't hear you both.

You smile and nod your head, too shy to say anything. You've always been like that with Jungkook—shy and speechless. Caught off guard. Even though you've been friends for a year and he's been nothing but nice to you. It's just the natural charm he has, which is why he has a lot of girls falling for him. You get them, even though you don't feel the same way.

Jungkook and you aren't as close as he is with Mingyu. But you're close enough that it's not weird to walk to class with him alone, or to grab coffee together before meeting up with your other friends.

Or for him to follow you right back to your apartment, trailing behind you like a puppy because he wants some cookies to take home.

"You going to the party later?" Jungkook asks as you're putting cookies in a ziplock bag.

"Mhm," you hum. "Not like I got a choice. Jimin said we all had to go or he'll leave the group chat."

Jungkook laughs with you. Jimin is dramatic like that but you both know he never means his threats.

"I can pick you up? I'll be in the area later anyway."

You laugh and roll your eyes at him. "Got another date, huh?"

Jungkook has the audacity to look shy, hand coming to scratch the back of his neck as he thinks of what to say.

"You know I don't date. But yeah, got some thing with some girl. She's in that English class we have together."

You hum in acknowledgment. You don't know which girl he's talking about but it's typical of Jungkook to say something of the sort. You all know he doesn't date. Doesn't believe in love or whatever. You're not really sure. But that's Jungkook and you all love him nonetheless. He's caring and observant, always looking out for his friends, but every boy must have a flaw.

His is not believing in love. You think it's a flaw because you do believe in love and believe that everyone is supposed to experience it. Not platonic love. Romantic love. Butterflies in your tummy, hand holding. All that shit.

Eventually Jungkook leaves your apartment with a ziplock full of cookies. He hugs you before you go which leaves you a little flustered, even though he says hello and goodbye with a hug always. He's cute, you can't help it.

You clean your apartment the whole afternoon, then study with the remaining time you have left while having dinner at the same time. Jungkook says he'll pick you up at 10pm and he's a pretty punctual person. You have an hour to get ready and you do just that. You think you've worn too many floral dresses this week so you change it up a bit by wearing jeans and a cute flowy top. It's still you, so you're happy.

You hear a knock on the door and open it right away, getting a little breathless at the sight in front of you. Jungkook's in all black, as usual, and he unbuttoned his polo almost halfway so you get a good view of his chest.

"Hi," he greets, leaning in automatically to hug you. He smells like fresh laundry with a hint of vanilla perfume. It's probably from the girl he was with earlier.

"Hey," you greet back.

"Ready to go?" he asks. You nod your head and lock your door. You notice him looking you up and down so you furrow your brows, suddenly conscious with what you're wearing.

"Is there something wrong, Kook?"

Jungkook seems to snap out of whatever thought he's in as he shakes his head. "No," he laughs. "Just noticed you're not wearing one of your usual dresses."

"Oh," you simply say. You feel your cheeks heating and there's nothing you can do to stop it. "Just wanted something different for tonight."

"It's nice," he says quietly, hands in his pockets as you both make your way to the party. Jungkook switches sides with you on the sidewalk, makes sure he's walking on the outside. It's a sweet gesture. It's something he always does so you're not phased.

The party is in full swing, loud music playing and people are already drunk. Jungkook doesn't leave your side till you see your other friends. You're three shots in when you finally spot Jimin.

"Hi!" Jimin slurs as he makes his way to you and Jungkook, pulling you both in for a hug. He smells like tequila and you can't help but cringe. "You guys are here!"

The three of you take another shot, per Jimin's request, before he drags you to the other side of the house to meet his friends. You lose sight of Jungkook after that. You don't really mind because you're having fun, dancing with Jihyo, playing beer pong with her, Mingyu and Jimin.

The fun lasts till you bump into Eunwoo.

See, you and Eunwoo dated for a while. Probably just for three months. He was such a gentleman, so sweet and caring, that you were absolutely blindsided when he decided to break things off.

It's been a month since then. You're kind of over it, but it's pretty hard to get over a guy like Eunwoo. Still, he walks up to you the moment he spots you in the crowded room. Makes some small talk. Stands too close.

"How are you doing lately?" He has to lean in to speak and you can't help but feel flustered.

"Been okay," you say simply. Don't want to update him about your life anymore. There's not really a point.

"Listen—" he starts to say.

"Babe!"

You take a step back in surprise, the voice is high pitched and shrilly and you don't recognize who it is. A pretty blonde girl walks up to Eunwoo, wraps her arms around his shoulders and plants a big fat kiss on his cheeks.

"Been looking everywhere for you," she purrs.

"Just talking to an old friend," Eunwoo says, and the girl finally looks at you.

"Oh, hi!" she slurs. Can smell the alcohol right off her. "Didn't see you there. My name's Binna, I'm Eunwoos' girlfriend." She sticks her hand out and you shake it, trying not to let your eyebrows raise in surprise. It's the fact she didn't ask for your name which puts you off.

"We've been dating for two months now," she continues to say.

Okay, now your eyebrows raise in surprise. Well. You know what that means and suddenly you can't breathe, chest constricting and hands turning clammy. You say a quick goodbye and run off to the other side of the house. You try to look for a room that's not locked nor occupied.

You and Eunwoo broke up. It's been a month. He's had a girlfriend for two months. Do the math. Do the math. Do the math.

Maybe Jungkook's right. Maybe love isn't real.

"Ugh," you groan, barging into a tiny and dark room. There are washing machines on one side and dryers in another. The silence helps you calm your nerves a little bit.

You weren't that upset over the break up, but now you kinda are. Can't believe you weren't good enough for Eunwoo. Can't believe he cheated on you. Can't believe you didn't notice it. Didn't even have a gut feeling.

"Okay," you say to yourself. "It's okay. Life goes on. He wasn't the one and that's okay." You down the drink you've been holding and cringe at the strongness of the alcohol. Mingyu makes the worst drinks, but it does the job.

Your peace is interrupted when the door to the laundry room suddenly opens, makes a loud sound as it slams against the wall, and in comes Jungkook.

He doesn't see you so he literally crashes into you since he's running inside the room. You would've fallen were it not for his quick reflexes, one hand going around your waist and the other behind your head to save you from bumping into anything.

"What the fuck, Jungkook?" you almost scream.

"What the heck are you doing here?" he says right back.

It's silent for a moment as you both look at each other. Eventually, you roll your eyes and step away from his hold, choosing to lean on one of the washing machines. "Long fucking story."

