#But I think one game a month is doable

[fishbloc]

actually so funny how ive made so many stardew save files for rp reasons but i have not once recreated the flower valley in it

[designernishiki]

status update on my mission to 100% and platinum yakuza 0: completion list is at 99.2% and would’ve been finished today if not for pool (carom/combo shots- i made enough money from it though) and batting. my most significant peaks today were probably beating both so and jo amon on the first try miraculously and at one point i got like 34 points in expert koikoi

[theemporium]

[5k] neither of you considered the possibility of your family and friends finding out about your relationship. however, in a series of events, they discover you and quinn are together. but it's fine as long as luke doesn't find out, right?

part one // series masterlist

.

When the season started, you thought it would be easier to hide your relationship from everyone you knew. Never once did either you or Quinn expect to be caught. 

And never once did you think the first person to learn about you and Quinn would be Trevor fucking Zegras of all people.

Before the semester had even started, it had been an unspoken agreement between you and Quinn that you would fly out during reading week. It would be difficult to avoid questions—mostly from Luke who would be offended you weren’t going to fly out to New Jersey—but it was doable. It just took a few weeks of you dropping hints and clues about flying out to Canada to your best friend for him to not really question it when you said you were going to visit your brother. 

And after months away, it was a fucking dream to have this week with Quinn, to settle that uneasiness in your chest that had been lingering since you left the lakehouse that summer. 

You both knew the hockey schedule was insane. You knew neither of you could really leave his apartment. But with a string of games at home for the week, it seemed worth having that week together. 

You didn’t think anything could go wrong.

“What are you thinking in that pretty head of yours?”

Your fingers paused the random shapes they were tracing on his bare chest, moving to lift your head to find him already staring at you with a fond look. 

“You. Us. This. Everything.” You listed off, your lips twitching upwards when he rolled his eyes. “What? You asked and I answered.” 

“I think you’re holding out on me,” Quinn retorted, his hand squeezing where it rested on your hip. “Wanna share what things you were thinking about? More specifically, those thoughts about us.” 

You snorted. “Get your head out of the gutter, Hughes.” 

“Maybe you need to get your head down there,” he countered and, before a witty response could even pass your lips, he had flipped you both over until you were laying on your back with him looming over you. “It’s fun down here, I think you’d like it.” 

You tucked your lip between your teeth. “Yeah?” 

“Mhm,” he hummed as his fingers traced up and down your bare thigh, a small grin on his face when he felt your body shiver in response. “Gave me a few ideas too.” 

You swallowed harshly as you noted the dark glint in his eyes, the way your stomach twisted in desire as his fingers kept moving upwards. “Like what?” 

Quinn’s smirk widened a little. “Like—” 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 

Your brows furrowed in confusion, feeling as though your body had been doused in cold water as you sat up a little. “Were you expecting someone?” 

Quinn frowned, sitting up himself as he tried not to show his clear annoyance at the interruption. “No, I told the boys to call me if they needed me outside of practice. I don’t know who that could be—” 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 

“You should probably go get that,” you murmured, trying to bite back your smile as Quinn grumbled something under his breath. 

“If it’s any of the boys, I’m making them do bag skates at practice,” he huffed, crawling out of the sheets and reaching for an abandoned pair of sweatpants on the floor before he left the bedroom. 

He could feel his annoyance brittle when the person knocked for a third time, this time hitting the door over and over again until Quinn reached for the handle and yanked the door open. 

The last person he expected to see was Trevor Zegras on the other side, grinning at him like it was a totally normal thing for him to be on Quinn’s doorstep on a random Tuesday. 

“There’s my favourite Hughes!” 

Quinn blinked once. And then twice. And then a third time just to make sure he was actually standing there. 

“What the fuck, Zegras?” 

“I wanted to surprise you! We didn’t have anything on before the game on Thursday so I thought I’d head up a day earlier than the others and—” Trevor paused, seeming to catch on to the way the older boy was glaring at him. “Geez, this wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

“I—” Quinn took a deep breath. “And what reaction were you expecting?” 

“At least a hug, I mean—” Trevor moved to take a step forward, his arms open like he was going to reach to hug the other boy, only to pause. It was like he was finally taking in Quinn’s attire for the first time—or the lack thereof—before his eyes focused on the blossoming bruises along his neck and collarbone. 

It was scary the way the grin spread across his face.

Quinn frowned. “What? Why are you doing that with your face?”

“You got a girl in here, Huggy?” Trevor grinned, not even giving Quinn a chance to react before he was pushing his way into the flat. “Aw shit, Jack never told me you were seeing someone! Is it new? What’s her name? Is it a dude? Listen, I don’t judge! I’ve seen the edits with you and Pettersson.” 

Quinn blinked. “I—what?”

He was still standing in shock, trying to process the words that just left Trevor’s lips before he realised the boy was walking deeper into his flat. His eyes widened, his brain shutting out whatever random rambling that was coming out of Trevor’s mouth as he tried to reach out to stop the boy—but it was useless. 

It was like the whole world froze when Trevor shoved the bedroom door open. His words came to an abrupt stop, his jaw hanging open as he looked at you sprawled on Quinn’s bed with a sheet covering your clearly-otherwise naked body. He looked at your face, then back to Quinn before they settled on you again.

“YOU’RE BANGING LADY HUGHES?!”

Quinn winced. “Why do you have to say it like that?” 

“I…oh my god…you…WHAT?” Trevor spluttered out, looking between the two of you like you were aliens to him. “How long has this been going on? Why the fuck did no one tell me? What the fuck?”

“Well, we can’t tell you something nobody else knows,” you supplied with a sheepish expression.

His eyes widened further. “Nobody else knows? Like at all?” 

You shook your head.

His face instantly brightened. “So I’m the first?” 

“Not by choice,” Quinn grumbled under his breath.

“You can’t tell anyone, Trev,” you said, a pleading look on your face. “Especially not Luke. We are gonna tell him…just not yet. You cannot tell a soul, not even Jack.” 

“I won’t. Scout’s promise.” 

Quinn glared at him. “Were you even a boy scout?” 

“No, why do you ask?” 

“I—” Quinn just shook his head. “Can you just…wait outside whilst we get dressed?”

“Aw, I knew you’d be happy I was here, Huggy,” Trevor beamed, patting the older boy’s cheek before he bounced out of the room, most likely helping himself to whatever was in Quinn’s fridge. 

Quinn turned to you, looking exasperated but you just grinned. 

“Guess that’s one less person we have to worry about hiding from?” 

He just sighed deeply in response. 

…

Trevor ended up keeping his word, not telling a soul. Though, he did go out of his way to bug you and Quinn—mostly Quinn—about your relationship.

You would have thought the situation with Trevor would have prompted the two of you to be more careful. You thought it would have been your lesson learnt that not even the season being fully underway would be distracting enough for you to be as laid back as you were. You thought it was the small reality check you needed. 

As it would turn out, it wasn’t even two weeks later when the next slip up happened. 

It was a stupid, drunken promise that led you to the Hughes’ family home in Ann Arbor, bright and early on a Saturday. When the boys had revealed to you that all three batches of the cookies they had meant to make for a charity sale the university were holding had burnt to a crisp because all of them were incapable of baking, you had offered up your amateur baking skills to make a few batches. 

You were drunk and emotionally compromised and it was really hard to say no to the pleading eyes of Ethan Edwards.

However, with your kitchen barely being big enough to hold two people, Ellen had kindly offered her kitchen for you to use. Plus, she had been wanting to catch up with you since the semester had started, especially considering it was the longest time you and Luke had been apart.

It was somewhere in between the second and third batch when your phone started ringing on the counter. 

“Hey Ellen, could you grab that for me?” You called out over your shoulder, your hands preoccupied in rolling small balls of cookie dough to place on the tray. “Just answer it and put it on speaker.”

There was a beat of hesitation. “Are you sure, sweetheart?” 

“Yeah, just place it down on the counter beside me,” you said offhandedly, frowning at the batch of cookies as Ellen pressed the little green button and let the ringing stop.

You were elbow deep in a bowl of batter when a familiar voice echoed through the Hughes’ kitchen. 

“Hey babe, quick question: did you say you were coming up for Christmas break or not?” 

The whole room fell silent as you looked over your shoulder, finding Ellen already staring at you. She had an amused glint in her eyes, her lips twitching upwards in a smile that was a little mischievous—it reminded you so much of Jack. You dared a glance at the doorway where Jim stood, eyebrows raised in surprise but something quite happy in his expression. 

“Uh, can I call you back? I just have to…deal with something real quick.”

“You okay?” 

“Yeah, just…” You trailed off again, your cheeks burning as Ellen and Jim stared at you. “I’ll call back in ten minutes when I’m finished with these cookies, okay?” 

“Okay, miss you.” 

“Miss you too.”

The sound of the call cutting sounded through the kitchen and none of you said anything for a few seconds. And much to your surprise, it was Jim who spoke first. 

“God dammit, kid, you cost me twenty bucks!”

You blinked. “Huh?” 

Ellen smiled fondly, taking a few steps until she was beside you. She gave your elbow a soft squeeze, something knowing in her gaze. “I always knew you’d end up with one of my boys. Jim was just convinced it would be Jack.” 

Jim huffed. “I bet your parents twenty bucks each.” 

Your eyes widened. “My parents?” 

“We aren’t blind, kid,” Jim retorted, something soft and fond in his voice. 

Ellen snorted. “Clearly you are since you thought it would be Jack.” 

“I—” You started but you weren’t even sure what to say.

Ellen turned back to you, smiling like the whole conversation was normal. “I always knew it would be Quinn. I saw the way he looked at you, even when you were young.”

Your brows furrowed. “Quinn barely liked me when we were kids.”

And Ellen just laughed like that was the funniest thing you could have said. It wasn’t exactly the way you wanted either of your parents—Quinn’s and your own—to find out about your relationship. 

But, unlike Trevor, Ellen and Jim understood the unspoken rule and just how…complicated the situation was, despite Ellen’s insistence that her eldest son had been crushing on you for a lot longer than you believed. 

Nobody tell Luke.

…

It was your fault for leaving the room.

When you had enrolled in Michigan, there was a small part of you that was worried college would be the thing to tear you and Luke apart. In retrospect, it was a stupid thought to have. But you were young and scared and entering this unknown era of your life, and you just wanted to cling onto what you knew, what you were used to—onto Luke.

You realised pretty early on that the thought was stupid when the hockey team had practically adopted you. You were an extension of Luke, but it never felt like that. They were your friends as much as they were Luke’s, and you found yourself fond of these boys who had wiggled their way into your heart. 

Knowing you still had them despite Luke being in New Jersey made coming back alone so much easier. 

However, the life of a D1 athlete was an intense one, along with the fact classes were getting harder and assignments were getting longer. But the boys had practically demanded you come over at least once a week so you didn’t ‘forget who your new best friends are’, as they so kindly liked to say over and over again. Mostly just to annoy Luke.

It was one of those nights. You had made your way to their house after your last class, faceplanting down onto the couch until the group of you had decided on ordering pizza. You had some random comedy movie running on in the background, just senseless noise to accompany whatever random debates Ethan had managed to drag up. It was nice and easy and relaxing, and made you feel a little more sane in what was turning out to be a gruelling year. 

You were in the middle of showing Rutger a random video Jack had sent you of Luke decking it on the ice during practice when the doorbell rang. 

“I’ll get it,” you told them without missing a beat, leaving your phone in their hands as you collected the pizzas from the delivery man. 

