#I don’t even know if this’ll get explained later in the game

[flygonscales]

I don’t like to swear but what the fuck mr. Navit?! What are you?????

[apompkwrites]

I just read your story, the one with Xiao and Albedo, its really good! I love it! Is it ok if you do the same thing but with Kaeya, Zhongli, Childe and Diluc version. I can see how excited these guys are since Kaeya first appeared is clapping his hand, the way Childe call Lumine 'Hey Girlie', Zhongli with how handsome he is especially his eyes and with Diluc how mysterious he is when he appeared out of nowhere

Feel free to do it if you're not busy or you can ignore this :3

reader impact || first meeting cont.

series masterlist characters: kaeya, diluc, childe genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: i’m glad you liked it! i’m having a lot of fun writing these so expect some more coming out :D i plan on doing more first meeting hcs and then branching off to other scenarios, so if there’s something specific, please request it! also, i’ve already done one for zhongli!

kaeya's playthrough -

he's more of a variety streamer, honestly.

most of his viewers watch him because of his carefree nature (as well as his looks).

obviously, he'd do a bunch of drinking streams whenever he could where he would just talk to his viewers about whatever came to mind.

during those streams, his viewers often try to ask him questions, which are only answered in vague statements.

his gaming streams are pretty rare compared to his chatting streams, but they're there nonetheless.

his viewers jump when they hear he's planning on playing genshin impact.

just neverending messages about a character they are convinced he will love.

he's so tempted to ask but decides not to, wanting to learn who this mystery character is on his own.

honestly, he was expecting you to appear way later in the story.

he's very interested in the looming threat of stormterror.

his character lands on the ground and he leans back to watch the cutscene play.

then he hears footsteps and sees his character look to someone offscreen.

this man practically LUNGES INTO HIS MONITOR WHEN THE CAMERA PANS UP TO YOU.

you walk in clapping at a calculated pace, which is when he leans forward and stares at your character model.

"i can't believe you have the power to stand up against that dragon... that said, are you a new ally... or a new storm?"

"oh, hun, i can be whatever you want me to be."

HE'S ALREADY FLIRTING WITH YOU PLEASE HIS CHAT IS IN HYSTERICS-

he knows his chat is freaking out, so he turns to the camera and sends his signature smirk.

"now i know why you guys wanted me to play this so bad."

"(name), kaeya, you've come at the right time. we must..."

"now now, don't forget to introduce us."

"oh... right. this is (name), our cavalry captain. these two are travelers from afar."

"ooh, they're a person in charge, too?"

HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING TO HIS CHAT BUT THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU DO TO HIM.

he genuinely likes you. like genuinely. he's fallen deep and he doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

if your costume has that long v-neck like his does...

hOO BOY HE'S THANKING EVERY DEVELOPER OF THIS GAME.

anyway, he's heard that there are characters you can only obtain throguh wishes, so he's kind of nervous to find out if that's the case with you.

he just really wants you in his party so y'all can be mysterious together.

"let me show you how the knights of favonius conquer our adversaries!"

"oh, yes. please do."

his viewers can and will make compilations of him flirting with you.

ngl, he's looking forward to those.

sometimes, your voice gets all quiet and he melts when he hears that.

he will pay to have voicelines of you flirting with him--

when he enters your trial domain, he will purposely avoid completing it just in case he doesn't get to keep you.

he sees some of his viewers talking about how you're a bad character and that the other characters are so much better.

too bad, they're banned now.

no (name) slander in his chat, thank you very much.

he loves your quips whenever he uses your elemental skill.

he loves you even more if those quips are puns based on your element.

finally, he's nearing the end of your domain. when that happens, he will slowly turn towards the camera and stare.

"if they aren't a permanent member on my team, this'll be the last stream of genshin."

"let's continue our adventure, shall we?"

obtained (name): a thinker in the knights of favonius with a somewhat exotic appearance.

"okay, so we'll continue streaming genshin soon."

he'll put you in the first slot of his party, moving his traveler character to the second.

his streams will always include him flirting with you, even if you don't reply.

diluc's playthrough -

his streams are mainly bartending based, so he likes mixing drinks on stream for his viewers.

he doesn't drink them, though. he gives them out to his friends and family once the stream is over.

it's pretty rare for him to play games but he'll do an occasional gaming stream if his friends and family don't want any drinks.

his chat always makes fun of him because he's a bartender that doesn't like the taste of alcohol.

he's very blunt, so he's not afraid to drop a game immediately if he isn't interested.

in fact, that's almost what he did with genshin.

it's not like the game is bad or anything, diluc just didn't care for it because of all the hype his chat shared.

he keeps playing, though, because someone promised he would really enjoy a character that comes up in the prologue.

granted, it's over an hour or so but it doesn't matter--

when he gets to the domain teaching him how to use cryo, he hates every minute of it.

he hates the character he's given and just wants to leave.

the demo character is one he doesn't really care for, especially because he's the type of person he dislikes coming to the bars he works at.

his chat is laughing at him when they reach the end because the cutscene continues with the character he hates.

he feels a bit better when he learns the abyss mage is in the domain because he gets to see and hear something that isn't the cryo character.

then he meets you.

you run into the domain out of nowhere, quickly defeating the abyss mage and tossing it towards the corner.

"knights of favonius... always so inefficient."

his chat goes insane when your character appears, especially because of how dumbfounded diluc looks.

he's known for not really emoting and it's the same case for this scene. however, his chat knows he is in love with your character.

he takes a few minutes when he's kicked out of the domain but he clears his throat and looks over at the camera.

"i'll be streaming this game again soon when the others don't want any drinks."

YOU SINGLEHANDEDLY SAVED THIS GAME FROM BEING TOSSED AWAY WITHIN A MINUTE OF APPEARING

THE POWER YOU HOLD OVER THIS MAN AND HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME--

cut to after he's stolen the lyre and is sent to the tavern.

he's a bit excited because he gets to visit mondstadt's tavern but then--

"master (name), this is this week's accounts."

"they're back."