You watch him as he hops up to sit on one of the dryers. "Well, I've got time."

You look at him weirdly. "Why are you here anyway?"

He shrugs, swings his feet in the air. "Was running away from some girl. She was weird."

You laugh and shake your head. Typical Jungkook.

"And you?" he asks.

You sigh, looking down to pick at a loose thread of your top. "Bumped into Eunwoo. Met his girlfriend. They've been dating for two months."

"Oh," Jungkook breathes out. It's silent for a moment.

One, two, three, four, five, six—

"Oh?" he says again. "But you guys broke up last month?"

You look at him pointedly in reply, too scared to verbalize anything. He gets it though, could see the recognition on his face.

"Do you want me to punch him?"

You scrunch your nose in disgust. "Ew, no. Don't do that, Kook. I don't want to deal with him anymore. No point anyway."

"Cheating sucks," he mumbles. You nod in agreement. "S'why I don't date." It's a little tidbit he shares about himself and you try to mask your surprise. Jungkook doesn't share much about himself.

"Should probably do the same," you joke.

"But you always date," he laughs.

"I do not!"

"It's literally your thing!"

"Dating is not my thing, Jungkook!"

You bicker back and forth for a while, you don't even know what you're both talking about anymore. But laughing with Jungkook eases the heartache in your chest so you don't mind.

"I just think it'd be fun," he explains, "and it'll help you forget about that douchebag. I hope you don't think I'm forcing you. I'm really not," Jungkook explains, a smile gracing his face. "You don't even have to answer me right now. Or—"

"Let's do it," you say, interrupting Jungkook. His eyes widen and it makes you laugh. You don't think you've ever seen him look so caught off guard.

"Are you sure because—"

"Yes, Kook! Need some change in my life. Maybe I shouldn't date for a while. I've never done anything like this before, so I want to try." You nod to yourself in affirmation.

He shrugs at you. "It's just hooking up. No strings attached."

"No strings attached," you repeat. "Just a one time thing," you mumble as Jungkook walks to where you're standing.

"We can say stop anytime, ok?" Jungkook says. His lips are so close to yours that you can feel his breath. "Just tell me."

You nod your head in reply, too speechless and distracted by the fact that his lips are so close to yours. It feels so exhilarating, the thought of almost kissing someone like this. No romantic ties or whatsoever.

"Words, sweetheart."

"Yeah," you breathe out, licking your lips in anticipation.

"You're so cute," he giggles, leaning in even more to nudge his nose against yours.

"You gonna kiss me or what, Kook?" you complain instead, to hide the fluttering feeling of your chest.

"Are you that eager to kiss me?" he teases.

You've never talked to him this close, noses bumping into each other, lips so close you could feel it move when he talks. You don't sleep with people you're not in a relationship with, but you suppose now is a perfect time to do otherwise. Cheating does suck.

Jungkook finally leans in and presses his lips against yours. You shiver at first because the first thing you feel is the coldness of his lip rings. Then you shiver even more because his lips feel so damn soft against yours. You feel his tongue licking your lips, asking in silent permission to let him in, and you do so willingly without any fight in at all.

You hear him grunt against your mouth when you finally tangle your tongue with his, and you yelp in tiny surprise when he grips your waist and effortlessly lifts you up to sit you on the dryer behind. He shuffles between your legs and pushes himself closer to you if that's even possible. His hands start roaming your body—your legs, your waist, your back. You feel hot all over and you pull at his hair to try to ground yourself.

You can't help but pout when he leans back to take a breath of air, and you realize you're breathless as well. Jungkook laughs at your pouting form, mumbling a quiet cute which has you rolling your eyes at him again.

"You're so bratty," he laughs, his hands rubbing up and down your waist mindlessly. "Maybe next time I have to teach you a thing or two about having manners."

"Who says there's going to be a next time?" you joke, but you look Jungkook in the eyes and he looks serious.

It's his turn to roll his eyes. "Come here," he simply says, and you don't fight him anymore as he goes back to kissing you. You feel him tugging at your top. "Can I take this off, pretty?" he asks. You simply nod and he takes it off from you quickly, eyes blowing out at the sight of your bare chest.

"Wow," he breathes out.

"They're just tits, Kook," you simply say, but you can't help but feel your heart racing at the look he's giving you. Like he wants to eat you whole.

"But you have nice tits," he replies back, eyes not leaving your chest. You start getting self conscious all of a sudden, had never had a guy in this position stare at your body for this long. You start bringing your hands up to cover yourself.

"Hey," he tuts, frowning so heavily his cheeks are puffed out. "Don't need to hide. It's just me." He gently brings your hands down and smiles at you, which makes you giggle in return.

"Don't think we can take our time here though," you say after a while. "Has to be quick."

Jungkook nods to himself, picking up your discarded top only to put it back on you. You look at him confusingly. You thought he'd just agree to a quickie given the place you're both in.

"You're right," he says. "We can go to your place?" he asks you.

You're too stunned to speak so you nod your head and hop down from the dryer. Jungkook interlaces his fingers with yours and you both walk back into the party only to leave the house. You try to ignore the stares you're getting, or the people whispering to each other as you and Jungkook pass by them. You're glad you don't bump into your friends.

It's silent as you walk to your apartment, but it isn't awkward. You feel his thumb rubbing your hand in a comforting matter, and it erases all doubts you have in your head. You're just here to have fun.

Eventually you get inside your apartment and you squeal the moment the door closes behind you both, because Jungkook picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. Walks quickly to your bed and drops you on it, kneeling right between your legs.

"Hi," you breathe out.

"Hello to you too," he says with a playful glint in his eye. "Now where were we?"

"We stopped right here," you say, feeling brave all of a sudden as you remove your top and throw the clothing somewhere behind you.

Again, Jungkook stares at your chest and licks his lips. "Right," he whispers. Then he makes eye contact with you and the lust and desire is suddenly gone. "We can stop anytime, okay?" he repeats his statement from earlier. "Like just tell me anytime and—"

"I get it, Kook!" you laugh, moving your leg to nudge his ribs which makes him laugh as well. "I heard you the first time." You continue poking his tummy with your foot.

"Okay, okay!" He grabs your leg to stop it from moving, brings your foot in front of his face. "Even your feet are cute." Then in sheer horror, he places a tiny kiss on your big toe.