What you weren’t expecting was to come back and find all of them staring at you with creepy matching grins on their faces.

You froze, eyeing them suspiciously. “What? What happened?” 

“You are a sneaky lil’ thing, aren’t you?” Rutger spoke up, looking far too smug over something you were still in the dark over. 

You glanced between them before your eyes settled on Rutger again, your confusion clear on your face. 

Rutger continued, “when were you gonna tell us you have a boyfriend?” 

Your body froze. “I don’t know what—”

“And when the fuck were you gonna tell us it’s Quinn Hughes?” Mark jumped in, turning your phone around to show a picture you and Quinn had taken during your last visit. 

He had taken the photo in an elevator mirror, your back to the camera as you wrapped yourself around the boy. But he was grinning, so big and unbothered and it was one of your favourite sights. It was one of your favourite photos of him. 

And it certainly wasn’t the photo you left them with.

“Did you go through my phone?” You finally managed to blurt out when words found you again. But the damage was done and you knew there wasn’t much you could do considering the last time they were aware, you barely spoke to the oldest Hughes brother.

“I can’t believe you kept this from us!” Ethan huffed out, shaking his head like he was genuinely offended. He probably was. He tended to be the more dramatic one. 

“I can’t believe Luke allowed this,” Mark snorted. 

You flashed them a sheepish smile. 

“Oh, dude,” Rutger murmured with a shake of his head.

“You can’t tell him. You can’t tell anyone.” You shifted in your spot, something a little desperate and pleading in your voice, and it was enough for the boys to sober up a bit. Become a little more serious. “We didn’t wanna tell anyone yet and I just…”

“We won’t tell a soul,” Mark reassured you, a soft smile on his face that eased some of the anxiety in your chest.

“As long as you tell us everything,” Ethan added, a knowing smirk on his face. “And I mean everything because how the fuck does any of the Hughes brothers have game?”

And you couldn’t help but snort in response.

…

Jack didn’t accidentally find out more than he put it together. 

It wasn’t often that the Devils and the Canucks met during the season but when they did, it was a family affair. You had decided to join the Hughes parents on their trip up to Vancouver, each of you wearing your hybrid Canucks/Devils jerseys that Ellen had custom made for these occasions. 

The game itself went by as you expected. There was a lot of media coverage on the ‘Hughes Bowl’, meaning each of the boys had been dragged into interview after interview before the game. It was a good game, a clean one too. You tried not to wince too much when the final buzzer blared through the arena and it was a Devils win. 

You knew Quinn would be a little gutted, even if he wouldn’t fully show it in front of his family.

The group of you had decided to head out to one of the Canucks’ favourite bars, something that Luke had whined a little about considering Ellen and Jim insisted they join. But it was wholesome and sweet and made you crave the summer weeks a little more than the current early January weather.

You were settled at the bar, laughing at Jack’s attempt to catch the bartender’s attention to order another round of shots he had dragged you into doing when you felt the warmth of another body settle beside you. For a short moment, you smiled thinking that maybe Quinn had snuck away from whatever conversation he had been stuck in with Petey and Jim. But when you turned your head, you found a stranger standing beside you. 

“Hey gorgeous,” he smiled, and something instantly unsettled deep within your chest.

“Hi,” you replied, short and blunt as you tried to shift away but there wasn’t much space by the crowded bar.

“Hey, where are you going? I just wanted to chat,” he said with an easy smile on his face, his hand resting on your elbow and you instantly jerked away from his hold. 

“I’m not interested,” you answered.

He laughed and the sound grated on your nerves. “That’s a bit presumptuous that I wanted something, sweetheart. Think you’re all that, huh?” 

“Just leave me alone,” you said as you took a step back. A part of you wanted to turn your head and try to catch Jack’s attention, try to ask for help. Another part of you didn’t want to look away from this man. You didn’t trust him.

He huffed out a chuckle. “Don’t be like that—”

“She said no. Fuck off now.” 

A mix of relief and surprise washed over you when you felt a body settle behind you, and you didn’t need to turn your head to know it was Quinn standing behind you, but you still did just to settle the tightness in your chest. 

His face was set in a blank expression, but you recognised it well enough. When he got angry—truly angry—he didn’t have a frown on his face or a crease between his brows. His face just looked…blank. Like he was so lost in his own rage that no expression could really encapsulate how he felt. 

You rarely saw it. He rarely showed this side of him.

His hands were on your waist, pulling you closer to his body as his eyes never left the stranger’s. He tilted his head to the side when the man opened his mouth again, and that seemed enough to shut him up again. 

“Go.” 

The man decided to do the smart thing and scuttle into the crowd of people, disappearing with a blink of an eye until neither you nor Quinn could see him. But even with him gone, you couldn’t shake the uneasiness in your chest.

A second passed before Quinn moved, now standing in front of you with your face in his hands as he tore your gaze away from the crowd to look at him instead. His brows were furrowed together in concern, his lips turned downwards as he glanced over you to make sure you were okay.

“Hey, you with me?” He murmured, his voice soft and comforting and you clung onto it.

“Mhm,” you nodded, flashing him a shaky smile. 

His frown deepened. “Don’t lie to me—”

“I’m not,” you told him honestly, your hands fisting the material of his shirt like you were scared he was going to step away. “I just…you make me feel better.” 

His face softened and the last of his resolve went out the window as he wrapped his arms around you, hugging you close until you were pressed into his chest. You nuzzled your face against his sweater, letting the familiar smell of his cologne wash over you and calm the last of your nerves. 

And when you opened your eyes, you found Jack standing a few feet away from you. Quinn hadn’t noticed he was there and Jack made no move to announce his presence. But he gave you this smile, one that was kind and knowing and felt like a stamp of approval you didn’t know you wanted or needed from the middle Hughes brother. 

But Jack smiled at the sight of you and his older brother, raising his shot glass like a promise to keep your secret and knocking it back without a moment of hesitation.

…

You had no plans on telling Luke about you and Quinn the night it actually ended up happening. 

There was a mutual agreement between you both that you couldn’t keep it from Luke any longer. It wasn’t fair on him to be left in the dark, it wasn’t fair on you two having to sneak around and it wasn’t fair on the people who already knew having to keep your secret.

And with the normal season coming to an end, it felt like a clock was running against you to tell your best friend you were dating his brother before you were all locked in the lakehouse for the summer together.

When you had imagined the moment in your head, it was the three of you. You would sit Luke down, explain your feelings and hope that he wouldn’t feel too betrayed. You imagined he would say something stupid like ‘yeah, I already know, losers’ and you could live your lives happily ever after.

It was probably never going to happen like that, but you certainly didn’t expect it to happen like this.

After a rough season and a streak of rough games for Luke in particular, the news of the Devils’ head coach stepping down felt inevitable and, truthfully, it was a relief when you saw the news come through. Luke had called you, far too smug and giddy for someone whose team was technically without a key member—but you guessed it was mostly second-hand from the other boys. 

You swore you could hear Jack and Nico talking about popping open a bottle of champagne in the background when he called. 

It felt like an unspoken agreement for you to fly out when Luke told you about a huge party they were throwing that weekend. Not for the recent retirement, obviously. If anyone asked, it was a simple bonding experience for the boys to motivate them through the last leg of the season.

And somewhere between the beer pong game Luke dragged you into and the really strong margarita Simon made you, you had snuck off into a small bathroom to call the one person your drunk self craved to see.

“Hey, pretty girl.”

You grinned at the sight of your boyfriend’s face on your screen, his hair tucked under a beanie as he walked around his apartment. “Hey, baby.”

He took in your flushed cheeks and glossy eyes, snorting a little. “Having fun?” 

“So much fun,” you giggled before letting out a heavy sigh. “I wish you were here.”

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised, like he was counting the days. He probably was. You knew you were too. “Spring break, remember?” 

“Hmm, I can’t wait to have you all to myself,” you mused, sinking back against the wall of the bath you were currently leaning on. “I’m sick of sharing my boyfriend with Petey.” 

Quinn laughed. “I thought you loved Petey.” 

You sighed deeply. “I do love that big, blond Swede.” 

He shook his head in amusement. “I’ll let him know. I’m sure he loves you too.”

You perked up a little. “Really?”

“Really, baby.” 

“Woah,” you breathed out, your eyes falling shut as you leaned against the cool ceramic of the bathtub. “I know I said it before…but I really wish you were here.”

Quinn’s face softened. “Me too, babe. Me too.” 

You opened your mouth to say something, probably some random drunken thought that you felt the insistent need to share with your boyfriend before knocking on the bathroom door interrupted you. 

You froze when you heard Luke calling your name on the other side. 

Quinn frowned at the way your face paled a little. “Baby, what’s happened? Who is it?” 

You heard shuffling on the other side before Luke’s muffled voice sounded through the door. “Are you talking to Quinn?”

You could have hung up. You could have told him you were talking to someone else entirely. You could have done a million and one other things that made more sense. However, for some fucking reason, your drunk brain panicked. 

“I don’t know a Quinn!” 

Quinn furrowed his brows in confusion.

There was a pause on the other side of the door before Luke tested the handle, finding the door unlocked. He let himself in, standing by the entrance as he stared down at you curled up beside the bathtub with a frown.

“Why are you hiding in here? I need another beer pong partner and Holtz sucks so—”

And because the universe liked to fuck with you, it seemed like there was some sort of lag on Quinn’s side because his voice was echoing through the small bathroom before you could even warn him about Luke’s presence.

“Baby, what’s happening? You’re starting to scare me.” 

Your eyes widened as silence suffocated the small room. You looked at Quinn before looking at Luke, who was looking at your phone with a mixed expression. 

“Did…did he just call you baby?” 

“No?”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on? Why are you on the phone to Quinn? And why are you hiding in the bathroom? And since when do you talk to Quinn?” 

You flashed him a sheepish smile. “Since we’ve been dating,”

Luke blinked before he snorted. “No, I’m being serious.” 

You swallowed. “So am I.”

Luke let out another laugh, but this one was a little less convincing. “I…no, you’re messing with me. Jack put you both up to this, right?” 

You stayed silent. 

“Right?” Luke asked again, a little more desperate.

Your eyes shifted down to Quinn—the lag thankfully gone—before you looked back up at Luke with a nervous expression. You shifted so your phone screen was now facing him, watching as his eyes dropped down to his brother’s face. 

“We wanted to tell you—”

“You,” Luke sneered, his eyes narrowed. “You have been planning this.” 

You blinked. “Huh?” 

“He’s been planning this!” Luke said with such confidence, though that might have been the mix of rum and tequila talking. “He’s been planning this since the sour patch kids!”

Quinn shot his brother a look. “You think I’ve been planning to date your best friend since you were seven?” 

“Yes.” 

You didn’t have to look at the screen to know Quinn was rolling his eyes at his younger brother.

“How long has this been going on?” 

“A while.” 

“That’s not an answer,” Luke frowned before looking at you.

“Since last summer,” you whispered.

“Summer?!” Luke spluttered. “You two have been dating for eight months and no one knew?” 

You winced.

Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Who knows?” 

“Just Trevor,” you said with a shrug of your shoulders. 

He deflated, blinking. “Oh, well I guess—” 

“And your parents and my parents and Ethan and Rutger and Mark and Jack,” you blurted out quickly, your cheeks heating up as Luke stared at you like he didn’t know you.

“So everyone but me?” 

“Luke—”

“Everyone but me knows?” 

“I’m sorry,” you whispered. 