HE'S SO NONCHALANT BUT WE ALL KNOW HE'S FREAKING OUT

he gets second-hand embarrassment when venti talks to you asking for the... least conspicuous table.

he's kinda sad when your character is suspicious of him, but he understands.

when the knights leave the tavern, he really wants venti to just shut up.

please you're embarrassing the man.

when he hears how you feel about him joining the knights, he is so willing to quit--

man just wants you to be proud of him and trust him :((

he's relieved to hear that you will help him and you don't hate him.

please give him validation--

childe's playthrough -

man is still rich he can do whatever he wants.

his gaming streams would definitely be pvp based games. honestly, just any game where he can fight someone, he'll play.

his chat also has a few little games they like to play together like guessing what the hell this man does to have so much money--

also his siblings crash in on his streams sometimes :D

those are pretty much the only times you'll see him be soft and not so competitive.

teucer likes crashing his streams to show off his plushies :))

anyway, genshin time!

he definitely tried to fight paimon the first time he loaded the game.

please expect lots of genshin stream from this guy because he needs to make his team deal the highest damage he can get.

also his wallet doesn't even have a dent in it despite all of the money he's spent on characters and weapons.

please sir what do you do for all that money

ok so onto your first meeting

he was really excited when the exuvia fell during the rite of descension because he thought he would get to fight whoever killed the great archon of liyue.

he really wanted to fight the millelith but then his chat convinced him to dodge them first.

one of his viewers explains that there's a character they know he'll like and he was very... intriguied to say the least.

he moves forward in his chair once his character is heard by the millelith, prepared to fight the various soldiers surrounding him.

"hang on, sweetheart. i've got this."

this man will squeal when you flip over the stairs in front of his character.

he doesn't know who you are and what you do but he knows for a fact that you are his new favorite character.

you take down all of the guards in two seconds, leaving him (and his in-game character) dumbfounded.

"come with me."

"o-okay..."

he's smitten.

he absolutely loves the way your character fights even if he met you about... a minute ago.

his siblings definitely come into his room to check on him because he's so quiet.

once he realizes you're a part of the harbingers, he's even more obsessed.

he hates the options the game gives him when he needs to respond because 2/3 of them are insulting you.

anyway he really likes listening to your voice.

he will give anything to hear you call him sweetheart again.

his chat informs him that the traveler he chose changed the nickname you give him, which makes him very happy.

when you send him off to talk to the other adepti, he's kind of disappointed he doesn't get to hang out with you.

but when he gets back to you...

"welcome back, sweetheart. how was your trip to jueyun karst?"

HE'S SOFT ALL OVER AGAIN PLEASE KEEP CALLING HIM SWEETHEART!!!

when he learns you're rich just like him... he gets all pouty. his chat, of course, wants to know why.

"... i want to be able to spoil her."

PLEASE HE'S SO IN LOVE WITH YOU <3

[tricksters-captain]

Benny Watts/The Queens Gambit imagines - From Pawn to Pen Part 3

AN: Okay so I know things are going a little slow paced at the moment but I promise things will start to pick up over the next few chapters. 

Overall Summary: You’re a young journalist for Chess Review, with a love for chess and a desire for knowledge. One day at a tournament, you come across the famous Benny Watts...

In this chapter: It’s the last day of the tournament and Benny feels bad about what happened the previous night 

(PART 1) (PART 2)

Pairing(s): Benny Watts x Fem!reader

Word Count: 3,493

Warnings: Some unwanted touching here at the beginning in italics, some drinking, none really

A hand glided up from your knee along your thigh. The fingers felt rough against your skin and your stomach twisted into a knot as the touch went further up your leg. You tried to move your leg away but his fingers dug into your skin keeping you there. 

“Don’t play hard to get now...” 

You gasped loudly as you shot up from your pillow. The cold air hit your lungs like a flood as you struggled to catch your breath. 

It was 5am. 

You were covered in sweat.

You stared into the darkness ahead of you, eyes wide open with any feeling of tiredness gone. 

Your hands shook as you reached for the light switch, turning it on before jumping out of your bed to open the curtains. 

The sun was barely rising outside. 

Your nightie clung to you awkwardly due to the sweat so you headed into the bathroom, stripping of it. 

You didn’t look in the mirror as you turned on the shower. You hated the way you looked after the dreams. You always looked like a ghost. 

Not that you had had the dreams for a while now. 

You took your time in the shower, you had brought your portable radio into the bathroom so you weren’t left alone with your own thoughts.

You hummed quietly to the songs that played on the early morning station; you closed your eyes and tried to picture that you were showering in your old apartment in France with Angelie making morning coffee and croissants in the kitchen.

It brought you some sense of calm. 

When you finished in the bathroom, the sun was rising. You took a moment to admire the colours in the sky before sitting down at your dresser to apply some make up and dry your hair. 

As your eyes found your reflection, you sighed. You reached across for one of your powders and a brush before turning the music up to stop thinking about the day ahead. 

It was early enough for you to be one of the first in the restaurant for breakfast and so you found yourself nibbling on bagel with some coffee in your other hand. 

It was the last day of the tournament. 

Benny Watts vs Victor Miesser. 

Once you grew tired of picking at the bagel you went ahead to the games room where only one table was set up ready for the final match in the afternoon. 

You looked down at the board, picking up the white queen which you knew would be Benny’s later. 

“Don’t be tampering with my chess pieces because I pissed you off last night.” 

“Little early for you, Mr Watts?” You didn’t even need to turn to know who had come in. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” He admitted, walking up beside you to look down at the board himself. “Found myself thinking what an ass move it was to just burst into somebody’s hotel room and start rummaging through their private belongings.” 

“Oh really?” You raised your eyebrows, smiling a little at his attempted apology. 

“Really.” Benny nodded, “So, I figured I’d find the girl I so rudely vexed and apologise.” Benny sent you a side glance which you returned.

“Apology accepted on the conditions that he doesn’t do it again and agrees to a photograph for the magazine.” You felt as if you should apologise too for the way you handled it the previous night but you fought against it, he was the one in the wrong after all. 

“Conditions accepted.” Benny held out his hand and you waited a second, smiling, before you took it. 

“Perfect.” You dug into your bag and pulled out your camera. “If you could sit down? Now would be the perfect time for a photograph since no one is around to distract you.”

“Distract me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Benny furrowed his eyebrows at you, chuckling as he sat himself down. 

You rolled your eyes at the man and decided not to answer as you checked the lighting for the photo. 