"What the fuck!" you scream, trying to get your foot out of his hold but he's too strong. "Do you have a foot fetish or something?" you say through your laughs.

He apologizes but he doesn't look sorry one bit.

"Can we fuck, Jungkook?" you whine.

"Okay!" He smiles at you as he leans over, saying nothing else as he finally kisses you again. His hand slithers up to cup your boob and your back automatically arches in response. Then Jungkook kisses your cheek, down your jaw to your neck, then encloses his lips around your nipple.

"Oh," you moan out. You tug his hair again—it helps keep you sane. "Feels good."

Jungkook continues sucking your nipple, his other hand playing with your neglected breast. "Gonna take the rest of your clothes off, okay?" he says against your skin.

"Please," you whimper.

He smiles at your pliant form. "Seems like you do have some manners."

You're too fucked out already to talk back, just simply watch him as he removes your jeans and underwear. He moves down the bed to be eye level with your cunt and places a gentle kiss on your clit.

"Kook," you whine. "Please."

"Since you asked so nicely," he mumbles. He flattens his tongue and licks from your hole up to your clit, enclosing his lips around your bundle of nerves and he sucks. Hard.

"That feels so good," you breathe out. You don't think a guy has ever given you oral this good. You might even pass out from the intense pleasure you're feeling. You get it now. You get why a lot of girls fall for him. Why a lot want to sleep with him. You don't care that in this moment, you're just like the rest of them.

(Or maybe you're not. Jungkook did say your friendship with him won't change.)

You feel him nibble slightly on your clit and it sends your eyes rolling back, hips meeting his mouth to practically hump his face.

"What the fuck," you moan out just as Jungkook slides one finger inside you, curling it instantly to look for the spot that'll drive you insane.

He finds it right away and you see stars. "Can I come?" you whisper. "Please, please." You don't care one bit that you sound so desperate right now, you just want to feel that release. Want to feel good. Want to let go.

Jungkook detaches his lips from your clit and smirks at you. "Go ahead, pretty girl. Want you to feel good."

You close your eyes and pull at his hair even harder. You're so close to climaxing that you barely hear Jungkook moaning.

"Fuck," you say out loud, finally reaching your release. You feel the pleasure at your center, then it spreads down to your legs and up to your arms, all the way up to your head that you feel a little dizzy. Jungkook doesn't stop fingering you, and you're not even embarrassed that you can hear how wet you are down there.

"Okay, okay," you finally whimper once you start feeling the oversensitivity. You nudge him with your foot and he places one last kiss on your cunt before sitting up.

"How was that?" he asks proudly. Were it not for the mind blowing orgasm you just received, you would've rolled your eyes at his smugness.

"Like I died and went straight to heaven," you hoarsely reply.

He rubs your leg soothingly. "Still wanna continue?"

You nod your head and he smiles at you, then starts removing his clothes. You watch him silently and thank yourself for saying yes, because what the fuck, Jungkook's built like a Greek god.

And his dick is so pretty, too. You don't think you've ever described a cock as pretty until today. It's thick and long, the tip just resting a little bit bellow his belly button. It's leaking a bit too, could already see the precum, and you rub your legs together at the thought that Jungkook found pleasure in eating you out.

He comes back to bed and places himself on top of you, muscled arms caging your face.

"You good, pretty?" he says while smiling down at you.

"Yeah," you breathe out, feeling his heavy cock resting on your thigh. "Wanna suck you, though."

Jungkook chuckles at you in reply, head bowing down to nip at your neck. "No can do, sweet girl. Gonna blow my load the moment you suck me. Swear."

You pout at him and are about to talk back when he cuts you off.

"I know you're pouting. It doesn't work if I don't see it," he says against your neck.

"Fine," you mumble and he laughs again, body so close to yours that you feel the rumble in his chest.

He presses his lips against yours once again. You're so lost in the kiss that you don't realize his hand has been sliding down your body, rubbing your clit gently only to insert two fingers inside you.

"Kook," you moan against his lips.

"Just wanna make sure you're stretched out enough."

You're getting so close to climaxing again, but it feels like Jungkook already knows your body so well. He withdraws your fingers right when you're about to come. Even has the audacity to look cheeky when you huff at the loss of his fingers. You watch him get a condom from the back pocket of his jeans as you catch your breath. He rolls it on his cock before joining you in bed again, and you easily part your legs for him.

"Gonna go slow, okay?" He brings a hand up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. "If it's too much, just tell me."

"Okay," you simply say, and he starts pushing his cock inside you. It's a tight fit, that you can tell, especially the head as it's the biggest part. God, he's so big. But you take it like a champ anyway, try to even your breathing until he slides all the way in.

"Holy shit," he groans, head dropping to tuck it in the crook of your neck. "You feel so good."

You get him, you really do. Jungkook fills you up so well, it's perfect, and the longer you feel him inside the faster the pain subsides.

You start rubbing his back gently. "You can move now, Kook. It doesn't hurt."

"Gimme a sec," he moans, busies himself with kissing your face instead. "Seriously." He looks at you in the eyes, his doe ones all blown out. "I might not even last long, it's embarrassing," he huffs.

You giggle at him. "Don't worry about it, silly. There's going to be a next time, like you said."

He smiles down at you, dimple popping out and nose scrunching. "Good," he mumbles while leaning down to capture your lips in his. Finally, he starts moving his hips. Slowly at first, just so you both get a good feel of each other.

Then his thrusts start getting a little bit faster and you can feel him so deep, even deeper when he puts your legs over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he groans, mesmerized by the way your tits bounce at each thrust. "There definitely needs to be a next time."

"Please," you start begging again, not really sure what you're begging for. Jungkook just glides in and out so easily because you're so wet. You feel your stomach tensing along with your thighs and you just want to come so badly again. You hold Jungkook's face in your hands and pull him down to kiss him.

"Wanna come," you pant against his mouth. "Please, Kook. Need to—"

"I got you, pretty," he grunts. "Come for me, ok? Wanna hear your pretty moans. Wanna feel your little pussy tighten around my cock."

His words edge you on even more and before you know it you're climaxing for the second time. Your legs start to shake and you let a few tears out at the ecstasy.

Jungkook prolongs your orgasm by fucking you some more. It's pure bliss you feel as you lay beneath him, watching the way his eyebrows scrunch together, feeling the cool metal of his necklace hitting your chin in time with his thrusts.