“This is just a bad dream,” Luke murmured to himself before nodding his head, a little more confidently. “No, yes. This is a bad dream influenced by Nemo’s shitty bartending skills. A bad dream where my older brother is stealing my best friend. It isn’t real at all.” 

You blinked. “Luke—”

“Just need to play out the rest of the bad dream and I’ll wake up,” he continued muttering away as he reached for the door handle, ready to leave the small, cramped bathroom. “Just a bad dream.” 

“Luke—” 

But he was already gone before you could say anything.

“Well, he’s gonna have a brutal reality check in the morning.” 

You turned your phone to glare at your boyfriend. Though, much to your surprise, he was grinning in response. 

“Quinn, this is serious.” 

“Baby, I know.” His face seemed to soften a little, but the smile remained. “But now he knows. This is what we wanted. And now we don’t have to hide.” 

Your annoyance melted away at his revelation, a warmth settling in your chest that only Quinn seemed to bring. “Stop being cute.” 

“I’m being realistic, baby. Now you can come up any time you want.”

You snorted. “I still have classes.”

“I’ll find a way around those too. You can’t stop me, baby, gonna tell the whole world how much I love you.”

Your face softened with a smile. “I love you too.” 

Quinn’s smile mirrored yours. “Now go make sure my brother doesn’t do something stupid whilst he thinks he’s in a dream. Mum will kill me if his face is plastered on a tabloid in the morning.”

“Pretty sure Jack will go out of his way to make sure that happens.”

“Please don’t let it happen.” 

You gave him a mock salute. “Aye, aye, captain.” 

He shook his head with a fond expression. “I’ll call you later, okay?” 

“Okay. Bye, I love you.” 

“I love you too.”

“And I love Petey.”

Quinn snorted. “Yeah, I love him too. Get in line.”

.

[patscorner]

CHAPTER ONE: BUY-IN

pairings: paige x oc

contains: pining, angst

word count: 2,575

a/n: okay, one chapter in. let me know what you guys think, my inbox is open. also let me know what you might like to see, the outline isn't set in stone. school has started so it might be a bit before the next chapter, but it's coming. enjoy!

My palms sweat as I dial the familiar number, one I’d memorized by heart. It’d been far too long since I’d called her, and I don’t really have a reason, so the bullshit ‘I’ve been busy’ excuse will just have to do.

=======================

JUNE 2023

“Hello?”

I clear my throat in an attempt to swallow the lump that magically appeared. “H-Hey, Azzi, uh-it’s CJ.”

“Who?” My heart dropped to my shoes as my brain scrambled to pick up the pieces of one word.

“I-uh..”

Azzi chuckles. “I’m just messing with you. What’d you need?” I let out a breath as I rub my head.

“Oh my god, I actually hate you, holy shit.” I laugh.

“Apparently, since it’s been, what, like three months since we’ve talked.” I could practically hear the eye roll.

It’s really not fair for me to ignore Azzi because, really, she hadn’t done anything but be my best friend.

Our best friend.

And maybe that our was the problem. Maybe that combination, the unity of the word, and everything behind it was a mistake. Maybe, letting her etch herself into the scrolls of my heart, so much so that the ink bled together. Maybe the missed cue of when mine became hers, and hers became ours, was poor oversight.

Maybe letting Azzi become collateral damage was where me and her went wrong.

I laugh it off, ignoring the pang it sends to my chest.

“Yeah, well, I have to mentally prepare myself to lose brain cells. Can’t let it fuck up my game.” I respond, earning a laugh from the brown-haired girl. There’s nothing like the nostalgia a sound can bring you. The memories and feelings, all hidden behind a single noise.

After she gathers herself, she sighs. “So what’s up?”

And suddenly, I remember why I’d called.

“Yeah, uh, there’s something I kinda wanted to talk to you about, before you hear it somewhere else..” I say, picking at my earlobe nervously.

“Ooookay… Is everything okay..?” her voice relaying softer through the phone.

I nod. “Yeah, it’s nothing bad. Or, at least, I don’t think..” I fall silent for a moment. This couldn’t be as bad as I’m making it seem, right? Right?

“Either way, I’d just rather talk about it in person.”

Azzi hums. “Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. Where do you want to meet?” I consider my options. I’m only in Minnesota to visit my family for about a week, and it’d take another day to get to Virginia… I would be back in time to move into my dorm. It’s inconvenient but doable.

“I could drive up to you in like a week, I’ll just meet you at your house.” I mutter thoughtfully.

“Wait, are you in Texas or Minnesota?”

“I’m about an hour out from Minny.” I answer, slightly confused.

“Oh, I’m here with Paige and the boys. We’re actually headed to the fair soon. You could meet up with us if you wanted.”

“Shit…uh, I didn’t think about them...” I mumble.

That’s a lie. Truthfully, every time I think of home, memories of the blonde flood my mind instantly. But then I’m reminded of what she’d done. How she ripped herself out of my chest like velcro, instead of carefully detangling herself, ridding herself off all strings attached. All for someone else.

For someone who used to be mine.

“Hello..? You still there?”

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. “Yeah, yeah, sorry. Uh, th-yeah, that’s fine.” I sigh, quickly trying to recover.

Azzi sighs through the phone. “Look, I still don’t know what happened between you two, so if you don’t want to come-” she amends.

“No! No, okay, sorry. I- just gotta change my clothes…” I say, biting my lip as I lie through my teeth. “I’ll just meet you guys there?”

I could practically hear Azzi smile. “That sounds good, just call me when you get there.”

After we say our goodbyes, I hang up. I groan as I throw my head back.

I’m always up to a challenge, but the thought of going and having to function around her, after all she’s said and done; after she’s ruined us before there even was an us, that might be more difficult than I’d thought.

It’s not like I have a choice, though. I’m gonna have to learn how to be around her every day, especially when the season starts.

_________

“Drew, bro, if you spray me with that shit one more time, I swear to god, I will beat your ass.” I glared at him as he hid behind Jose, who put his hands up in surrender. I should not have bought him that water gun.

I rolled my eyes as I turned back to Azzi, who kept looking around, then back at her phone, repeating the process. I kicked her in her shin. “Ow! Paige, what the fuck?” Azzi complains, rubbing her leg. “Who are you looking for?” I say, glancing around.

She looks back down at her phone. “Nobody. Just people watching.” I scoff. “Bullshit, are we being spied on, or what?” She shakes her head, looking up around once more. “Okay, bro, what’s going on? Who’s ass do I have to beat?”

Azzi rolls her eyes at me. “You couldn’t beat Ohio, let alone anyone else.”

I sit back in shock, putting my hand on my heart as I feign offense. “Okay, their defense was so unexpected. You can’t even put that on me.” She shrugged, looking back at her phone and standing up. “Where-”

“Bathroom.” she mutters. I watch as she practically sprints away. If only she did that shit in practice. I shake my head.

I open my phone and begin mindlessly scrolling through instagram, ignoring the thousands of times I’ve been tagged in pictures that I’d taken with fans today. Suddenly, I freeze.

It’s a post by the official UConn women’s basketball team. It’s a picture of CJ in her Texas jersey, the number 43 on the front. Her hair is in her signature bun, hair slicked back carefully, as she drives towards the basket. The caption reads “Welcome CJ West!”

What the fuck?

I’m in such a state of shock that when Azzi comes back, I don’t notice the figure next to her. I glance up at her, then back at my phone. “Yo, Azzi, have you seen this?” I look up at her again, and this time, I let my eyes flick to the person next to her.

CJ.

Forgetting what I’d just seen, my jaw drops as I take her in. She’s just as beautiful, if not more, as she was the last time I’d seen her. She’s wearing a basic casual outfit; a plain white crop top, paired with blue jeans, and gold jewelry that always makes her hazel eyes seem brighter. Or maybe that’s just how they look naturally.

“Oh, shit.” I whisper, clearly in awe. She rolls her eyes.

Fuck.

“Hello to you, too, Paige.” Double fuck.

That fucking voice.

I clear my throat, trying to recover. “Hey, CJ.” I breathe. The lighthearted air is swallowed by suffocating tension as I make eye contact with a stranger.

“Oooookay…” Azzi says, clearing her throat. “This is about as awkward as I’d thought it’s be…” she mutters. CJ looks at her. “I told you.”

I look between them. “What’s going on?”

Azzi looked at CJ expectantly, gesturing to her to speak. CJ rolled her eyes and huffed. “I-uh, I have news.” CJ glanced between Azzi and I. She cleared her throat as she picked at her earlobe, a habit she’d picked up when she was younger. I’d always hold her hand to stop her, and I want to do that more than anything right now. I think I’ve lost that right, though.

“I’m transferring to UConn.”

My eyes flick to Azzi’s who’s jaw drops. “Really? How-Why?”

CJ shrugs, trying feign carelessness. “Better environment, Texas heat ain’ my thing.” To the normal eye, CJ’s behavior could be seen as normal. But to me? I see the way her eyelids flutter, the hesitation behind her pretty lips, and the way her eyebrows raise just slightly. She’s a good liar.

Just not good enough.

I don’t say anything, though, not when she gets dragged away by Drew and Jose, not when Drew practically begs her to stay and hang out with us, and certainly not when she’s sat in front of me on the ride Jon chooses. I don’t say anything when the boys get swept away, and it’s just the three of us, like it always used to be.

It’s only when Azzi goes to the bathroom, leaving us alone for the first time in years that I say anything. “Try not to kill each other, please.” She orders as she scurries to the restroom.

It’s silent for a moment, and I can almost see the relief on her face when she thinks I’ll hold my tongue.

Unfortunately, I’m nobody’s peace.

“How long are you here for?” I ask, stuffing my hands into my black cargo pants. She looks up at me. “Uh-just for the week, gotta move outta my dorm, and it’s a long drive, so.”

I raise my eyebrows. “You driving on your own?”

CJ nods. “Yeah, I’ll just sleep in my car or something.” I shake my head. “No fucking way, bro, you serious? That’s like a twenty hour drive.”

She crosses her arms. “So? That’s how I got here.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not goin’ on your own.” I say. Truthfully, I knew she’d be fine on her own, but something about her driving back to Texas, just to go back to Connecticut, doesn’t sit well with me. I’m only concerned for her safety. Or at least that’s what I decide to tell myself.

She scoffs. “What, you’re gonna come with me?”

“I could, if that’s what you want.”

“That’s the last thing I want.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“It’s not. Didn’t even wanna see you today.”

I turned to her. “Seriously, dude?” She looks at me. “Yes, seriously.”

I roll my eyes. I know I hurt her. I know I fucked up. But that was three years ago. We were kids. I was eighteen. I can legally drink now. It’s been three years. How can someone be upset for that long? “You gotta get over it one day.” I say before thinking about it.

I regret it when I see a flash of hurt on her face. “Get over it? That’s easy for you to say, Paige.” she spits out harshly.

Ouch.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I say, even though I know exactly what she meant. “Exactly what it sounds like. You get over shit quickly.” She shrugs. Her nonchalant tone pisses me off more than the words. I take a step towards her. “I didn’t ‘get over’ anything. There was nothing to ‘get over’. You were just jealous-”

“Jealous?” She interrupts incredulously. “Paige, you stuck your tongue down her throat!”

“And that pissed you off. Hence, jealousy.” I shrug.

“You were my best friend! It’s not fucking jealousy, it’s betrayal!” She practically yells, taking a step closer, our toes almost touching.

“I didn’t betray anybody! I was drunk! She was drunk! And I apologized afterward!” I say, trying to ignore the way her scent invades my senses.