“I’m sure you’ve done plenty of shoots before so if you could just relax the shoulders a little and look at the camera as you sit beside the board.” You directed him as he shifted in his seat. 

“Like this?” Benny asked with a smirk as he rested his elbow on the table beside the board. 

You took the photo. 

“Now look down at the board like you’re focusing on a hard game.” You tried to ignore his playful tone as you photographed him. 

Benny switched to link his fingers below his chin and stare down at the board. 

“Great.” You stepped forward and lifted the brim of his hat slightly your with finger. Benny’s eyes looked up as you did. “Sorry.” You muttered before stepping away again. 

“One more if you don’t mind.” You asked as you picked up the queen. 

“If you just prop your feet up on the corner of the table and lean back into your chair.” You gestured to the table and Benny did as he was told. “Now, hold this and look at it like this.” 

You held the chess piece with your thumb and index finger above your head so it was tilted. Benny seemed to smirk again as he took the piece from you to copy the pose. 

You snapped a few more shots before allowing him to relax. 

“Thank you. It’s more likely I’ll get the first few pages if I have a decent photo to go with the piece.” You explained, tucking the camera away. 

“And here I thought I’d make the cover.” Benny stood up from his seat, straightening his jacket. 

“I can’t make any promises I’m afraid. This’ll be the biggest piece the magazine has allowed me to write yet.” You confessed, pulling out your notepad and pen. 

“You're telling me you left Paris of all places to write pity pieces and small town coverage for Chess Review?” Benny raised his eyebrows at you, seemingly surprised at your decision. 

“I’ll work my way up eventually. I always do.” You shrugged your shoulders, paying no mind to his judgement.

“I don’t doubt it.” Benny replied. 

“I saw you in Paris last year, you know.” You tried changing the topic onto him so you could try and get some more questions in for the interview. 

“Really?” Benny asked, 

“I mean I wasn’t paying too much attention to you since I was writing a headline piece on Borgov but I saw you. No one can stick out like sore thumb in aa chess tournament quite like Benny Watts.” You admitted. 

“I’ll try and take that as a compliment.” Benny laughed lightly as he fiddled with the top of the chair he was leaning on. 

“Well you are constantly praised for you twist on the ‘regular’ chess player with your style and your hair and your knife...” You couldn’t help but point to the holster on his hip. 

“What’s wrong with that?” He asked, looking down at his knife then back up at you.

“Nothing.” You shook your head. “I was wondering Mr Watts since I have you here now, we could finish off that interview?”

You watched Benny check his watch before taking a minute to decide. 

“Alright but only if we go someplace else. It’s too stuffy in here.” Benny agreed, pushing off the back of the chair and walking towards the exit. 

“Outside?” You suggested. 

You both walked side by side outside the hotel then down into some gardens where you found an old small concrete bench to perch on. 

“Shall we continue from where we started?” You asked, getting your prepared questions out. “Ready?”

“Ready.” 

“Mr Watts, you recently stated you were here because of Beth Harmon. When was it she first caught your eye as a potential competitor?” You asked, 

“I guess it was just like everyone else. Once it got out that she defeated Beltik at such a young age and at her very first tournament, I think she grabbed everyone’s eye in the chess world.” He admitted, looking out across the green as he spoke. 

“Do you believe she could beat you for your US title?” 

“I think we’ll have to see how it plays out when I finally get to play her.” Benny seemingly almost found the question amusing.

“Where are you playing next? Do you know?” You crossed off questions you’d already asked before as you spoke. 

“I try not to play too many opens nowadays but I like the practise. The US open will roll around again soon which I’ll be heading too. I tend to go to events where I’ve been invited or I feel like attending. It’s not necessarily planned.” Benny held out his arm, pushing straight line with hand to signal him looking into the future. 

“And what about Europe?” 

“I like playing in Europe. I get invited from time to time but the jet lag really gets me sometimes.” Benny started, “Off the record, how come I haven’t seen you in Paris before if you’d seen me?”

The question took you back for a moment as the flow was now interrupted. 

“There’s a lot of reporters in Paris, Mr Watts. It’s no surprise to me that you didn’t notice me.”

“It is to me.” Benny towards you, leaning on his hand with his finger on his chin.

“A girl can be easily hidden in a crowd full of men, Mr Watts.” You felt your heart start to race as Benny stared at you. 

“Anyway, back to the questions...” You tried to shake it off. “Is there anyone in your life at the moment, Mr Watts? Someone else you like to play chess with?” You almost cringed at the question but you knew the female readers would eat it up. 

“Are you asking for you or for the magazine?” Benny smirked. 

You sent him a look which only made him laugh. 

“No, there’s no one at the moment. Only a few of the guys in New York who like to play speed chess with me just to lose their money.” Benny’s joke made you roll your eyes but he could tell it was lighthearted. 

“And final question, Mr Watts, how does it feel being the undefeated champion in the United States?” 

“It feels great. But I’m looking forward to some new competition. You can only play Victor Miesser so many times.” Benny took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. His blond locks moved with his fingers and a small strand fell back down to his eye.

“Be careful what you wish for, Watts.” You let it slip out as you watched the man.

Benny started to laugh again. 

“I didn’t–––” You went to apologise when he cut you short. 

“––It’s true. One day someone will probably beat me.” 

You closed your notepad and tucked your pen away as you nodded your head, not knowing how else to respond. 

“What are you doing after the tournament?” Benny asked you. 

“I’ll probably stay here in the hotel for a couple of days, get the final draft written then typed up then sent off to the magazine along with the photos. By then they should have another spot for me to travel to and if not then I’ll return to my flat in Massachusetts. My recent tenant just moved out so I actually could stay there for once.” You explained, hooking the hair out of your face as the wind picked up. 

“Massachusetts?” Benny cocked his eyebrow. 

“Yeah. I bought the flat just before I decided to leave the US, rented it out during the years I was in Paris. I had someone new living there for the past 5 months but they recently moved out. I’m never usually there so...”

“Why Massachusetts though?” Benny folded his arms over his chest and crossed his ankles as he leant back.

“My Mom grew up in Greenfield, Massachusetts. She always loved the countryside, the forests when it was fall were her favourite anywhere we went really. I live in Boston though, Greenfield was a bit too small town for me.” You explained, smiling as a memory resurfaced of your mother diving into a pile of yellow, auburn and brown leaves. 