"Coming," he moans out and he delivers one hard thrust, so hard that you feel the tip of his cock deep in your belly. "Fucking hell," he curses. He thrusts turn short and slow, up until he finally stops and collapses on top of you.

It's silent for a moment as the both of you catch your breath. It's not like you did anything out of the ordinary. Didn't even switch positions. But you've never felt pleasure like this before and you're pretty sure Jungkook feels the same.

He brings his head up to look at you, tired smile gracing his face. He looks so good like this, just tired and spent but happy. "Hi," he whispers.

"Hello," you whisper back. He leans down and kisses you again, but this time it's slow and gentle. Like he wants to savor the moment. He asks in between kisses if you're okay, if you're not hurt, if you enjoyed, and you reassure him each time.

He pulls your body against his and you lay your head on his chest, your breathing slowing down in time with his steady heartbeat. He rubs up and down your back soothingly and it makes your eyes feel heavy. You feel Jungkook turn his head to kiss at your hair, and it makes you snuggle into him some more.

"Wanna shower?" he asks against your forehead.

"Sure," you hum. But neither of you move. "Give me like a minute. I can't feel my legs, I think."

He laughs and pinches your sides. You wiggle in his hold and try to escape, but Jungkook just tightens his arm around you. "Fucked you pretty hard, huh?"

You roll your eyes even if he can't see you at the moment. "You're so cocky about it."

He doesn't say anything else as he kisses your forehead one last time, then sits up and drags you into the shower with him. He just hugs you from behind as you both stand under the showerhead, letting the warm water wake you both up. You were a bit nervous at first agreeing to shower with him, thinking it'd be awkward since the thought of showering with someone is intimate. But it's not. You both stay silent as you lather each other in your shower gel. Jungkook even asks if he can wash your hair and you lean against his shoulder as he massages your head.

When you're both clean, he leans in to kiss you. You get so lost in it that you let him have his way with you again. Pretty soon he's kneeling down on the bathroom tiles, mouth on your pussy and tongue flicking against your clit. You come quickly, tired and spent already from a while ago, and when he stands up to kiss you, you ask if you can suck him off. He says yes, and you find yourself on your knees this time. You learn soon enough that Jungkook's a head pusher. But he does it so gently. Maybe he's just as spent as you are. He comes pretty quickly as well, and you swallow it all up and smile at him after.

You both get dressed and are in bed again, right in his arms. Jungkook feels warm and sturdy but also soft. Your eyes start to close and you drift off to sleep.

Jungkook isn't beside you when you wake up the next morning. Instead, you find a note on your bedside table.

Have a lot to do today. Sorry I dipped. Didn't want to wake you.

-Jungkook

P.S. - I stole two cookies :D

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

My favorite Conduit Of The Horrors 🩵

Rambles and art stuff under the cut

I love thinking about the primary trio post-nmpd, and there have been some really cool headcanons floating around, and long story short I rewatched Yellow Jacket and I have some ideas in the works. I don't know if this is post-Yellow Jacket or in the middle of it or what, I'm not actually thinking that deep about it I'm just having fun lol. For reasons I needed to have a finalized design for Hannah soooo-

I managed to seriously screw myself over by deciding to try and draw 2 characters I adore that are played by four extremely different looking actors. It was frustrating, but interesting to try and pick out what I thought the most important features of each version was.

So like, for BF Hannah I just used Kendall Nicole as the reference, easy peasy. But aging her up was a bit of a juggle. Eventually I ended up kind of grafting Lauren's expressions onto her face shape, which I also referenced Angela Giarratana for. Just to get that familial connection in there. It really helps that they both have that distinct chiseled chin, it's really fun to draw and fairly easy to replicate. (Side note, Lauren has an incredible ability to suddenly look like a deer in the headlights out of nowhere. The nervous energy that rang through her performance as Hannah was amazing, and I couldn't get over how damn expressive her eyes were)

I was gonna have a more detailed drawing of Ethan in there, because I absolutely love their relationship, but I chickened out. I ended up basically just drawing Joey's version with slightly shorter hair that is longer on one side, like a half-mullet thing. This is partially to try and synthesize the two versions in my head aesthetically, but mostly it's to differentiate him from Pete. Pete is a little difficult too, I actually really like how Nick Lang played him and wanted to incorporate some features from there, but I decided to save it for another day because I was giving myself a headache. Honestly a lot of the stuff is just hair texture, cause one of the most defining traits for their designs in my head was the way their curly hair was styled. But at the same time Joey's current haircut is damn iconic and I love being able to swing it around for the drama Ghibli-style

[justabrick]

Cold wind of France

Bunch of loosely connected Mistral thoughts under cut:

So I've been wondering about Mistral's mannerisms and appearance. She looks like a Femme Fatale with capital "f", and yet we don't actually see her really utilize her charms to influence anybody. Sure, Dolzaev was simping, but it seems that it came through because of Mistral's general appearance, rather than her active effort of seducing him. After all, in his own words, Mistral's never told him anything along the lines of "I love you". Quite the opposite, the one interaction between them we see involves him pointing a gun at her angrily. My personal headcanon is that she's been killing either his men or prisoners for shits and giggles.

Another thing to consider is that all lyrics pertaining to love and other typical femme fatale activities have specifically been cut from "A Stranger I remain"

An excerpt:

So don't let me become the one you love

'Cause I'll just take your blood and use you up

Now this is deep into overanalysis territory, but hang on. If this in particular has been slashed, then it may mean that this doesn't really apply to Mistral. She's manipulative, sure, but the one time she could have used her charm to get what she wants she instead opts to use different means entirely. She didn't try to charm Khamsin into doing something dumb to get him killed, manipulating a UG was her chosen tactic.

And speaking of UGs, it seems that Mistral is Desperado's designated AI wrangler in general, and not only the tripods. There has to be a reason Sundowner pawned off Bladewolf to her, and her preference for the company of robots must be why.

So, looks like a Femme Fatale, has the mannerisms of one, but doesn't seduce anybody and seems to prefer to surround herself with a company immune to being swayed by lust or love.

You know...

I think Mistral is overcompensating more than anything else.

Think of it, she's been a soldier her entire adult life, most likely had to try and blend into the crowd by suppressing her femininity. Just another faceless figure hidden under a balaclava and a bulletproof vest, fighting for somebody else's ideals.

And by joining Desperado she's finally gained an opportunity to express an identity of her own. It means both the ideals, and the appearance.

I'll point it out here again. Those huge... tracts of land are at least partially fake.