She laughs dryly, taking a step back. “Right, you’re right. Yeah, an apology fixes it all.” I blink. “Really?”

CJ stares at me. “You’re a fucking idiot.” she says, and the only emotion I can pick up is anger. “I know.” I whisper.

Just then Azzi comes out of the bathroom, looking between us. “Everything okay?”

“Yep.” We say at the same time, and Azzi raises her eyebrows. “Aaaalrighty then… Can we find the boys, I’m ready to go.”

I nod and begin to walk behind Azzi, but I don’t miss the way CJ looks at me. I’m no expert, but if I know one thing, it’s the gaze of someone who’s been heartbroken.

I know because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it every time I’ve looked in the mirror for the past three years.

__________

“There’s no way you’re driving to Texas by yourself.” Azzi gapes from the corner seat of the booth. Jose convinced Paige to drive us to some random diner. She’s so easy.

I roll my eyes as I take a sip of my sprite. “Bro, you sound like Paige.” I grumble.

“The fact that I’m agreeing with her should tell you how fucking stupid you sound.” she said. I look at her in shock as Paige throws her head back, cackling.

Fuck.

That stupid fucking laugh paired with that stupid fucking smile makes it so fucking hard to be mad at her. Maybe I should let it go. It has been three years…

No.

Instead of entertaining the thoughts, I opt for kicking her shin instead. “What do you think that says about you, dumbass.” She immediately shuts up, and I roll my eyes as Jon almost spits out his Dr. Pepper.

“I’ll have you know I was AP player of the year.” She defends, eyebrows furrowed. I raise my eyebrows unimpressed. “Still holding onto that, huh?”

Azzi laughs, and Paige shoots her a look. “Can we get back on task, please?” That seems to direct all the attention back to me. “Driving to Texas? All on your own?” Paige says.

“Yes. Did y’all forget how I got here? I didn’t fucking speedwalk.”

“Yeah, but you’re gonna go to Texas, spend, what, two full days staying up late and packing up three years of your life, and then driving the… twenty-nine, thirty, hour trip to Connecticut?” Azzi reasons.

I blink. “Well, when you put it like that..” I mutter.

Paige rolls her eyes. “Dude, just let us come with you. We can drive you there, so your car isn’t sitting in the middle of nowhere-”

“Isn’t your car in Storrs?”

“And we can switch drivers. Stay at a hotel halfway there, and then drive the rest of the way the day after.” She finishes, ignoring my comment. Before I can answer, the waiter comes with our food.

As he sets the plates down, I look at Paige, just taking her in. She’s wearing a plain black hoodie, with some red, white, and blue shorts on. It’s not much, but she could be wearing a trashbag and still be the hottest motherfucker around. It’s almost disgusting how effortlessly gorgeous she is.

I wouldn’t mind having someone to help me get to Connecticut. It’s a long drive, and it should be an easy yes. The truth is, when she looks like that, and acts like this, and talks the way she does… I don’t know how I’m going to get through the season, let alone a road trip.

I watch her lips as she says a thank you to the waiter, quickly averting my eyes when she looks at me. When the waiter leaves, I look back up and roll my eyes at her poor attempt to hide her smirk. As much as I wanted to wipe the smirk off her face, driving alone to Texas sounded dreadful. Plus, Paige has an okay music taste. Might not be that bad.

“Fine. You guys can come with me to Texas.”

Azzi smiles, clearly satisfied. Paige grins like a madman, clapping her hands. “This is going to be fun.”

I roll my eyes for the upteenth time tonight.

What the fuck did I just get myself into?

=======================

taglist: @wintersstan @bueckerrss @lilia22hicks @fake-intelligences @girlokwhatever @pbloverr @breeloveschris-deactivated20240 @cosmopretty @hellokittyfeenie @averagelobotomyenjoyer @elliewilliamsthang @chelisbae @angelscovee @st4rrzynight @cherryswisherz

[malk1ns]

march 9 @ wild, 3-1 win

i like the convenience and novelty of seeing them play in my town but also like...go away why are you so close to me. the knowledge that they slept less than a mile from where i live the night before the game is unsettling. get out of my school.

loved getting his and his goals AND penalties though. they really do everything together don't they?

good grief are they getting weird in warmups though, like...stop crawling all over each other you're in public? yikes. this fic was inspired by geno skating past sid and like...literally smelling him? i have no idea it was so fucking odd.

One of the team omegas going into heat always throws everyone off. Even the guys who think they’re above it all, more enlightened than their designations and fully in control of their instincts, end up succumbing. 

The whole team gets worked up, especially when they’re on the road and nobody has a chance to go home and get a little distance. They’re around each other all the time 12+ hours a day, and the only breaks they get are when they’re boxed into tiny hotel rooms that smell like strangers and do nothing to help soothe frazzled, on-edge instincts.

It comes to a head in Minnesota. Sid can’t say Karl didn’t time his heat impeccably; by the smell of it, he’ll tip over fully tomorrow, when they’re back in Pittsburgh and he can den down with his mate of choice to ride it out.

As if it’s going to be anyone other than Kris.

Sid watches in vaguely-impressed disgust as Kris practically drools over a puck he’s got parked between his feet, spitting pheromones onto the rubber before passing it with pinpoint accuracy across the ice to where Karl is dawdling through his own warmup routine.

“So gross,” Geno mutters from behind Sid in delighted horror. “Can’t believe Tanger does, like, there’s people everywhere.”

Sid glances briefly at the glass; there are a lot of people down to watch warmups, even more than normal in Minnesota which always draws a large crowd. Kris is oblivious to it all, skating wide arcs around the blue line with his eyes fixed on Karl.

Honestly, Sid gets it. Karl’s pre-heat smells sweet and tempting, and if Sid were still chasing after omegas like he did when he was younger he’d probably have a go at courting behaviors himself. Not now, of course, he’d never trigger a brawl with a teammate before a game, but he’d try something.

Geno circles in front of Sid, tipping his head down and sniffing ostentatiously. “You stink,” he says, voice low and fond and dirty in a way that draws Sid’s attention to him like a magnet. “Think maybe you’re want to do too.”

Sid reaches out and snags a stray puck with his stick, handling it between Geno’s feet. “I’ll spit on whatever you want back at the hotel tonight,” he says before taking off for the net, leaving Geno sputtering and reeking of arousal in Sid’s wake.

—

Getting a win after a shutout is great. Sid has a little extra juice all night, and it’s nice to get rewarded. He’ll never admit to tracking his own stats, but he knows about the Gretzky record just as well as the entire Penguins fanbase; he knows what’s at stake.

Twelve more points in sixteen games feels a lot more doable now than it did a month ago, when his wrists were sore and aching and his left arm was all but useless.

Geno netted his own goal too, banging his own rebound past Flower and crowing at him so loudly about it that Sid could hear it all the way from the bench.

Outside the arena, Sid sucks in a deep breath, letting the fresh air clear his head. The locker room had been fogging over with omega slick, and if Sid was affected Kris was practically catatonic, trailing after Karl into the showers and back out like he was on a leash.

Karl isn’t even in heat yet for real. It’s going to be a long flight back to Pittsburgh tomorrow.

The walk across the park back to the hotel is short, but it’s enough for Sid to shake off the last of the game adrenaline and the base, instinctive need to put on a show in front of a cycling omega.

Geno paces him, hands shoved in his pockets. He looks unaffected, but that’s nothing new. Sid can’t remember a single time an omega turned Geno’s head, not even when they were reeking of pre-heat and practically throwing themselves at him. He’d barely even smell interested.

Sid used to worry he was homophobic or something because of the way his stomach twisted when he watched Geno slip out of bars with other alphas. It used to keep him up sometimes, agonizing over how he could be a good, supportive captain, how he’d be able to say and do the right things to make sure Geno didn’t feel alienated, all while feeling the way he did.

It took him a while to figure out what was really going on. Nobody’s ever accused Sid of being deeply in touch with his feelings. He’s glad Geno was patient with him in those early days.

Sid likes to think he’s made all that initial weirdness up to him and then some in the intervening years.

Geno nudges him as they step into the lobby. “Good game,” he says, herding them towards the elevator; he always gets antsy about Sid’s privacy when they’re in public, does his best to put himself between Sid and anyone who looks like they might bother him.

It stirred up complicated feelings in Sid for years, shame twisted with arousal. Now, he just appreciates the way Geno really looms over him when he wants, the warm press of his body along Sid’s side, his big hands on Sid’s back as he hustles them down the hallway and into their room.

He can’t help but push back a little, dig his heels in and fight Geno’s grip; he’s still an alpha, after all, and he’s not going to go down easy, not even when it’s Geno putting him there.

Geno gets Sid pinned up against the wall and leans down, opening his mouth over Sid’s scent glands and inhaling. The scrape of teeth on skin freezes Sid in place, hair standing on end as his body reacts to a perceived threat so near.

“Smell so good,” Geno rumbles, way down in his alpha register. His hands are all over Sid’s body, handsy like he always is, proprietary and possessive without a care for the way Sid’s having to breathe through his initial reaction to fight.

This is how it goes after games when they’re both worked up. Geno boxes him in, Sid reminds himself he likes it.

Sid has to admit that he had some ideas about what Geno would be like in bed. He’s gay, after all, not a flicker of interest in omegas, and there are stereotypes that Sid’s embarrassed he assumed would be true. He’d had a hazy picture in his head of Geno rolling over and presenting, going belly-down and whining for it like his omegas always have.

Sometimes, Geno does do that. But sometimes Sid does too. Most of the time, it’s like this:

Geno backs off just enough for Sid to push at him, wrestling them both towards the bed. Geno’s musk fills the room; Sid’s probably is too, but obviously he can’t smell himself. The heady scent of aroused alpha turns Sid’s crank like crazy, sends him out of his skin with the need to touch, to claw and bite and own.

He wrestles Geno onto his back and tucks his face into Geno’s neck, breathing so deeply he makes himself dizzy. He imagines sinking his teeth in, like he would have years ago without a second thought if Geno were an omega, leaving a mark on Geno’s neck for all to see. It’s taboo, transgressive enough to make Sid’s guts squirm and his dick twitch picturing it.

He doesn’t dare imagine Geno leaving a mark of his own on Sid’s neck, not if he wants this to last.

Geno’s nails scratch into Sid’s skin as he scrabbles at Sid’s shirt. Getting them both naked nearly devolves into a fight, but eventually their clothes are in a pile on the floor and Geno’s sucking on Sid’s tongue as he plays with Sid’s balls.

His hands are huge, and Sid thinks about spreading his legs and begging Geno to finger him. They don’t have time, not with an early flight the next day and a game the day after; the worst part of sleeping with another alpha is the amount of time everything takes if they want to fuck, and Sid’s not in the mood to slip into the bathroom and do it himself, to come out and pretend he’s an omega, all ready for Geno to slide right in. 

The best he can do tonight is thrash until they’re on their sides, Geno curled around Sid’s back with one hand on his dick and the other playing with his chest as Sid spills lube over his hand and rubs between his thighs before tucking Geno’s dick there and squeezing.

“Fuck,” Geno grunts, humping forward and practically rolling Sid onto his stomach. Sid grits his teeth and braces, reaching back and digging his fingers into Geno’s flank as Geno fucks into the space between his thighs.

It sounds obscene in the close little hotel room, slick thrusts and slapping flesh, and Sid tosses his head, burning with humiliation. He’s so close, and the idea of anyone knowing how hard this is getting him off, letting another alpha drool all over him and make Sid his bitch, makes him moan.