“You know Boston isn’t that far from New York. If you change your mind about that chess game, I don’t hate the idea of company?” Benny suggested, his eyes searching your face for an answer. 

“I don’t think so, Benny.” You rose from the bench and smiled down at the man. 

Benny smirked at the use of his name instead of ‘Mr Watts’. 

“Good luck for this afternoon. Perhaps I’ll see you at another tournament soon.” You dismissed yourself before Benny could try and persuade you to come to New York with him. 

You spent the rest of the morning sorting your notes together and clearing up your hotel room before the afternoon game went ahead. 

You had taken your film to be developed whilst you were watching the game so it’d be ready in the evening.

You watched Benny dominate Miesser in less than 20 moves and then you watched Miesser strut off in a strop. Another loss to the Benny Watts.

You were amused by the fact that Benny didn’t even seem to break a sweat or show a single crease in his forehead. He really did find it all too easy, didn’t he?

You applauded with the rest of the onlookers before disappearing to take your notes on the game upstairs to write it up again in short form so the readers could see the game through the piece. 

You went ahead to pick up the prints before dinner and you were impressed with your own photography skills. 

Benny was extremely photogenic there was no lie in that and you couldn’t help but admire the photographs due to your own skill and his attractiveness. 

You put the photos up in your room along with the pages you had before heading for some food. 

You were famished and you knew the restaurant would be quieter due to the tournament ending that day. 

“Miss (Y/L/N)?” One of the hosts approached you as you neared the restaurant entrance. 

“Yes?” You replied. 

“Mr Benny Watts has requested you join him for dinner.” He guided his hand towards one of the back tables where Benny was sat alone for once.

You were hesitant to join him but once he had spotted you there was no turning back. 

“Mr Watts?” You greeted him, still confused by his invitation. 

“(Y/n).” He stood when you approached the table which was something you hadn’t expected him to do. “I felt like my apology earlier wasn’t exactly a great one so I figured dinner would be a good alternative.” 

“You really didn’t have to...” You started, sitting down opposite him. 

“How’s the article coming along?” He ignored your objections as he too sat back down.

“Fine.” You stated. 

“Just fine?” Benny smirked, looking up at you from the menu in front of him. 

“Yes.” You said as you picked up your own. 

There was a silence. 

“How old were you when you first played Chess?” Benny asked out of the blue. 

“Five.” You told him. “I wouldn’t say I was any good. My father taught me but I know I first picked up the pieces when I was five.” 

“And how old were you when you decided you weren’t good enough?” Benny’s words felt like ice to your warm cheek.

“Seventeen.” You told him honestly. 

“Seventeen.” Benny repeated what you had said. “Seventeen is awfully young to be deciding you weren’t good enough.” 

“I had been playing years by then–––”

“––It sounds like you gave up to early.” Benny folded his hands together as he placed his elbows on the table. 

“Are we going to discuss my playing chess all evening or shall I just eat elsewhere?” You were tired of the constant questions. This man didn’t know you. You didn’t need to explain yourself to him. 

“Sorry.” Benny held his hands out almost in surrender. “So, Boston?”

“Or discuss me being close enough to visit New York to play chess with you.”

Benny chuckled quietly. 

“What is it about me, Benny Watts?” You asked him honestly. Why was he so interested in your chess playing after one weekend of knowing each other?

“I don’t know.” Benny confessed, “Curiosity, I guess.”

“Well, Mr Watts...” You sipped on the cocktail just put in front of you, “...Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Maybe it’s the fact you’re one of the first girl reporters I’ve seen cover Chess before.”

“I am the only one employed at Chess Review.” You didn’t know why you told him that but you did. “Journalism is a more cut throat industry than you’d expect, Mr Watts.”

“I could say the same thing about Chess but being a reporter you already know that.” Benny leant back in his chair now, waving over a waiter so you could finally order some food.

“I know too well.” You chuckled weakly. 

You both ordered some food and you let Benny talk about himself which he did with ease. 

He mainly spoke about Chess openings, ones he favoured, ones he disliked, who he had read recently and what changes he had made to his play over the past couple tournaments. 

You were thankful he didn’t try interrogating you again.

After you finished eating you left the restaurant together. 

“Me and some others who are still here for the night are gonna have a few beers and play some speed chess, wanna join?” Benny asked, pointing behind him to the bar area. 

You went to open your mouth when Benny stopped you. 

“And before you say anything, no you don’t have to play, you can just watch.” 

“Tempting.” You admitted. 

“Then say yes?” Benny urged you, already taking a step backwards towards the bar. 

“Are you always this pushy, Benny?” You couldn’t help but let a smile cross your lips. 

“Uh, yep.” Benny bit down on lower lip, his hands on his hips as he answered.

“One drink.” You gave in, following the man into bar where a table of speed chess was already being played. 

When Benny approached the table, one of the seats freed up for him and Benny offered you a seat beside the table so you could spectate. 

You ordered yourself a drink and took it with you to the table so you could drink and watch. 

You were immediately mesmerised by the speed the players could go and within mere minutes Benny had won his first round, taking five dollars off his opponent. 

“You know, Benny, you might want to take it easy or people won’t actually want to play you anymore.” You told him with a smirk on your face that made him smile. 

You stayed longer than you expected to. One drink turned into three or four and it was late by the time Benny ran out of opponents. 

Benny walked with you to the elevator then up to the floor you were both on. 

You were tired and the alcohol had given you a warm buzz. You leant against the wall of the elevator with your eyes closed and a sleep smile on your face. 

“Come on, it’s our floor.” Benny held out his arm and you wrapped your hand around his bicep to help you out of the elevator.

He walked you up to your hotel room door and you found your key to go inside.

“Night Benny.” You murmured as you stepped into your room. 

Benny leant in the door way, his hand gripping the pane above him as he watched you walk over to your bed. 

“Goodnight Miss (Y/L/N).” And with that, he leant in to take the doorknob and closed the door. 

When you woke up in the morning you weren’t in your nightie but your underwear. You must've just stripped last night because you were so tired. 

You heard a knock on your door but you groaned and rolled over onto your stomach. Covering your head with your pillow. 

There was another knock. 

You waited a second, gaining the energy to stand. 

You slid on your robe and trudged over to the door. 