So picture this, the moment cyborg tech freed her from a need for armor and combat fatigues, she went

Give me humongous melons

And proceeded to let them out in all their bouncy glory without any support even during fights. Add the built-in stilettos, dyed hair, eyeshadow, bbgirl pastel pink frosted lip, the way she walks and what we have is a woman simply indulging in all the girly fun she's been deprived of.

Men being distracted and falling for her is only a byproduct, she's doing all this for herself most and foremost. In most of those Bladewolf cutscenes she has no audience that would be affected by her theatrics, and yet she keeps up the exaggerated cat walk, seductive leg crossing and whatever this is

You can tell she's loving every moment fr.

And one small headcanon I have that is only vaguely related to the above is that the reason for her asymmetric hairstyle is the barcode on the left side of her forehead that she doesn't find particularly aesthetically pleasing. All other extensively augmented Desperado cyborgs have one, so she should as well.

[flowerakatsuka]

finally finished kuroba's updated fujio rock design!! i ended up thinking about them a lot more than i expected and ended up fleshing out their au a lot more so they really needed a new look. and here's a short playlist for how i imagine their band's music / their vocals would sound!

more info under the cut!

rotten flower is a lolita vkei band aesthetics-wise, but they pull from a variety of genres for their music. a lot of their songs have instrumentation inspired by european folk and classical music ( a la kaoling or yucat. )

their band has multiple themes they play on — card suits, royalty, flowers, and urban decay being overtaken by nature.

kuroba's band persona plays into a cool prince archetype with a playful side, this really comes out on stage.

they've gained more popularity as of late and have gotten the chance to play at larger venues, but kuroba still prefers playing at smaller, underground venues. they think it makes for a more intimate, energized experience.

rather than being a plant nerd in this verse, kuroba is obsessed with instruments. it's not uncommon for them to dive down a rabbit hole of researching different ones and come out the other side with a wealth of knowledge + a new baby in their collection. they're very fond of stringed instruments.

kuroba themself loves a wide swath of music genres and is interested in making music in them, but many of them don't exactly fit their band's aesthetic well. they'd love to produce a bossa nova or city pop album at some point.

they were also an utatie back in college under the pseudonym, " tsumekusa. " their channel wasn't super popular, but they had a few dedicated fans that loved hearing their covers. they mostly covered songs from the 80's.

kuroba used to be tone death in this au like they are in canon, but thanks to their fellow club member's help and encouragement, they were able to train their voice to the level it's at now. their natural singing register is on the lower side, but they're able to sing in higher ranges as well, ( i imagine it to be like to the range showcased in the jun togawa song on the linked playlist. )

their beef and rivalry with kara seemingly came out of nowhere after they meeting for the first time in the au. kuroba tends to be kinda curt and playfully snarky towards him while kara is happy that at least someone recognizes his greatness enough to see him as a rival. also, he's just very clearly infatuated with them and wants this to be a rivals to lovers situation so fucking bad. ( he'll probably get that wish granted, we'll see. )

[assumptionprime]

I adore your take on DS2 and wanted to know what ur thoughts were on Elden Ring and/or DS 3!

(also I have been loving ur comics!!!)

First off: Thank you! Glad you like my comics! <3

I mentioned it briefly in the DS2 post, and it's been said by others, but Dark Souls 3 is about ending Dark Souls. And it does that very well. The "time and space is falling apart and that's why the geography is like that" that people sometimes say about DS2 is literally, textually true in 3. The Dreg Heap is a pile of other, older Dark Souls areas collapsing in on each other. This world has been going on and on, repeating and prolonging the Age of Fire that should have ended long ago, and it's just breaking down. You can't keep the same thing going forever, that's true in the universe of the story, and of a franchise of dark fantasy action RPGs.

It's kind of funny and also impressive that Miyazaki and the team hit that point, saying if they keep doing this it's going to fall apart, on game three of the franchise. There's so many series out there that will pump out game after game of the same stuff, to the point they stop numbering them and give them subtitles to hide the fact that they're on game 23 of this thing, and FromSoft said "three's our limit for this one" and gave us the greatest hits final bow before moving on to new different takes on their subgenre of games.

Enter Elden Ring! The game that got me into FromSoft games. Every time people talked about Dark Souls it was always about how hard they were, and the whole "git gud" mentality, which made them seem like they would 100% be not my kind of thing. But I am an absolute sucker for a fantasy open world, so I dipped my toes into Elden Ring, and really enjoyed it! Being able to just go exploring and do something else whenever I got stuck was a huge plus, as are spirit ash summons. The game is hard, for sure, but there's also a lot of ways to ease that difficulty (not eliminate it, but ease it (also there's no excuse to not have a pause button, that's stupid, don't @ me))

As far as lore and storytelling, Elden Ring has a lot of cool stuff (that's my wife Ranni, my cool witch wife Ranni) but I don't know that I have so definite a "take" on its story. It goes back to the Dark Souls 1 and 3 well of "some important shit happened, go kill this list of bosses about it" but I appreciate that you have a lot more choice in regards to your ending. It's not "link the fire or don't" it's "you're creating a new age, what do you want that age to be like?" with a few compelling choices and some evil bastard ones for fun.

Assorted side thoughts:

FP is better than spell uses. More convenient, more flexible, lets you focus on Mind to allow yourself to cast more spells.

All of my first playthroughs were sword and board, both because of caution going in and because I like the "knight with a sword and shield" aesthetic.

Related to the last point, Guard Counters are a great addition in ER, and the "Sekiro style block" crystal tear for the Physick in the DLC should have been a talisman or something permanent, to just make that a play style people can use.

The Alva Armor rules, 10/10 best fit in Dark Souls

I really like Shadow of the Erdtree, but it is the absolute limit on the current version of Souls-game mechanics. Not everyone is Let Me Solo Her, and between both the extremely punishing difficulty and the becoming more repetitive nature of a lot of the boss design, they need to change up the combat to keep things going. Sekiro seems to be a step in that direction from what I hear?

No boss fight in any video game has ever made me feel as cool as Slave Knight Gael in the DS3 DLC. It just worked for me on pretty much every level. The story, the music, the visuals, the difficulty. I can beat him, and it's hard but not a kind of hard that makes me angry at the game. Dodging in and out of his attacks, getting my own hits in, it felt like a kick ass dance of fantasy combat. It's peak.