“Geno, please,” he gasps, and Geno’s hand on his dick is too rough, too much too fast, but it tips him over the edge, and he comes with a shout into Geno’s palm.

Geno squeezes over his knot, painfully tight and just what Sid needs, and Sid tenses his leg muscles, working Geno’s dick over as best he can until Geno comes too, his own knot swelling between Sid’s thighs. 

Geno’s breath is hot on Sid’s neck. Now that they’ve both come the immediate threat of another alpha’s bite has receded, so Sid tilts his head to the side, smiling when Geno immediately plants his face against Sid’s skin.

“Smell something you like?” he chirps. It’s weak, but he’s tired, and orgasms like that one, that feel almost more like a fight than sex, sap him of his ability to be witty.

“Smell like mine,” Geno replies, and Sid sinks into his words, the way they make him feel.

He does belong to Geno. Always has, even when he didn’t realize it yet. Geno belongs to him too.

Sid falls asleep thinking about how maybe his fantasy of matching mate-bites isn’t that insane after all.

[kaisers-house-of-desires]

Can you do an Yandere Idia x male reader

with reader being Idia's fake boyfriend so Idia's parent don't have to worry or talk about his social life but then Idia got too attached to reader during their fake relationship.

reader sleeping on Idia's room and Idia's horny thoughts took over him and he ended up fucking reader and then after that guilt tripped reader to staying with him as he was starting to become more and more desperate for reader's prescence, time, and body.

(i can't think of deeper details im so sorry 😭)

No need to apologize, reader! I think this is quite doable~

Title: Attached

Characters: Idia x m!reader

Contains: Dark Themes(Yandere, manipulation), somniphillia, handjob, biting

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Full request below the cut

All characters are 18+

MINORS, FEM ALIGNED, AGELESS/BLANK BLOGS DNI

Reblogs > likes

For Idia, to finally have his parents stop asking about a partner was a blessing, but unfortunately for him, it would start a mess.

It had been over a month, maybe two, since this pretend relationship started. You agreed to help the socially awkward male to get his parents off his back. Did it mean having to share a kiss here, a hug there? A few Magicam images to really sell it?

Sure, and really, neither of you minded.

Except now, in the hours of the night, Idia found himself staring at the ceiling, unable to even play a game or check his phone to distract him. His thoughts ran wild, and you sleeping beside him didn't help. His yellow eyes, practically glowing in the dark as they darted to your sleeping form and back up to the ceiling. The whole reason you were here was at his request. It seemed out of the ordinary for you two, and you couldn't quite understand why he would want you over, but assuming it was to set up another farse to fool his parents, you agreed.

Now he was almost regretting it.

Sitting up, Idia's gaze started from your head to your legs. In your pajamas, you slept on top of the blankets, having commenting on how warm it was in the dorm. Idia had yet to change, but he had assured you he would.

He didn't. His mind was too busy.

The only thing he kept thinking about was you.

He never broke his stare, leaning towards you with an outstretched hand. He had plans to turn you, but luckily for him, you turned on your own, now lying on your back. He got a better view of your face, your sweet, sleeping face.

The memories of your fake dates called back to him. The way you held his hand was far too real, the way your fingers would intertwine. The looks you would give him would cause pink to rise to his pale face. He longed for this more than just for the time he needed. He longed for you, for your time, your energy, your...

Idia positioned himself over you, his head over yours, His heart hammered as sinful thoughts danced along his mind.

Blue lips carefully brushed against your slightly parted ones. You didn't stir, which Idia was thankful for. He firmly pressed his lips to yours, enjoying a sweet, yet needy kiss. It was quick, as he didn't want to wake you from your slumber, not yet.

A kiss wouldn't be enough, however, and now that he had a taste, he wouldn't hold back.

Not moving from your side, Idia sat up, eyes darting to your pajama bottoms. With shaky yet eager hands, Idia undid the button that kept the fabric together at your crotch. Instead of digging into your boxers like he wanted to, he attempted to still, and instead gently rested his hand over the mound of fabric. A shuddering sigh left his mouth, eyes nearly fluttering at the touch.

Ever so carefully, he began to massage you, a soft hum leaving you through your nose. He had never done such a thing to another, only himself as he had many a night to think about all the things he wanted to do with you, to do to you. He felt you begin to harden under his hand, your brows furrowing as a breathy moan slipped by your lips. Your arm moved, causing Idia to stop. To his luck, all you did was rest your arm over your eyes, body stilling once you were finished. Idia waited a couple seconds before continuing, this time finally slipping his hand into your boxers to present your semierect shaft to the warm air.

Idia practically drooled at the sight, his face hot from merely holding it in his hand. There was no turning back, and ever so gently, he began to pump his hand along your cock. A groan startled him, but he pressed on. You felt hot in his hand, almost unbearingly so, and the last sane part of his brain screamed at him to stop, but all it took was a name to make him come to a screeching halt as his head slowly turned toward the source.

You weren't awake, you were still asleep, but you had uttered a name that made Idia's heart swell.

"I...dia...~"

A dream, he thought. He has to be dreaming.

And if you were dreaming, then that means you wanted this too, right?

Throwing caution to the wind, Idia attempted to carefully readjust, putting himself by your legs as he finally, yet reluctantly let go of your cock, which now was harder than what he started with. Excitedly, Idia worked to carefully remove your bottoms, boxers and pants now crumbled beside the bed. Idia messed with the buckle of his belt, shaky and sweaty hands fumbling with the leather and metal as he finally worked on his zipper. Eventually, his cock sprang free from the confines of his black boxers. Not wasting any time, fearing you would wake up soon, he positioned himself, lifting your legs up to gain access to your hole. He knew there was no prep, but time was of the essence for him. He pressed his cock to your entrance and--

"I-Idi--AH!"

At the same moment you attempted to speak his name, Idia pushed himself in, your walls not ready for such a protrusion, but the male didn't care, not at the moment. Right now, he stared you down, glazed yellow eyes meeting your pained ones. You had gripped the blankets below you, swearing out with a sob as you made a fist to hit the mattress in frustration.

"I-I'm sorry, y/n, but I...I couldn't help myself anymore." Idia's voice trembled, but not because of fear. It trembled because he was desperate. He needed to move, he could always explain what's happening in the meantime, right? With that in mind, he began to gyrate his hips into yours, both of you filling the hot air with sinful sounds of lust.

Unable to speak, all you could do was grip at Idia's sleeves, panting heavily with each blissful impact of his cock inside as you met his frenzied gaze. Not like Idia would answer anyway, as the man was babbling a mile a minute about how good you felt, about how incredible you were.

Idia fell over you, his head close to yours as his feral thrusting never ceased. He stared down at you, a twisted smile revealing his sharp teeth.

"I-I want you I want you I want you I want you...!"

Before you could give a rebuttal, or rather attempt one, you found Idia's mouth on your neck, those very teeth digging into the top layer of your flesh. All the while Idia's movements never stopped, not even while you let out a scream, the pain oddly sending a jolt to your stomach, heat to your cock.

And he didn't let go. Idia's jaw locked onto your neck, growls and panting sounding beside your ear. With his teeth sinking in, and his thrusts neverending, you found yourself in a taboo position. You were still waking up, and all of this was happening to you. You weren't sure how to react, what to say. Your body was assaulted with pleasure, and all you could do was let it happen.

But to your luck, or misfortune depending, Idia was quick to cum, likely due to his frenzied state, his desperate need to have you.

He filled your hole decently, a slip of cum escaping from the bottom of your stuffed ass. Part of you was grateful it was over, but another part didn't want it to end. Idia finally released his jaw from your neck, indents of teethmarks branding you, some having specks of blood from the pierced skin. As far as Idia was concerned, you belonged to him.

"Hah...~ Look at you...~ You're a mess...~" Though he was one to talk. Despite the sweat sheening on your forehead, the tired eyes that once again met the flame haired man, it didn't compare to the crazed look Idia wore, the toothy grin that just cursed you with a bite. "Don't worry, though. I-I like messes~ You're my favorite mess~"

"I-Idia..." Your voice sounded like a whine, a plea. Idia never pulled out, but instead remained inside, as if leaving would kill him.

"Shhh it's okay." He leaned back down, and you flinched, thinking he would bite you again, but instead he left a kiss on your forehead. "No need t-to say anything, okay? Couples do this. It's normal."

Couples...wait. Did Idia forget it was all for pretend?

"B-But we..."

"Hm? We...what?"

You blinked back the fatigue that crept up on you. "I-Idia...we're not really dating."

Surprisingly, his face went unchanged. "Of course we are. It's been two months. You agreed to go out with me..."

"Idia that's not--"

"So you lied to me...you were just pretending to date me?"

That...that was the whole point! This was all for pretend to get his parents off his back! You blinked back confused tears.

"We agreed--"

"I don't u-understand...why would you do this? Why would you spend...a-all that time with me...?" You felt the air change, his hair looking more active than normal.

"I-It was for your parents, remember?"

"My parents? My parents are thrilled I have someone! If you leave me they'll never let me hear the end of it!" Orange speckled the blue, he was close to popping off, but instead, you thought back on your actions. Perhaps...you had simply misheard him initially. Maybe you thought it was for the parents, but maybe that was a lie Idia came up with to ask you out, fighting his anxieties.

"I-I...I-I'm sorry. I must have m-misremembered..."

The orange settled, and a smile, not as deranged, grew back to Idia's face. "I don't blame you, love. It's late after all."

Finally pulling out from you, which caused you to whine out lightly, Idia got settled with you in the bed, pulling the blankets up to cover your half nude form with him by your side.

"Sleep. You need it, okay?"

Without another word, and afraid to turn your back on him, you curled up, closing your eyes...

...unable to see the traitorous grin that Idia wore.

[topaz-mutiny]

I think the fans are underestimating how differently people can process things.

I am consistently seeing posts say "Ashton/Tal were repeatedly warned the shard was not for them/will 100% kill them", when this was absolutely not the case, and, more importantly, it is very likely for groups of people to completely misinterpret the warnings. Even if they've known each other and loved each other for a decade.

I certainly thought the warnings were not clear or frequent enough so I was shocked like lightning in the latest episode that they were meant to be absolute death flags.

Please note that I'll mostly refer to the fictional characters, I don't want to bring the people behind the characters too much into this.

First, I would like to point out, the show takes place over weeks and months with plenty of breaks and interruptions. That is plenty of time and opportunity for memories to get faded, muddled, crossed-over with other memories, etc.

The "warnings" happened two weeks to a month ago. And even when they were fresh on the cast's mind, here are the warnings verbatim (bold is my emphasis):

But be warned, holding the strength of the two in one vessel might sunder it. You bear the dormant strength of the empress. Find and bestow the might of the emperor.

- Evontra'vir, episode 74, aired October 5th. The conversations move on to unrelated things with no followup.