You opened it to see no one outside but down by your feet was a stack of three books with a note on top of them. 

You picked them up and opened the folded bit of paper. 

I’m going back to New York. Read these then call me. – B.W.

You looked through the books he had given you and the one right on the top was his own. You shook your head smiling down at the boy on the cover. 

You peered forward, looking down the corridor to see no one but the housekeepers. 

You stepped back inside and reread the note.

Call me – B.W. 

(PART 4 HERE)

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[atlafan]

A Case of the Giggles - One Shot

a/n: I saw someone send someone else an ask about how they wished more people wrote about laughing or giggling during sex, and I got inspired. Enjoy! 

Words: 3K

Warnings: Fluff and Smut! 

Y/N had a problem with giggling, especially when she was nervous. She’s been like this her entire life, and she’s just accepted it. Sometimes she would have to explain to people, especially at work, that she has a nervous laugh, and that it really didn’t mean she was being a goof. Her current employer thought it was hilarious that she even mentioned it in her interview. She appreciated the honesty. It’s a good thing she didn’t like to gamble because her giggle would give her away.

Her boyfriend, Harry, thought it was the cutest thing in the world. When they first met at a mutual friend’s birthday party, she giggled when he shook her hand.

“Usually I have to work a little harder to make someone laugh.” He said, and winked at her, which made her giggle even more. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Harry.”

“I’m Y/N.” She let go of his hand and tried to take a deep breath. “You and Chris work together, right?”

“Yeah, we’re office neighbors. How do you know him?”

“Childhood friends.”

“Ah, well, lucky him.” He smiled, and of course, she giggled again. He looked at her, almost as if to wonder if she really thought he was that funny.

“I’m so sorry, I…” She giggled. “I have this thing where I laugh if I’m nervous.”

“Oh!” He looked around all the other people at the bar mingling, and dancing, celebrating their friend. “I’ve made you nervous?” He sounded sort of concerned.

“Very.” She giggled.

“I’m so sorry, do you want me to-“ He stared to move away from her.

“No!” She grabbed his wrist. “It’s me, not you. You’re just, um, very handsome…” She blushed, holding back her giggle as best she could.

That was enough for Harry. He talked with her the entire night, and got her number before they parted ways. He thought maybe the giggle would fade, but on their first few dates she found it difficult not to feel nervous around him. He thought it was cute. He sort of felt bad that she had this tell, he at least could hide how nervous he felt. He liked that it made her a little more blunt about how she was feeling.

The first time he kissed her, he had taken her out to the beach for a walk at sunset. He really wanted it to be romantic. It was their third date. Their toes were in the warm sand, his arm was around her as they both looked out at the sunset. He tilted her chin up towards him, and he leaned in. She could barely get through it. She laughed so hard she cried, and she was incredibly embarrassed. Harry assured her it was fine, and he even laughed a little too.

“I ruined it, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t, just makes it more memorable. I wish you didn’t feel so nervous around me.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s not a bad nervous, it’s like butterflies, the good kind. I really like you.”

“I really like you too.”

A couple of weeks and many more dates later, they made things official. Harry didn’t like playing games, and neither did Y/N, so they were both happy to be on the same page. She giggled less when they kissed, she felt so comfortable with Harry now. She still felt butterflies, but she was able to control her impulse a little more. Because he knew she would easily get nervous, though, they took the physical side of things a little slower. One of the first times they really made out, she wanted to kill herself. She just couldn’t get it together when he started to kiss on her neck. She was straddling him, rolling her hips on him, doing well, and then he started to kiss down her jaw and just under her earlobe.

“Should I stop?” He whispered as he moved some hair away from her face.

“No, it feels good…I’m sorry.” She hid her face in his shoulder. “I’m such a spaz.”

“You’re not, babe.”

“But I always ruin the moment.” She pouted.

“Do you see a speech therapist or, like, any type of therapist? Do you know why you laugh when you get nervous?”

“It’s been like this since I was a kid, and yeah, I do see someone. I mostly just warn people that I do it. I don’t know if anything happened to me…there’s really no medication I can take…”

“It doesn’t bother me, I honestly think it’s adorable.”

“But it’s so frustrating.”

“You don’t do it as much when we’re just kissing now, we just need to work on it.”

“Okay, thanks, Harry.”

She smiled and pecked his lips. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He was right, it just took a little bit of time, and she didn’t giggle as much while they were making out or groping each other. She would mostly just smile against him, and he loved it. As long as she was having a good time with him, he didn’t really care if she needed to stop to have a giggle.

When it came time to get a tad more intimate, Y/N was feeling really proud of herself. She and Harry were making out on his couch one evening after a dinner date, she had unbuttoned his shirt to kiss down his stomach, and her hands had roamed down to his belt buckle.

“Is this okay?” She asked.

“Course, baby, go for it.” He smiled and she smiled back.

She bit her bottom lip as she undid his pants. She reached her hand inside his pants to palm him at first. She listened to how his breath hitched, feeling good about the way he was reacting to her touch. She was in the zone ready to go. She leaned up to kiss him while she reached inside his boxers to take him fully out. It was when she looked down at his full, hard length when she started giggling, which turned into a full laugh. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, she felt terrible, especially when she saw him growing softer.

“No, please!” She gripped him. “I’m so sorry!” She kept giggling.

“Y/N, Y/N!” He snatched her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Please, try to take a breath.”

She does her best to slow her breathing, but every time she looked down she had to bite back a giggle.

“Just, maybe don’t look at it?’ He suggested.

“I’m so sorry, I’m not laughing because anything’s wrong, it’s just so big and it took me by surprise is all. I really want to blow you, I just got a little nervous because I’m not sure how it’s supposed to fit down my throat.” Her cheeks were red from embarrassment, and her eyes were a little red from the tears that had formed from her laughter.

“No pressure, babe, just take what you can…I know it’s a lot.”

“I may keep my eyes closed…”

“Or just look at me…I sort of like the eye contact.” He blushed.

“Oh, Harry, I wouldn’t be able to keep it together if I looked up and saw you looking at me, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, uh, just try it your way then. It’ll still feel good.” He smiled reassuringly and she got to work.

She closed her eyes as she got her tongue on his tip. She worked over his slit before getting her mouth around him. She pumped what she couldn’t fit in her mouth. His head rolled back as she worked on him. It was a good blow job.