[soundlesswind]

Mononoke: Karakasa Review

Mononoke - Phantom in the Rain

Now that it's officially out globally, I can finally offer some thoughts and reflections on the long-awaited continuation of the cult-beloved Ayakashi/Mononoke series. My main tagline for this review can be summarized thusly:

I liked it...but it could have been better.

(~ not spoiler free, read at your own discretion ~)

Karakasa: Visually, it's a bang---structurally, it's a bomb. That about sums up how I feel about the movie overall. It's vibrant, beautiful, and full of intricate patterning and details, and is in a way: both a step up and a step down from the original.

...But what do I mean by that really? Well, I think we need to first highlight what makes Karakasa and Mononoke rather different.

Ayakashi/Mononoke has a much slower pacing, with slightly more muted, and washed-aesthetic tone despite its colourful designs. It shifts from being more colourful or more sombre depending on the type of scene it wants to depict. But even at its most saturated, it never gets quite as vibrant in contrast compared to Karakasa. ...However, you could say that may be in part due to the sheer difference in animation techniques developed over the course of nearly a decade between the two (2006/2007 vs 2024).

That isn't to say Karakasa doesn't have moments of dark imagery, but that even at its darkest, it remains distinctly vibrant and high-in-contrast. You could argue for it as a conscientious choice...but personally, at its root: Mononoke is a horror-ghost story; and the gritter, muddled palettes rather add to that charm.

(2007 Mononoke - Noppera-bou, and Nue)

(2024 Karakasa)

To match its mood, Mononoke also has a much slower cadence and story tempo, despite any singular arc being overall shorter than Karakasa. That cadence adds to another difference: which is spookiness. I find Mononoke to be far spookier and more effortlessly imposing than Karakasa. There's a bit of tension and suspense in the way it's presented: both visually and vocally* (a point I'll bring up later). Mononoke is sometimes boldly laid out in seemingly disjointed flashes, but still somehow ends up cohesive and immersive with its themes and motifs; feeding you just enough information to wet your appetite as to where and just how far it wants to take you. And this is of course, done in parts over the span of 2-3 episodes.

Karakasa on the other hand, has a pacing that feels like a marathon. It seems almost lightning fast, despite the first half of the movie being entirely sociopolitical intrigue without much in the way of anything overtly youkai-esque. In fact, our Medicine Seller doesn't even step foot into the Ooku (women's court) until around 40 minutes in...which is nearly half the movie! ...But naturally, since it's a movie, it will be movie-formatted. Everything is going to run as if it were one singular episode long. --- Still, what does that mean for the pacing?

If you don't know what "tea house tales" "is.....it's basically a format of short stories told over several sessions. It's one of the ways people in the historic East used to tell stories. They'd gather around somewhere, drink tea, eat snacks and share a bit of light entertainment. In the same way the episodic nature of Mononoke is somewhat reminiscent of that. Each part feeds you a bit of information, a bit of mystery, a bit of suspense, and a bit of action. It keeps you sufficiently entertained one way or another without stringing you on far too long before any sort of climactic reveal. In this way, Mononoke feels more balanced and evened out than Karakasa. But even the format aside, I found Karakasa a lot less clear and concise with what it's trying to portray. There were parts of the movie I had to re-watch a few times or sit down and think about afterwards just to fully understand what I think it was alluding to, which wasn't an issue with Mononoke whatsoever. The plot, both visually and thematically was always clear as day for the original series, where as Karakasa sort of muddles on and off between mystery and court drama over the course of an hour and a half.

Personally...I think one of the detriments to Karakasa is the sheer size of its cast. There were simply way too many characters (27+), and some of them even have overlapping roles. There were also quite a few without clear rhyme or reason. For example, we get introduced to Tenshi, Mizoragi and the moon twins, and an assortment of other characters who don't really have much of a presence in the movie (other than to to be positional seat warmers) and are shown for a collective total of a few minutes. Karakasa IS a trilogy however, so it's possible that their roles may be elaborated in future movies, but in regards to the current film, they feel like a distraction. I guess they're going grand and all out, but the benefits of a smaller cast is that you get more intimate with each character and their already very limited screentime. It just wasn't possible for me to feel any intimacy or investment into the large cast of Karakasa---Asa and Kame included.

Comparatively; I always felt truly, fully immersed in all the story arcs of the original Ayakashi/Mononoke. I cared about the characters, or was so invested in their sorrowful tale. But I didn't particularly feel that way about Karakasa because whatever message it was trying to convey kind of got lost in-between all the court drama...which, I'm not sure some viewers may even understand or empathize with unless they already have some knowledge of what women in the imperial harem go through or how it functions. (Speaking of which, Asa practically speed ran the exposition towards the end regarding Kitagawa and her own motives.) Just to name a few: there's the rank struggles of Asa and Kame versus the leaders of the Ooku; the political positions of Fuki, Botan and the other consorts, the political household ties of Saburomaru, the grip of Mizoragi's strange cult, and the (lack of) political power that Tenshi (the emperor) holds versus the Shogunate in the Capital (---I'm not entirely sure what timeline we're in right now, but the fact that there IS a Shogunate implies a lot.)

...Anyway, you can see why there are too many distractions in this movie for me to fully feel immersed in whatever it's trying to tell. It's supposed to be a movie of women's suffering (under the weight of men and the social sphere I suppose), but most of the time it felt more like I was just simply suffering watching women cat fight each other until they quickly got picked off by the Karakasa mononoke.

Speaking of the titular "Karakasa", though... it certainly was an interesting choice of youkai. I wonder if it was because traditionally, karakasa aren't violent youkai, they're merely scary tricksters; and it wasn't as if Kitagawa was really out for revenge (though she did pick off a few people).....actually, now that I've written it out that way, Kitagawa's motives are a little unclear. Or maybe it didn't matter anymore as karakasa grew to the point it became uncontrollable. Either way, I think if they had refocused the movie on Kitagawa and actually visually show the parallels between her, her "friend" and Asa/Kame...instead of giving us a verbal speedrun exposition dump towards the end...I might have felt a little more sympathy (...or just simply anything worth feeling towards the story). But alas.