Ashton: He also said it might be dangerous for these two shards to intermingle. Or he didn't say dangerous, he said that-- it could destroy me. Orym: --A chance the vessel could break. Laudna: --The vessel <air quotes> could break. Fearne: Wasn't there something if you put them together with the right thing that it'll be okay? Ashton: It might come together and be okay, yeah. -- Dancer: Maybe if it were to meet one of its own ilk, it could awaken. Allura: What you said as a point of warning likely is true. To have both within a singular vessel, it's possible one could survive, but it's also highly possible that it would rend you into a thousand pieces. -- Allura: We're in a strange area of experimentation and unknown knowledge. -- (after finding out Ashton has a fascimile of a Luxon beacon in their brain) FCG: So he's got two things in him or them? Allura: It would seem, which is why I'm a bit--Well, you're either the greatest weapon we could hope for in this time, or will be our end. I couldn't tell you. Orym: Boy, maybe we don't add a third thing. Ashton: I was put together by bits and pieces. This was not an intentional thing and it, I honestly shouldn't have survived it. It was, literally, I was put together with junk. Allura: In an odd way, your fragmented nature might be what keeps all of this in check. ... Perhaps we don't put another powerful entity within your form.

- Various, episode 76, aired October 19th.

To me, these warnings were not clear in the slightest.

To me, these warnings were interspersed with so many words like "possible", "might", and "chance" that I completely misinterpreted the situation as "For Ashton it is dangerous but doable" instead of "The Game Master is telling you Ashton's character sheet will be ripped up."

This is the problem with using in-character voices and using descriptors that imply chance or flexibility. They can drastically weaken the meaning of a phrase such that people like me will mistake it for something else.

Because that's how my brain works. "May", "chance", "perhaps" suggest to me a reasonable set of odds for an action and does not come across as the grave warning a game master would want.

And as a reminder, these muddled warnings were weeks apart and weeks away, which can make remembering the meaning even worse if you've already misinterpreted them. That's why I was 100% on board with Ashton taking the shard. It seemed reasonable but dangerous, so when Matt said "I warned you." in that grave tone and with that grave look I was thrown for a loop. I went "oh no! those were serious warnings!?" and the panic started setting in.

Also a contributing factor was the pressure and lack of communication from Bells Hells.

Fearne did not want the shard, and finally stated that thought aloud to Ashton. For Fearne and Ashton, that meant the only choice left was Ashton, because, for one reason or another, the 5 other people in Bells Hells repeatedly assumed and pushed the shard onto Fearne and wrote themselves out of the equasion. FIVE characters absolved themselves of being active participants. Once the idea of Fearne came to mind and this Emperor Fearne/Empress Ashton/Callowmoore shipping dicotomy, Bells Hells just stopped talking about it and never once considered if any of them should take the shard should Fearne refuse.

So... yeah that's how my brain works.

[tseecka]

So--many, many years ago, I applied to be a writer for BioWare--i suppose if I had gotten it, I would have been working on the first iteration of what eventually became Veilguard (probably would've gotten laid off somewhere along the line though). Part of the application process was to write a quest line for a Dragon Age game. This is the one I wrote.

It reimagined Alistair's background in an alternate timeline where he was not a companion in Origins, and instead is, like Cullen, a returning NPC with an expanded role as a companion in Inquisition. The quest was written to trigger after Here Lies the Abyss.

It got...honestly, a fair bit of traction. There was a month or so where the plays were solidly going up day after day; given that I hadn't posted it elsewhere (not even to DARP which I was active in at the time), it was getting a lot of attention from BW. The same day I got the rejection, DG tweeted something about how one should never try to write someone else's character as part of an application because you will inevitably not be able to manage it. My mind decided that tweet was about me, and it shattered my confidence as a writer for a really long time.

Anyways. I revisited it recently and if I'm being honest--I'm pretty proud. Some of the writing isn't great--I'd rework the introduction for sure--but the intricacy of the branching and the complexity of the interactions with Alistair, and the impact choices can have on the outcome of the conversation, is something I'm pleased with. I also think I got his voice pretty spot on, even if Gaider didn't like what I did with his backstory.

Anyways! It's been long enough now and I am working to heal as a writer, so I thought I'd post it for anyone to play. I would love to hear your thoughts! (Please play it through at least a couple times if you do and want the full experience--I cannot stress enough how much the dialogue branches and changes depending on your set up and conversational choices throughout!)

ETA: JESUS CHRIST I was mean. Y'all it's real hard to get Alistair's good romance ending. I promise it's doable. I wanted to make it a similar challenge to successfully romancing Fenris in DA2 but I've played it four times and I haven't gotten it yet, lmao.

[agirlandherquill]

seven sentence sunday

rules: share seven sentences from your wip!

this post's being written with about 35 minutes of Sunday left to go so talk about cutting it close - I've had countless tag games to catch up on from the past month and for that I do apologise, but this is me making a start of one that feels the most doable to me tonight, so I'll be sharing seven sentences from seven chapters of ruin's reprisal, just because it's finally complete and I want to celebrate in some way tonight - because I'm currently lacking chocolate, cake or even ice cream, tag games are going to have to do :) )

chapter 1 - The only person I have left thinks I’m a murderer. 

chapter 2 - She would be a smothered flame, a speck of nothing, turned to dust, and all trace lost to nothingness and time.

chapter 3 - He…He controlled shadow. Weaponised it. My head’s been hit a few times today, but I don’t think that would be madness enough to make me imagine that. No-one can wield shadow. No-one. What I saw… Should not be possible. (yes its a mini paragraph but i'm still counting it)

chapter 4 - “I’m here to make the worst choice possible. Saving you.”

chapter 5 - “A man like you is supposedly meant to be busy, ��Boss.’”

chapter 6 - The pleased grin wiped itself from his face immediately. His jaw set. His grey eyes swept over her and Fenley let out a long sigh. “Very well.”

chapter 7 - “Funnily enough Edeva, I wasn’t aiming for you.”

~ ~ ~

tag list time! open tag as always too!

@the-ellia-west @willtheweaver @tildeathiwillwrite @drchenquill @365runesofthesystem

@coffin-hopping @godsmostfuckedupgoblin @a-mimsy-borogove @frostedlemonwriter @i-do-anything-but-write

@r-u-living @thatuselesshuman @lead-to-code @sunflowerrosy @theaistired

@phoenixradiant @autism-purgatory @corinneglass @tiredpapergirl @patheticexcuseforawriter

@missmisanthrope @littlestchildofthemoon @morganxduinn @thebrownleathernotebook @rmhashauthor

@lamuradex @fantasy-things-and-such @glasshouses-and-stones @hattonthehatman @humbly-a-doppelganger

@ramwritblr @s-pendragon7 @thelastneuron @heartreactor @ihauntmyhouse

@shiningstars-world @scaewolf @just-emis-blog @joeys-piano @ramitola

@yrndrgn @riveriafalll @lawrencespen1777 @theverumproject @zackprincebooks

@justjariel @orion-lacroix @jupiter---daydreams @vinniehorrible @stars-forever

@thewritingautisticat @whatwewrotepodcast @anaisbebe @appleandsnow @urnumber1star

@chaotictravelerrants @andagii-projects @dragmewithyoutonirvana @a-bi-cat-with-books @fearofahumanplanet

@just-a-domesticated-cryptid @attemptingwriter @kitkins13 @ray-writes-n-shit

@theonewholivesinthemovies @rheas-chaos-motivation @bookwormclover @sunflowerrosy

[theblackestvalkyrie]

#2 - Hulk - Oneshot (Pipe Game Series)

Pairing: Hulk (Bruce Banner) x Giantess!Reader

Summary: Hulk comes back from fighting in the arena and you couldn’t help but get turned on by his performance. Unfortunately, he takes “Hulk Smash” a little too literally. 

Warning:  Kind of awkward smut, dubcon, rough sex, hulk’s fat girthy cock, sex positive reader, unrealistic cervix fucking, pissing/piss kink, painful sex, accidental/surprise orgasm, slight somnophilia, size difference, NO BETA WE DIE LIKE MEN

A/N:  Keep in mind that there is no Bruce in this fic. It’s strictly Hulk in this one. Comic fans, y’all know they are NOT the same person like the movies try to make it so really, they should be in different tags but whatever. Unfortunately, the rating was 5/10 but I personally think he’d be a 9/10 just on size alone 🤤. Reader is sex positive Is that coded for whore? Maybe lmao. Don’t be offended as I am a proud whore myself and is also a giantess (when compared to other species). Kind of like Bilquis from ‘American Gods’. If you know you know 😏. I took this one too far and a bit off track but I am pent tf up sexually so please be easy on me lol.

PG Chapters: Tony //

Based on this post.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchbaby300/pseuds/theblackestvalkyrie

The crowd was electric. Their enthusiastic cries and cheers echoed throughout the arena rising and falling with the wins and losses of warriors as they fought for their lives in the arena. On any other night, you’d be on the prowl looking for someone to bed or drink with but tonight was different. The new champion was fighting tonight.

You licked your lips at the thought as you watched his enormous green figure leap around and smash through the opponents put in front of him. He had hardly debuted and fought just a handful of times but ‘The Incredible Hulk’, as he was introduced before fights, was someone who was quickly making a name for himself.

The Hulk wouldn’t be the first champion you had approached sexually but judging by how thick he was all around; he might just be the last. You couldn’t contain your sexually charged thoughts as you watched him from the seat of your aircraft hovering above the arena.

 Tonight would be the night you would make your move. You had been planning and plotting the entire week while also remaining celibate. Going without sex for a week while not ideal, would be doable but that one week stretched into a month as your schedules never seemed to align. But tonight the stars aligned. You had no scheduled fights and Hulk only had one match scheduled. So, you suffered through the entire thing squirming with legs crossed and slightly out of breath from just watching Hulk fight. Your clit mashed desperately against the seat, pelvis tilting back and forth in wanton desire.

You gripped the steering wheel to stop yourself from shoving your fingers where you needed them the most. The fight predictably ended in Hulk’s favor with the crowd and the Grandmaster going wild. Waiting was the hardest part. It would take some time for him to make his way back to his quarters which gave you plenty of time to land, park, and make your way to his room. You arrived just a few minutes after he entered his apartment you didn’t bother knocking. There was no privacy on Sakaar.

The red and white theme of the room just screamed Hulk. Trophies, both gifted and taken from his opponents by force, littered the floor and made up what little furniture he had. His room even had a full bar of high-end quality liquors and other mind-altering beverages on a fully stocked cabinet.

The Grandmaster's favoritism was blatantly obvious.

There he sat, a warm washcloth draped over his face, arms draped across his heated bathing pool, not a care in the world. You let your eyes trace downward towards his muscular thick chest and the sparse dark chest hair growing there trailing down his abdomen and obscured by the water.

In an effort to make yourself fully known, you let your footsteps become louder making more noise. Immediately he sat up alert and uncovered his eyes watching you like a predator. You and Hulk had never interacted up close but had seen each other in passing so were familiar yet complete strangers to each other.

“You did so well tonight, Hulk. I wanted to help you relax after such a hard job. Will you let me help you? Will you let me be your tool?”

Silence sat between you both as Hulk tilted his head in deep contemplation. You could practically see the gears turning in his head as his dark eyes pierced right through you.

“Hulk owns you?”

You could have come on the spot at his response. This was better than you could imagine. He must have thought you were one of the contracted sex workers the Grandmaster employed, and why wouldn’t he when you showed up with no underwear, a sheer bodycon dress, and zero inhibitions? Having a sexual tryst for a night was good but having someone sexually own you was a new level to you entirely.

“Yes.” No hesitation on your part.

“Strip.” A forceful command that left no room for argument.

You eagerly shed the thin soft fabric of your dress letting it pool around your feet. You could feel his eyes roaming your body studying your perky hard nipples and the intricate design of your pubic hair.

“Come” He gestured waving a wet hand out of the water and splashing water around without a care in the world for the surroundings. The first steps up to the pool were nerve-racking. While he made no move up to come to you, you could see him shifting around in anticipation.