Y/N did a lot for Harry, and he desperately wanted to return the favor, but she just wasn’t ready. She was petrified of ruining the moment. He just wanted to make her feel good. They had been seeing each other for a few months now, he was in love with her, and he wanted to tell her, show her. So, Harry invited her out to his cabin by the lake for a weekend away. She was incredibly excited to have a long weekend away with her man. Things were going so well, her relationships never went this well. Most guys got annoyed with her giggling. Harry was so cool about it!

“Got everything?” He asks on the way up.

“Mhm, double checked my packing list.” She rests her hand on his as he drives. “This’ll be great, babe. Gonna put that new bathing suit I showed you to good use.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see you wear it.” He kisses her hand. “We’ll have our own little private beach too. I rented a boat for the weekend, we can have a little picnic on the lake.”

“You’re so romantic, I love you.” She let it slip, and then she bursts into laughter, clasping a hand over her mouth. Harry slowly pulls over, and parks the car. “What are you doing?! We’re on the highway.”

“What did you just say?” He turns his body to look at her, squeezing her hand.

“I…I said I love you, Harry.”

Just as she’s about to start laughing again, he cups her face and brings her in for a kiss. It’s tender, but needy. He sucks on her bottom lip before letting her go.

“I love you too.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do!” He laughs. “Was the whole point of bringing you up here, I was gonna tell you this weekend.”

“Great, another thing I ruined.” She pouts.

“No! No, babe, this was perfect. Takes all the pressure off now, I swear.”

“Okay.” She smiles.

He kisses her again before pulling back onto the road. He was right, it did take a lot of the pressure off. They each must have said it five more times on the car ride alone. He couldn’t get enough of it. They both get everything into the cabin, and then he shows her around. She uses the bathroom to freshen up, and then they spend the evening eating food off the grill, and cuddling by a small fire. They were curled up in a blanket looking up at the stars.

“Wanna head in?” He asks her.

“Yeah, that bed looks really comfortable.”

“It is.”

They hold hands as they walk inside. They both sit down on the bed and start kissing. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d be spending the night together, but Harry hoped it would be the first time she’d let him travel a little farther south. She had gotten used to him feeling her breasts, she liked the way he would knead them and tweak her nipples. She even made it through him sucking on them, but that took a bit for her to work up to.

His tongue was in her mouth and she couldn’t help but moan into him. She tugs at the hem of his shirt, and he breaks the kiss to get it off.

“Yours too?” He asks, just to make sure.

“Mhm.” She smiles and takes her shirt off. Her bra was cute, a lacey black number.

“This is so cute, baby.” He pouts. “Did you buy it for me?”

“I saw it while I was shopping for that bathing suit you can’t wait for me to wear.” She giggles.

“Is it part of, um, a matching set?”

“It is.” She giggles again. “Would you like to see?”

“God, yes.”

She stands up and undoes her pants. She lets them drop to the floor. His eyes gaze at her cheeky, lace, black underwear. She turns around in a circle so he can catch the curve of her bum. She looks down at him, and straddles his lap.

“What do you think?”

“You’re so beautiful.”

She cups his jaw and kisses him. She rolls her hips down on him and he groans against her.

“Will you let me make you feel good tonight?”

She blushes and bites her bottom lip harshly to stifle her giggle. She would not ruin the moment tonight. She takes a deep breath and nods her head yes. He lifts her up and lays her on the bed. He hovers over her and kisses on her neck, and down to the plushy parts of her breasts that were spilling out of the top of her bra. He’d get it off her later, he had more important things to do. He kisses down her stomach, and he can feel her tense up underneath him. He looks up at her, and she sends him a smile. He was surprised at how well she was doing.  He thought too soon, though, because when he started to kiss on one of her hips, a giggle broke out.

“Sensitive spot, keep going.” She smiles.

“So, I can take these off?”

“Mhm.” Her cheeks were even more red now. He felt terrible that he was doing this to her, but at the same time it was nice to know how much of an effect he had.

He hooks his fingers into her panties and drags them down her legs, tossing them aside. Her knees close quickly, and he looks at her.

“Babe.”

“Sorry.” She takes a deep breath. “You sure you want to? I could just bl-“

“Nope, sorry, tonight’s about you. Wanna show you how much I love you, Y/N.”

She starts giggling, but is able to control it as she opens her legs for him. She wanted this just as much, she just needed to calm down.

“Wanna suck on my fingers so they’re nice and wet for you?”

She nods and opens her mouth for him. She licks and sucks around his middle and index fingers. She smirked at him as she did it, and he just looked at her adoringly. He loved his baby girl so much. He retracts his fingers from her mouth and gently slides them up and down her slit. He rubs them around her folds, and instead of a laugh or a giggle like he was expecting, she lets out soft moans and whimpers. He uses his thumbs to spread her apart further so he can properly see her clit. He rubs circles into it and watches her face. Her mouth was open and her head was rolled back into the pillow.

He adjusts himself so he’s laying on his stomach before her. His fingers play around her center as he leans in. Just as he gets his tongue on her, she bursts out laughing. He looks up at her and sees her looking down at him.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t know you were going to do that.” She giggles.

“What did you think I was doing down here?” He chuckles.

“I don’t know, I thought you were just going to finger me or something!” She laughs, tears in her eyes now. “I’m fine, I’m fine, go ahead.”

He smiles and shakes his head. He tries to flick his tongue on her clit, but she bursts out laughing again. Harry never got annoyed with her, but right now he just wished she could clam down.

“Just ignore me.” She says. “I’ll be able to get a grip, I’m sure of it.”

Harry takes a deep breath and tries to lick her through her giggles, she even bites down on her forearm to try to stifle her stupid laughter. She found herself having a full on fit, and she bursts into tears. Harry sits up to look at her. Now he really felt terrible.

“Hey.” He reaches to wipe her tears away. “It’s alright, we don’t have to do this tonight.”

“But I want you so bad! This is so frustrating, I bet it would feel really good.” She sniffles.

“You weren’t nervous when you thought I was just going to finger you. Maybe I could try that first to relax you, and then try my tongue again.”

“What’s the use? I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to dump me for some girl you could easily do these things with.” She pouts and wipes her eyes.