It certainly didn't help that I was a little unsatisfied with some of the voice cast. For the most part, I was okay with the side cast (particularly the males, since the females hardly had lines); but felt it was a waste that Tsuda Kenjiro (Mizoragi) also hardly had any lines (...though I have a feeling he'll play a bigger role in the next movie). He was actually even one of my 3 ideal choices for Kusuriuri's recast (next to Ishida Akira and Toriumi Kousuke). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Kamiya Hiroshi, he is one of my favourites...but I think his role as Kusuriuri was a bit lackluster since his vocal range is medium-high and therefore does not go deep or husky enough to carry the same spook factor that Sakurai Takahiro's voice has. Karakasa also lacks the unique staccato often used in the original Mononoke which gave it an overall interesting sound and pace. I loved the odd vocal nuances and pauses in the previous work and was very sad that it's more or less nonexistent in Karakasa.

My second complaint would be with Asa and Kame's cast, which I felt might've benefited more from actresses with more interesting inflections. Kurosawa Tomoyo is an okay actress. She gets the job done but generally does better on long-running series since she takes a long time to fully have a grip on her role. Honestly, she was on auto-pilot and was quite boring throughout Karakasa. Aoi Yuuki on the other hand has a lot of vocal range, but generally suffers from inconsistency and just sounding like nails on a chalkboard. (I won't even mince it; my housemate walked in on me watching Karakasa on the telly and literally flinched at her voice because it severely hurt her eardrums---my condolences).

Generally speaking, I do prefer older seiyuus, they just have qualities I enjoy more, but I do also think the movie would've benefitted more from either a liveaction casting or a Showa casting. Most of the characters (in both Mononoke and Karakasa) kind of...oddly use modern speech instead of feudal Japanese (minus Utayama), and given that the Ooku IS a court drama, doesn't use court language or any regional dialects whatsoever (granted I'm not even sure if this is Kyoto, Edo, or wherever). Awashima and Mugitani do use formal language, but only Utayama uses slightly older diction. With the exception of a few notable names, most of the cast for Karakasa are from a generation of newer/younger voice actors, whereas Mononoke consists of an older one. You probably won't care unless you're a seiyuu buff, but there is actually a clear vocal distinction between those of different acting generations. For example: Sakurai, Kamiya, Ishida, Tsuda, Ogata, Hayashibara, etc...all have particular qualities to their voice that give it a layer of interest (ie. whispiness, huskiness, nasalness, etc). I don't know if it's caused by the difference in learned language or some other factor, but newer generations of voice actors tend to have more clear-toned voices with more modern inflections. Kurosawa and Aoi both have notably modern inflections when they act. You could say it's a battle of old versus new if we're going by story theme...but in which case, the rest of the cast could've been of an older generation to portray that. (But well, I'm glad they chose an older actress for Utayama, at least). The few exceptions to this are a small handful of modern actresses that are so astoundingly skilled they break that barrier. I kind of wished they had casted Hanazawa for Kame instead but she's already Kitagawa...but in which case, toss Sawashiro Miyuki in that role, I think she would've been a bit spookier. Hanazawa as Kame might've made her more endearing to me, but maybe they were going for the double-double: irritable voice and character combo, since Kame wasn't particularly written to be likeable. --- Kame does somewhat feel like a second generation Kayo (MAO), but I think MAO was still more serviceable to my ears. Anyway. I don't think I should hold up this review post any longer with my derailed rant on voice acting. It is what it is, and at the very least: we found out some lore bombshell that there are possibly at most 64 medicine sellers, and that Sakurai (Ri) Kusuriuri and Kamiya (Kon) Kusuriuri are different characters altogether (---a lot of fans rejoiced about that), making the possibility of two or more existing at one time. Wouldn't that be exciting to see?

Moving on to the music. In contrast to the trailers, the soundtrack in the movie sometimes feel like background white noise. It almost seems like a trend with newer anime, but nowadays, I hardly hear the tracks compared to older shows. Well, in Karakasa in particular, the movie is moving at such a jilted pace: most of the sounds you will hear is either dialogue or the occasional clinks and clangs. They don't really blast OSTs like they used to (...unlike Hollywood movies where I hear too much BGM). --- But following the odd quirks of Ayakashi: some of the vocal themes for Karakasa still are that weird mash of modern and traditional sounds with the occasional rapping. Particularly during the fight scene, there were some hardcore bass rap on cue. I'm not sure if I like or dislike it, but it is different. My favourite track is the Okami-esque flute theme used during the Birth Celebration Ceremony towards the end. But whether it's Mononoke or Karakasa, what stands out in both is not the score, but the sound effects which have always been the distinctive noise of the series.

The teased title for the next installment is "Ashes of Rage". I wonder what that could mean? We're left on a bunch of cliffhangers, such as why did Kusuriuri smile while looking at the clouds, what's the deal with the seal in the well, and what was Mizoragi doing in the cellar pouring water over what looked like an enclosed basin? Moreover, why on earth did they lore drop so much on the background of the medicine sellers...not in the movie but during the side interviews! The fact that they have a home base, or that the Shingi (alters) are different people... So do you mean to tell me, I still can dream of an Ishida Akira Kusuriuri!? There are at most 8 trigram Taima swords, and 2 of which are Sakurai and Kamiya's. Does that mean there's still room for another 6 Kusuriuris? That's so fruity!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I also I hope you watched the movie before perusing this given that it's so spoiler heavy. While it does seem like I had a lot of complaints, make no mistake: the movie was gorgeous. It was made with painstaking visual efforts and intricate architecture. Every stroke and splash is a work of art, making it one of the most visually interesting movie in a long time.

While it doesn't replace the old Mononoke in my heart, the Karakasa trilogy is a nice addition; something different and its own thing. A lot more action and a lot more abstract if you dig that sort of presentation.

Given that the trilogy isn't over, I have no doubt the rest of it will continue on with Kamiya's (Kon) Kusuriuri...but I do hope the series continues to keep receiving love so I can eventually have a whole Sentai Kamen rider group of Kusuriuris.

Until next time...~!

[plor-bindery]

Bound: Take the Moon & Two Houses, by @tackytigerfic

The final installment in my rundown of fic I bound for Tacky! And this is currently my top contender of all the books I've bound. I just fucking love it? Idk.

First things first. I wanted to try a tete-beche for a while, and when I was deciding what of Tacky's to bind, I found these two fics that both center on a forced marriage or marriage of convenience, which is just an excellent trope all around. The two fics are quite different otherwise, so I'll rave about them separately.