It only made you more excited at the fact that he wanted you just as much as you wanted him.

Once you were fully into the warm pool the water settled above your belly button leaving your breasts dry and fully on display. You stopped a little shorter than an arm’s length in front of Hulk wondering if this was too close. It was almost comical to be worried about personal space when you entered his room without permission on the basis of fucking his brains out.

Hulk’s hand rose out of the water and cupped your right breast in shameless desire. He looked to be studying your chest like he had never seen a pair before caressing them with a gentleness that betrayed his size. A sweet silence settled between you two as you enjoyed his soft touch but at some point, you started getting tired of the sweetness.

You wanted to get fucked through the floor.

In a move of pure seduction, you slipped a hand under the water and straight to his cock stroking smoothly thanks to the lubrication of the pool.

Your fingers brushed the fat mushroom head as you took in his size. The head was hot even under the warm water and you struggled to wrap your fingers around it. His entire length measured from the tips of your fingers to the end of your elbow and then some. So many nights of struggling because you were a giantess. Nights of accidentally killing men unlucky enough to get sucked up into you during sex and men too scared to partake after hearing the rumors. It all lead to this glorious moment.

Hulk took his cue from you and slipped his fingers between your legs as well just discovering and exploring to his heart's content.

“You a virgin big guy?” You purred squeezing his length lightly.

“Maybe.” He huffed, half in annoyance half in arousal.

You giggled wrapping your other hand around what you couldn’t reach with the other hand still pumping him but adding a little twist to your wrist.

“Will you let me take care of you?”

He nodded and that was all you needed. Apparently, this was all he needed before standing in the deep pool. The water glistened and rolled off his muscles and down his happy trail to the deep v- cut of his pelvis exposing him in all his glory.

Your mouth started watering at the sight of his curved length. It was even better than anything your imagination could conjure up.

His weeping cock head spread precum along your cheek and lips as Hulk prodded your mouth open with his member.

“You suck me.”

You were granted a few seconds to take in all his splendor up close before his swollen head was banging on the back of your throat in inexperienced thrusts. Even with your hands gripping his hips in a death drip didn’t slow him down and you doubted much would deter him from the warmth of your throat.

You could feel your vision going spotty the darkness calling you and you flailed in panic a little. Hulk pulled himself from your throat and you gasped and coughed for breath ignoring the way the mix of saliva and precum dripped down your chin and throat obscenely.

Hulk lifted you over his shoulder and lumbered out of the pool to his trophy bed smacking your ass once and then dumping you on the bed saturating the sheets from your soaking wet bodies.

Unceremoniously he split your legs wide and ground his bloated cock tip into you bumping the nose of your clit and sliding back between your slick lips to your taint and back up again. Sawing back and forth in slow calculated movements.

Back and forth.

Back.

And.

Forth.

“We fuck now.”

He wasn’t even looking at your face but between your legs at his lewd movements. It was like you weren’t even in the room.

Yes please.” You squealed gripping the sheets in anticipation.

He moved then splitting your vaginal opening bigger than your fist. The stretching burned like nothing you had ever felt and you wondered in the back of your mind if this was how giving birth felt.

“Please wait…...Too big… Please….”

He ignored you and continued to push past any tight resistance living up to his title as champion and hit the opening of your cervix. You cried out as his thick girth split you immediately regretting ever approaching Hulk. Thankfully Hulk had enough thought to stop when he hit the doors of your cervix.

His large green hands gripped your hips and overlapped around your smaller figure. You might have been bigger than everyone you came across but Hulk made you feel small this very moment.

The room filled with the wet squelching sounds of your pussy getting hammered all you could do was spread your legs and hold on. You couldn’t keep up with his pace and the fact that it was bringing equal parts pain and pleasure confused you yet brought a feral arousal like you had never known.

“Gods, slow the fuck down!”

Your flailing was starting to annoy Hulk so he pinned you down with his arms and whole body pressing you into the mattress breathing into the side of your face.

“Don’t fight it.”

Babbling in delirium as he worked you over on his shaft like a cock sleeve with reckless abandon. Again the fat tip of his cock was banging at the doors of your cervix nudging you open with every hit. You were helpless to stop him from taking what he wanted.

You could feel the beginning strings of your orgasm knotting up and building. You couldn’t even form words. Falling over the edge with a sob you could feel yourself releasing liquid all over the bed.

Holy shit you just pissed yourself.

You didn’t even have a chance to catch your breath or feel embarrassed as you continued to piss all over the Hulk yet this did nothing to deter him. In fact, it incensed his primal urges and made him go harder smacking into you at a bruising pace as he chased his climax.

Another orgasm hit you by surprise making your vision spotty. Your tightening walls were all the Hulk needed to slam past the opening of your cervix filling it with the swollen crown of his cock and continuing to pump into you sloppily as he came. Drooling into the sheets you faded into a blissed-out darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming to, the first thing you could sense was the wet squelching of your pussy still getting fucked. Unable to do anything but watch yourself get fucked in the reflection of the window. Fucking against the window so everyone can see. The Hulk growled possessively into your neck as he came into your stretched-out cervix with a groan.

“Mine…….Mine….”

[angelsndragons]

OC Meme: Ekaterine "Eko/Rook" Mercar

thank you @hyperions-light and @dissonantverses for throwing this onto my dash and @sandcastlekings for tagging me. let's do this.

GENERAL

Name: Ekaterine "Eko" Mercar

Alias(es): Rook

Gender: Female

Age: 40

Place of birth: Ventus, Tevinter

Spoken languages: Common tongue, Modern Tevene, and Early Modern Tevene. She's picked up some Qunlat through her years in the military.

Sexual orientation: Panromantic Ace.

Occupation: Leader of the Veilguard, Shadow Dragon HR, Calpernia the Viper's Left Hand, post game: Leader of the Veilguard, "Unofficial" Veilguard Liason to the Inquisition and the Tevinter Imperium

FAVORITE

Color: cooler reds and pinks

Entertainment: Turning off her brain and watching other people go at it about something extremely mundane. Tough, but doable.

Pastime: Fishing! Eko loves going out in a boat for a peaceful afternoon of fishing. She likes the focus and dedication of it but also finds it extremely relaxing. She doesn't typically keep what she catches but since joining the Veilguard, she'll save a fish or two for Assan.

Food: Lamb korma. She loves that dish so much.

Drink: Hot chocolate during cooler months, lemon chill-esque alcohols in the summer

Books: her favorites are speculative fiction in which all the magic of Thedas (including spirits, demons, and the fade) have never existed. She likes seeing what people can come up with as substitutions. Think reverse Urban Fantasy, speculating how a world without magic would have ever worked/the rise of various nations, etc

HAVE THEY

Passed university: passed the military academy with flying colors.

Had sex: yep.

Had sex in public: nope.

Gotten tattoos: nope.

Gotten piercings: tried piercing her horns once. didn't go well.

Had a broken heart: Yep. A boy she liked started the trend of 'ask out the ox and mock her when she says yes like can you believe that.'

Been in love: Yes, a financial officer in the military during her late 20s. He was sweet enough and they enjoyed their few years together but he wouldn't go against his family for her so it ended.

ARE THEY

A cuddler: YES

Scared easily: nope, she compartmentalizes a little too easily for that.

Jealous easily: Nope.

Trustworthy: incredibly variable but generally speaking, no. Eko can be counted on to do what she says but the hows and whys are probably not going to be to everyone's liking. She can be incredibly manipulative while making people like her manipulations. She's also disturbingly good at picking out pain points soooo yeah. I personally wouldn't trust her too much.

FAMILY

Sibling(s): None

Parents: Charon Mercar, a now high ranking general, and Agenoria Mercar, well respected instructor at the high military academy

Children: None pre-Veilguard, post Veilguard she has one adopted elven daughter and two biological children with Davrin within three years

Pets: None

I invite to play: @cursedskull-666

and everyone else who likes to do it.

[yuurei20]

Hello! I was wondering if clubs are mandatory for students and when club enrollment begins. Thank you for the wonderful content! :)

Hello hello! Thank you so much, you are too kind! ^^

For when club enrollment begins, it seems to be very early!

There seems to be a "Student Club Fair," during which the new students observe the various clubs and submit an application to join.

Ruggie has a line about the new students checking out the clubs "now that orientation's over," and Silver comments, "No sooner does orientation end than we must solicit our clubs. There isn't a moment's rest."

Riddle explains, "Club activities and electives have a tremendous impact on one's daily schedule; thus, it is most prudent to decide on them as soon as possible."

Silver and Riddle are both wearing their ceremonial robes for the Student Club Fair, but according to their dialogue it seems they actually changed into their robes specifically for the event, and it is not that that they went straight from orientation to clubs.

NRC's orientation takes place at night, so it seems that the student Club Fair might take place the following day, after classes? This is based on how we see Jack and Epel during the club fair as well, and they already know each other.

They are in the same home room, so it is possible that the timeline is something like "Orientation (night) -> first day of school -> Student Club Fair"?

While Sebek submits his application immediately after seeing Riddle ride Vorpal, there is another scene of Ace in a classroom and having trouble with choosing his club.

Deuce says, "The application deadline is tomorrow!", insinuating that they might have a little bit of time between the fair and when they need to decide what club they will join, though how long, exactly, might not be specified anywhere.

A tangentially related point: quitting clubs seems not unusual!

Both Lilia and Ruggie mention students quitting their respective clubs, so it seems that you are not forced to remain in your selected club forever once you have decided.

A Pomefiore student also talks about trying to get Epel and Rook kicked out of the Film Club (neither one of them are actually a member, though Vil calls them in for help), and about quitting himself.

While Ortho is something of a special case we do see him join the Film Club after the events of Book 6, which take place after February in-game and long after the Student Club Fair, so transferring into other clubs may be doable anytime during the year (Vargas also threatens to force the culture club students into sports clubs at an unspecified time of the year that is generally assumed to be early spring).

It is not impossible that Rook is another student who may have transferred clubs midway: during a monologue of his pining for Leona, Vil recommends that he join the Spelldrive Club.

Rook refuses, saying that he joined the Science Club in order to support Vil, but Vil and Rook were not yet acquainted at the beginning of their first year at NRC.

Vil says "Rook and I first spoke with one another a few months after we started school." It seems that Rook would have already chosen a club by then, and maybe transferred out of it later into the Science Club when he decided to devote himself to Vil?

An argument against this theory would be: this is Rook. It is entirely possible that he enrolled in the Science Club from day one with the intention of being of use to Vil in the future, and simply bided his time until making his move (a theory supported by a line he has to Trey about being "someone who's been in the Science Club with you since enrolling").

On the subject of whether or not clubs are obligatory, I received a similar ask a little while ago and came to the conclusion of "clubs might be mandatory, maybe, but maybe not?," which I fear might not be very helpful :<

But as of this post I have not been able to find a line similar to "it is required that every student at NRC join a club," so I don't think we can be sure either way at the moment, though this may change in the future!

[bruxadehekate]

Recently i came across a beautiful game that had me questioning a few things. When learning tarot i always stuck heavily with books' and instructions' help, a considerable amount instead of pure intuition (but of course there were some, or else it wouldn't be tarot). Other than that, i also kept constantly in mind that tarot was purely therapeutical and guidance rather than fortune telling, as many wiser Witches taught me.

This game however, showed me a completely different vision on how to read the cards, with very simple yet effective spreads and much more confident interpretations. I also have strong reasons to believe this is Hekate's idea.