“Baby, don’t say stuff like that. I love you, I meant it when I said it. You’re worth it, you’re more than worth it. I can’t even think about wanting to be with anyone else.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” He kisses her lips and she pulls him close to her.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. Let’s just have fun, yeah? This is supposed to be a good time. No pressure.”

“I really do want you to fuck me.”

“I have to prep you first, babe.” He kisses on her neck as his hand drags back now between her thighs. He slowly works his middle finger inside her. “How’s that?” He could tell she was doing better from the way she was sinking into the bed.

“Good.”

He works another finger into her and curls them up as he pumps them in and out. Her head rolls back again as he sucks on one of her nipples. He keeps her distracted with his skilled fingers as he kisses down her body again. He carefully wraps his mouth around her clit and sucks. Before she can really laugh or giggle, her throat gets caught in a moan. She pushes herself up on her elbows to look at him better. She was amazed by him, and what he was doing felt so good.

“Fuck, Harry!”

His eyes snap up to hers. She never really used words when they would do things like this. She’d moan and whimper, but she’s never said his name like that before. Harry loved talking dirty, but he kept it to a minimum because he just figured it would make her too nervous, and then she’d feel bad for giggling. He smirks at her as he laps around at her clit, his fingers still working wonders inside her.

“Oh my god, you’re gonna make come, ugh!” She throws her head back and grinds her hips up towards him.

He found himself pressing his lower half into the mattress. He had never seen her like this, and it was doing something to him. She moans his name loudly as she comes to her release, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. He crawls back up her body so he’s hovering over her face.

“You did so well.” He kisses her. “I’m so proud of you.”

“It felt so good.” She kisses him and wraps her arms around his neck. “Please, fuck me, Harry.”

They had already discussed birth control and everything, and he trusted that she took her pill every day, so there was really no need for a condom. He could always pull out if she wanted him to. He lines himself up with her, and slowly starts to push inside. Her nails dig into his shoulders as he continues to go in inch by inch.

“Goddammit, you’re so tight.” He groans. She bites her bottom lip and tries to breathe. “You feel so fucking good.” He says into her ear as he starts to move.

“I’m…I’m…” She starts giggling. “I’m so wet.” She bursts into laughter and so does he. He rocks in and out of her as they both laugh. “Sorry, I was trying to say something sexy, but…”

“It was plenty sexy.” He kisses on her neck. “And you are really wet.” He nibbles on her earlobe and she grits her teeth.

He was really stretching her out and it felt amazing. She wraps her legs around his waist, digging her heels into his ass. He kneads one of her breasts and it causes her to moan out again. Everything felt sensitive, she couldn’t take it anymore. His tip was hitting her g-spot in the most perfect way. She does something that surprises him. One of her hands slides up, and gently grips his throat. Her eyes were screwed shut, and he could tell from the way she was tightening around his dick that she was close.

“Oh, fuck!” She cries out as she comes around his cock. Her grips on his throat tightens as she rides it out.

His eyes roll into the back of his head, and he pulls out quickly to come on her stomach. He tries to catch his breath, but her hand is still on him. She was too busy looking at the come on her belly to notice.

“Babe.” He says weakly, and puts his hand over hers.

“Oh!” She giggles. “Sorry.” She lets go of him.

“No, that’s okay.” He leans in and kisses her cheek. “Let me get something to clean you up, be right back.”

She lays there waiting for him, and he comes back swiftly with a towel to clean her up. He tosses it to the floor and hops back on to the bed. He pulls her close to him, covering face with kisses. It makes her giggle, but not in a nervous way. It was genuine. She rolls onto her side and props herself up on her elbow.

“How do you feel?” He asks, rubbing at her side.

“Really good, that was fun.” She smiles. “Sorry if my giggles got in the way.”

“You don’t need to keep apologizing, I like laughing with you. You’re contagious.”

“But…doesn’t it take away from the passion?”

“Not really.” He shrugs. “Sex doesn’t need to be so serious, it’s fun, people should laugh more when they fuck.” He yanks her closer to him and buries his face in her chest. She plays with his hair as he nestles in. He plants kisses on her and she loves it. “Can’t get enough of you.” He mumbles and then looks up at her. “M’really happy, Y/N.”

“Me too.” She kisses his forehead and his eyes flutter closed.

She wondered if she’d get a chance to wear her bathing suit and go on the boat as he promised, or if they’d end up staying in the bed the entire weekend. She was spending time with her boyfriend, who loved every inch of her, inside and out, so it didn’t really matter with either way.

[attemptinghaikyuu]

Fake Dating: Sugawara

A/n: I’m not sure if I made him chaotic enough, but we can hope~

G/n reader

Sugawara Koushi

Being best friends with Asahi, you end up being at volleyball practice an unnecessary amount

You’re not part of the club, but at this point you might as well be

You and Asahi just kinda drag each other everywhere??

During your time at the club you become friends with the rest of the third years

It’s a tight knit group

You always eat lunch together, and during this time you notice that most other students avoid your general area

Which makes sense, y’all get pretty loud

Daichi’s yelling about the first years needing to work together, Asahi’s trying to not get in the way, Kiyoko’s just chillin, and you and Suga are laughing at it while simultaneously poking fun at Daichi

You make him even madder then he was to start with, and now you’re both regretting it

Suga and you are definitely the most childish in your group

At least that’s what Daichi says, but pffft, what does he know??

It’s not like you both snuck out at night to grab ingredients for a cake for the volleyball team once... and then made it spicy as a prank....