Take the Moon features werewolf Harry (though, as Tacky says, that's not what the fic is about) and a forced marriage (and, as Tacky also says, that's not what the fic is about either.) What is the fic about, then, you ask? For me, it's finding love and family and steadfastness in each other. The fic also features one of my favorite depictions of Scorpius, who Tacky here writes as a preschool aged boy with autism. Tacky doesn't make Scorpius a problem or a source of conflict -- of course, because of course he isn't! -- but instead makes it super clear that the world around him is the issue that needs addressing. Harry is so fiercely in Scorpius and Draco's corner through this fic. I love it so much.

Two Houses also features parent Drarry, but in this one, they are parents of grown children. I love middle-aged Drarry, and Tacky does such a fantastic job with these two wondrous idiots, their bluster and irritability and how they are absolutely just meant for each other anyway.

For this bind, I used a bit of cotton in my fabric stash from my doll clothes making stage, over ten years ago. (The children who received said dolls and doll clothes are nearly grown themselves now, so it's time to repurpose the fabric.)

I drew (actually! drew! digitally but I drew!) the artwork for both the covers, keeping the colour and design very simple because the cloth is so busy. Using little bits of gold HTV to accent the plain white is just my favorite thing. (Weeding out all the tiny holes in the title of Take the Moon was not my fave. But worth it.)

Endpapers are just scrapbook papers from Michaels. (The map is of New England, lol. But the aesthetic worked? For Two Houses?)

Shopping cart is off rawpixel.org and is from a theme in Take the Moon.

I neglected to take photos of the endbands but they were my first attempt at using the bookcloth for making my own endbands, and that went fairly well?

The book itself is another legal quarto size bind.

Long ramble short: I really, really love this bind, and I'm super proud of it. I had a little moment of feeling verklempt when I packed it up, but of course it belongs with Tacky! (I don't have any more of this fabric so this is truly one of a kind -- but I might someday make myself a copy with different cloth?)

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 84 

Oh what a wonderful day! Why? BECAUSE I FINALLY GET TO SAY THE LAST OF MY STUPID ARBITRARY RULES! The Final Arbitrary Rule is: No Crossing Over with Other Franchises! Which I very clearly fuckin’ broke here!

I wanted to do my best to only make pieces working with just the base of Junkan itself, and AU’s I made had to be original and not just “What if Junkan but it’s in X series.” That way when I finished the project a bunch of new doors would open up for me to have fun with! I know last time we had Alice in Wonderland, but given the public domain nature of that story I don’t find it to be an infraction of the rule. There’s a future day coming up that also kiiiind of breaks it? But also i feel like it’s a slightly different case, not sure how to explain it while you can’t see it. None of that matters because today we have a blunt, no fucking around breaking of that rule, and why?

Listen I’ve seen some of ya’ll draw/write Junko and Mikan as Pokemon Trainers while waiting for this day to get posted, surely you understand. I’ve been wanting to draw a pic of these two with full teams for months at this point in the projects making, I couldn’t wait any longer, it was a moment of weakness!!!

Designing the outfits for these two was super fun. Once again I’ve fucking put Mikan in a Sweater, and this time it doubles as a dress! Will I ever be stopped? 

That does generally bring me to the thoughts I’m having in hindsight months after this pic, I think Junko’s side is on the weaker side. I like her fit though I might make small edits to it whenever the next time I draw her is. But the main thing is I think the team I put together is kind of lacking??

Mikan’s? I’m perfectly happy with, Frillish is just there because she vibes aesthetically with Mikan, Blissey is obvious, Lampent because it’s associated with hospitals due to floatin around them to steal life energy, Clefable I can explain in a second but it’s probably obvious, Spinda because she needs a cute buddy to be clumsy with, but my favorite was giving her an Applin.

Like the whole thing with Applin is that giving one to someone as a gift is a declaration of Love. So of course Junko would do that, she’s all about that shit (in my brain at least). I think it’s cute!

Junko’s half of things though, if I’m gonna be real a few months later I’d probably only keep two of them and just try to remake the rest of the team. Gengar (who is also the reason Mikan has a Clefable, I love that old fan theory), because he’s my favorite pokemon and I think he just vibes really well with Junko. And Hydreigon, because Junko deserves a giant nightmare dragon. 

This is another instance of me concocting something for this project and then not being able to draw any more of it because I have to wait for it to be posted. So now, assuming I have time, I can finally draw the Pokemon AU!~ Like I said i’ll probably do some minor reworks, and then some major reworks on Junko’s end. No idea when it’ll be but look forward to it I suppose!~ 

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

[3motionally3xhausted]

BNHA Girl's Redesigns

(pt.1)

Renamed more in the second batch than the first batch (apparently I only liked the original Uravity & Froppy, does Alien Queen count tho?)

Design commentary below the cut

Mina Ashido (Alien Queen)

I don't know how to explain the differences I chose bc it's a pretty similar aesthetic to her canon design. Though, definitely wanted her hair to be white & her horns the same pink as her skin. I wanted to push her suit in the more space/alien direction bc I have a small grudge against midnight for vetoing the name. I made her suit pattern and eyes compliment each other a bit more w blue & green. I kept the fur cuz it's cute and a bit gaudi which is in her taste & lastly I made her acid more colorful so it's not....yk semen white.

Tooru Hagakure (Oversight)

For Hagakure, I wanted to lean into the stealth thing a bit with a ninja motif; and if Mirio can have a suit with the properties of his quirk from studying his hair, so can she. I also wanted every bit of her design to be so pale she's nearly translucent when visible (she would be able to voluntarily change her visibility, but still prefers to be invisible.) Her hair is also short and a bit of a mess since she is unburdened by her appearance +with an iridescent sheen. I made her eyes a pale purple because extremely albino people with very little melanin in their eyes have purple iris's due to blue pigment mixing with red vines. Lots of small nitpicky details with her lol

Kyouka Jirou (Pulse)

With Jirou, I wanted her bangs to cover her face and (it didn't come across well in the final) her sideburn pieces to be longer than the rest of her bob which is already longer than canon with an undercut. She also needed more of a proper hero costume imo, so she's got that leather/spandex bodysuit with a volume emblem; the stripes on her sleeves would also vaguely resemble the bare of a volume key. I actually went through a few renditions to figure her out but I'm really glad for that; I didn't illustrate it here, but I think it would be cool if she had some iron hammers to plug into that she would slam into the ground or into her enemies & amplify the sound. Small difference, I moved the speakers from her boots up to her knees for closer access.

Base designs & body types:

Also here is a Jirou design that I took all the way to flats before I decided I hated it. Glad I took the opportunity to redo it, she looks much better now