TL;DR: I wanna try fortune telling instead of therapeutic tarot

Edit: i figure out some of my doubts and uncertainties, see reblogs!

Confidence, i think it's the keyword. When i started this blog, even if i wanted to stick with the guidance tips tarot i was taught, many people came to me asking things about their future and not much insights about themselves, and that made me so nervous because, obviously, i didn't want to make a wild, ambicious prediction and it be wrong, to disappoint the requester, nor did i want to bring the bad news. So to avoid it, i was the first one to bland it out and make it not a big deal. The grain of salt.

It is wise from a point of view, one's future is theirs to make their own, but constantly telling myself "I can't go too far" might have limited my own intuition power.

Of course a game is but a game, it is scripted and has the limitless of fiction, however i do firmly believe there are talented, gifted people out there that can predict the future through divination magic with precision unmatched (oh, the stories i heard), but it's something wlse entirely, much harder to believe i could be one of those.

Even if i am unfortunately not very constant with my tarot craft, because it doesn't pay my bills and all that, i do feel a strong connection with my decks and the things i learn through the little sessions and readings every now and then, therefore trying out a new thing could be doable

When im not in tune during a session, my cards kinda "refuse to work" until we fix the vibes, the question, etc, and when everything is aligned it flows with incredible accuracy and meaning. I never "predicted the future" per see, however many, dare i say most, of my readings sooner than later came to be true, the ones i had been close to watch it unroll, so it might be possible to channel that energy into something similar, bolder.

The more i think about it, the stronger is my feeling to dive into this possibility, because i know if that's something my decks are not okay with, they will give me the proper queues, leaving my on read, so back to insightful readings it is.

Just like i do with my hair, a little bit of experimentation will not hurt anybody

My idea is to go deeply into bold fortune telling, let my intuition go wild, align it with my current knowledge (and future, because that's never too much) and allow myself some creativity freedom, read the cards with my third eye and present the consultant with very different outcomes one might never have considered an option.

About Hekate's insight, this month i admit to have failed my duties more than other months, it got me a little sad, because it's partly due to work and rest routine that I'm terrible at organizing. But during one of my hunting sessions for games to relax, I came to find that game by paths i usually don't trail (navigation wise) and played the demo that instantly made me purchase the whole thing.

I have reasons to believe Hekate lead me to it, silently with a few odd clicks, just the way She initially lead me to tarot years back, with a simple instagram ad (an opportunity to take the first step, after many days of me pondering about it). The game, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, has a beautifully written script, nice game mechanics, pretty art and designs and wild interpretations of Witchcraft, a great piece of fictional entertainment watered with valuable pieces of basic information Witches should know about.

This totally wakened my senses, as i said, sadly not constant with tarot, i felt intrigued with the mechanics and possibilies, and after lots of research on the matter, my conclusion is yes, fortune telling could be possible for me, if im brave enough the flourish it.

Like the game protagonist, I'm a bit scared of what may come out of this, seen like i had a very turbulent past that made me insanely afraid of what the future holds (cough cough ptsd cough subject for another day), this can be a healthy way of helping deal with it.

I shall make a briefer post later, but my idea is to reopen tarot requests, making it explicit that this is a beta testing fortune telling kind of deal.

Although i feel strongly Hekate is the one once again showing me the way, i feel like gathering some additional sources to aid this possible journey, and read more into Apollo's devotes and their experience with clairvoyance is on my list, maybe i might be blessed with His dodgeball gift of prophecy red ball in the face, so if any of Apollo's fortune tellers, messengers or followers have any tips regarding prophetic matters I'd love to hear about it!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with news, thank you so much if you read until here, have a blessed week ✨

[whentherewerebicycles]

wow well it was very fun reading over almost ten months of journal entries about the baby. here are my takeaways:

it seems to help a lot in the early weeks if you can arrange to have a non-traumatic birth with an easy physical recovery lol. you should also ideally avoid having surgery that renders you unable to use your hands for two weeks when your baby is a week old if possible. i am so lucky that birth itself was easy but i do consider the hands to be a pregnancy/birth complication of sorts and hoo boy those first weeks were very difficult!!! but i had great support and was very well taken care of and that made it possible to weather everything and come out of it okay.

the first six weeks were the toughest sleepwise. by eight weeks he was doing longer stretches and he did his first full night's sleep (8 hours) at ten weeks. i'd also completely forgotten that the most challenging part of nighttime feedings was actually not waking up and going back to sleep but staying awake for the 30-40 min it took for him to finish a tiny bottle. i was VERY tired for the first two months. but also good to remember that it's doable and that the overarching trajectory moves reasonably steadily towards more sleep even if you have a lot of back and forth on the day to day/night to night level. i basically would not change anything about my approach to baby sleep except to just remind myself that patches of bad sleep FEEL like they'll last for the rest of your life but OBJECTIVELY are usually over within a week or so.

the single greatest gift you can give to a new parent is taking a night for them. my mom did it a bunch after birth and after my surgery when i couldn't lift anything (too many. she took too many nights and it was not healthy. but that's a different issue). but my sister also did three or four nights and M&A did a couple too scattered throughout the first six weeks and it's crazy how much getting one night of sleep improved my mood and helped me feel like i could Carry On with more nights of disrupted sleep.

i will NEVER pump again. the whole breastfeeding thing was wild... like it's just crazy how insanely stressed and emotional i felt about it and how hard i was working pumping for like an hour every four hours trying to boost my supply. like wtf!!!! the first six weeks of newborn life are going to be tough regardless but i can make it SO much easier on myself/my body by Just Saying No to pumping. owen is a formula baby and he is absolutely thriving.

babies just get better and better man... i have loved every phase but i now understand that the newborn phase is not really for me lol. the sleepy cuddles are sweet but they are just like, so obviously still gestating just outside of your body lol. beloved little potatoes. i remember having some guilt around two months because i was like ugh it's so boring to "play" with him does that mean i'm going to be a disengaged mom who doesn't enjoy spending time with my kid. and now that he's almost ten months i'm like oh no lol it is just a straight-up boring activity to dangle a toy over a newborn's head while they try to focus their eyes and keep falling asleep halfway through. this morning the baby and i played a game where he offered me his ring toy and i said THANK YOU SIR and then handed it back to him and said YOU'RE WELCOME SIR and then he handed it back to me and i said THANK YOU KINDLY SIR and then hid it behind my back and pretended it was lost, which made him crack up and start climbing all over me hooting like a little monkey trying to find his Treasured Object. he's just sooooo much more of a little person now. and i think it will feel quite different to do the newborn stage again knowing what's coming!!

it's kinda wild how consistent his personality has been. like he can do a lot more and i'd say he's quite a bit sillier with people he likes/knows than he was as a baby but his basic temperament seems to have just been there since like, week three lol. he's just a chill little dude. easygoing. VERY serious in new situations or with unfamiliar people or when encountering a previously uncatalogued texture. prone to grousing when he's displeased and can maintain that level of lowgrade kvetching for a long time but WILL ramp up to a howl if he feels that people aren't taking the mistreatment of precious little babies seriously enough. happy guy who loves mom, loves his mimi and grandpa, loves his aunts and uncles, loves hanging out by himself playing with his toys (ie studying them with intense focus as he gathers critical data for his next monograph), loves music, loves looking meditatively at trees, etc. a serious and gentle little soul with a great capacity for silliness with the people he loves.

apart from a few spikes of stress/guilt around specific things (breastfeeding, going back to work part-time when he was 6ish weeks old, feeling guilty about his flat spot, money stuff, worrying about whether it was bad parenting to post photos of him on instagram, introducing solids) i have done a pretty good job of sticking to my guns about not feeling parent guilt and instead choosing to trust that things will work out okay if the fundamentals (love and security) are there. and tbh that has been working out great for both of us so far. i have felt remarkably unstressed about parenting and remarkably sure that i am doing a good job being a loving parent to this amazing little person i brought into the world. and he is just thriving. living his best life every day. gosh it's just like!!! wow. i have a perfect kid and a beautiful life and i'm getting to parent alongside the friends i love most in the world with support from my wonderful family and my other friends. life is really good and i am really happy.

[amadeusgame]

Indie Assemble! (+ Updates)

First: exciting stuff! Amadeus is part of Excalibur's Indie Assemble, a Steam sale celebrating indie games all over the world, which you can check out right now here.

Second: below is an overview of last month's work to show that the game is on its way to done (exciting in its own way).

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I will keep this relatively short, because now that I am in the home stretch of actually building out the entire game in full—swapping placeholders, polish, and playtesting notwithstanding—I don't want to spend too much time writing about the process. I just want to get back to work on the game and finish.

The broad strokes of progress from last month are as follows.

Built 3 more scenes, including my favorite scene in Episode 1.

Implemented script and basic mechanics—the game is 100% playable from the start through these new scenes.

Finished 1 new detailed background image. We are well beyond the point where I want to share these, so you'll have to wait and see it. :)

Revised script to tighten the narrative.

Coded a new mechanic juuuuust for one single scene. I wanted to flex my Unity/C# muscles a little and I think this mechanic is very fun. Enjoy.

I've been building 3 new scenes a month for a few months now, and while some are more polished than others by the end of it, I've made significant progress and consistently met the benchmark. Based on this pace, the entire game will be built by the end of June. Two months until that major milestone is achieved.

In July, I will spend some time evaluating what specific, bare minimum requirements are needed to bring the game from "fully playable" to "shippable," and set my sights on those. I may be able to announce a timeline for release at that time, but I would prefer to wait until I am certain about what is doable.

I do want to say that I'm determined to avoid a scenario where I push back the game forever in the vain hope of making it perfect. If there is one thing I learned in grad school, it is how to prioritize what matters in the final stages of a project to get something out there. I obviously can't ship the game in its current state because it has far too many placeholders in the later scenes that aren't aesthetically or thematically consistent with the scenes from the demo. But I am already finding ways to reuse assets I have already made in effective ways to reduce the number of things I need to do between now and completion, and cut less important corners to focus my efforts on the essential things.

At this stage, a finished product will speak more than words. So I will get back to work. Thank you very much for your continued interest in this project.

Stay up-to-date here: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

[project-sekai-facts]

I don't think Emu will be rate up on White Day if we get a WxS event next month because regardless of if we get Rui5 or Emu6, Emu is almost guaranteed to be a 4*. I think the rate ups regardless of which event it ends up being will be Emu/Rui/insert VS here unless it's a lim. Unless they pull an immiscible discord/Resonant Town again, I feel An or Kohane/Ena/VBS Rin is a bit more likely; leaning a bit more towards An

yeah my one issue with the heavy vbs focus is that they're. not in japan. so story wise it's gonna be messy as fuck to justify that. with just one it's doable just like, do a B plot or whatever with vbs but having two cards dedicated to the bplot seems like they're asking for dissatisfied players. neither an or kohane can be the banner character so you can't make ena the bplot character instead either. but then again, this could honestly happen at this rate i really don't think they care anymore lmao. emu works for a 2* or 3* still.

i think kohane is more likely than an because vbs is probably going to be the may/june ex-wedding slot hakolim. mmj can go there but i don't think they should. that may hakolim will probably be an An banner which means 3 lims within 6 months and breaking the lim cap. if you put kohane on wday instead of an it fixes that problem (though it does cause problems with 4.5. everything causes problems with 4.5 actually but that's a different post). yk what lets just call it fair game between the two of them no matter what happens the schedule and distribution will be total bullshit.