Definitely didn’t do that😬

Your similar interests in causing messes help cement your friendship

But you both have your own ways of cheering people up and that’s how you first genuinely connected and became friends

Being besties with Asahi means needing to comfort him on the daily, not that you mind <3

Being there for Asahi makes you happy, you give him hugs when he needs them and joke about the aces on the other teams not being able to match Asahi’s strength

Suga’s way of cheering others up are hits of love

A bonk to the head and a few words of reassurance to get his friends and teammates feeling better is his go to

Sometimes you team up to encourage someone who’s really down or nervous

By the time you’re both done the person has so much confidence, they probably think they could receive a ball (cough, Hinata, cough)

There’s also the rare occasion where you both turn to encouraging each other

It almost always turns into a competition of who can make the other feel better

These encouragement battles have the whole team gathering around to see who wins

The volleyball team also have to pull you both apart after you start aggressively caring for one another a little too much

It’s a friendship you can’t imagine being without, one where you can go to one another when somethings wrong

You usually go to Asahi when you have a problem though

However, the thing currently plaguing you is something you need Sugawara’s help in

It’s surprisingly easy to explain what’s going on and how you plan on handling it

He straight up agrees because he’s thinking this’ll be free entertainment and he’s pretty sure this will work out for you

Your idea is to gouge your best friends reaction to you dating someone because maybe you have a small crush 👉👈

Okay sO ITS HUGE AND YOU WANT TO SMOOCH ASAHI

So you’re gonna find out if he feels the same through the only idea without you confessing best idea ever conceived

You’re actually really nervous and sweaty when you see Suga before practice at the time you agreed on to tell Asahi

Suga’s smiling and seems relatively relaxed (he’s panicking on the inside, he doesn’t know what he’s doing), and you try to copy him as you spot Asahi

Waving him over, you consider bolting and going home to scream in your pillow, as he gives you a smile asking if everything’s alright

You stand there for a solid minute just thinking how to start this

Then Suga grabs your hand, making you jump as he says, “Y/n and I just wanted to tell you that we’re dating!”

Asahi makes a squeak and stares at you two in shock before chuckling

“I wondered whether you two liked each other,” He pats your head and continues, “I’m happy for you guys.”

You’re smile is strained as you nod and reply with a happy yep!

Aware of the concerned look and small squeeze from Suga’s hand as Asahi goes in the gym, you turn to quietly thank him for helping out, so you can leave as quickly as you can, when you hear deafening WOOOO’s

Looking to the gyms entrance, just in time to see Noya and Tanaka come running out, yelling about how lucky you and Suga are

Uh oh

Before you know it the whole team is around you asking questions like when you got together and who asked who out

Asahi comes over with a smile and tells everyone to leave the new couple alone

So that’s fun :,)

The whole team thinks you’re dating now and if you say you aren’t, then you’ll have to explain to Asahi why you did this

Making an in the minute decision, you answer some questions, “I asked Suga out! And I did it in the middle of one of our compliment battles.”

Suga knows what you’re doing, figuring he agreed to this, he goes along with it hoping you’re alright

Daichi pats you both on the back after the team’s interrogation

Frustration from the situation you’ve put yourself in, has you in near tears, when you finally get to apologize to Suga

Pulling you in for a hug he apologizes too

“You’re not the only one who got themselves into this mess, I did agree to it after all.” He frowns, “I really thought Asahi liked you, that’s why I said yes, so don’t worry. We’re in this together.”

A very radical conversation later, and you’ve decided to keep the dating act up for three months before telling everyone you broke up and we’re better as just friends

Nothing has changed besides you trying to be as close to Suga as possible when Asahi’s around

Daichi ends up asking if you guys actually like the other when you’ve been acting so off as of late

Asahi gives you a concerned look and asks if everything’s going okay as well

If I’m being honest, no Asahi it’s not, and yA WANNA KNOW WHY, I CAN TELL YOUAJTGBGVWZ

You refuse to tell Asahi about your feelings so you and Suga step up your fake dating game😤

You end up holding hands constantly, it’s really comforting??

He squeezes it when he see’s you stressing and it helps calm you down, like it’s super grounding

You make him lunches as thanks sometimes

He knows how to make you feel better and you can’t help but start to search for him when ever you want a hug

A cold day after practice when you’re walking home with Suga you both decided that was a couple thing to do and now you walk each other home he gives you his jacket since you forgot

He’s blushing, Suga really didn’t know you’d look so cute in it

He’s giving it to you constantly after

He gets incredibly hyped about you wearing his jacket, so much so, that you’re a little embarrassed

But... it makes you happy to have someone who cares so much and gets excited at the little things you do🥺🥺

You grab his spare jersey (with the help of Kiyoko) and start wearing it to all his games

He cries the first time he sees you do it

Sugawara isn’t a star player, he isn’t even a starting player, you choosing to wear his jersey has him feeling bubbly and warm inside

He can’t stop hugging you when the games over, he literally refuses to let you go

Not that you care, you love Suga’s hugs

They’re encompassing and safe

You don’t remember when you started talking to Asahi again, but sometime in this fake dating you found you were fine talking with him

You’re actually gushing about Suga and the small study date you have this weekend with him, when he brings up “You have actual hearts in your eyes when you’re with Suga, ya know?”

That makes you stop because what?? You still like Asahi right?

Or wait...

You gasp, startling Asahi as you realize who you like

Panic wraps around you and your friend, noticing tries to reassure you, “Sugawara does the same thing too, he really likes you okay?”

Gulping you ask “He does?”

Once he reassures that Suga does in fact have heart eyes for you, you have a slight confidence boost

Just enough to run to find Suga

He was on his way to the gym when he heard you calling him

He turns, brightening when he sees you running up to him panting

His smile gives you an extra push to finish your impulsive choice

“You’re incredible Suga, whenever I’m with you, I feel like I can take on the would! It’s like you know exactly what I need! When I see your smile after one of my bad jokes, my bad days become good ones!”

Pausing when you see Suga getting ready to join in on your compliment train, you push out the last bit. “You make me incredibly happy! And I have to ask if you’d be my boyfriend beCAUSE ID LOVE TO DATE YOU.”

Suga’s shocked

And then he’s trying to stop himself from crying

Your feeling both relieved and sick to your stomach as this happens

Maybe Suga doesn’t actually like you?? This was probably a mistake wasn’t it????

Before your overthinking can continue, Suga gives you a small kiss

He smiles as he leans his forehead on yours, murmuring “I’d love to date you.”

[e-of-west-glendia]

This is a very very very late birthday present for the amazing @moonscarsandstars. I love you so so much babe (except for that thing yesterday you little shit) and I hope you enjoy this thing I wrote!

“I’m not doing it.”

“But whyyy?”

“Because it’s creepy as hell, James. That’s why.”

Sirius shoulders open the door to James’ room and flops down onto his bed.

“It’s not creepy!” James protests, flinging his backpack into a corner.

“It’s just unconventional.”

“Read ‘creepy and stalker-ish’,” Sirius mutters.

James plops down on the bed next to Sirius. “You,” he says, poking his friend in the ribs. “Are no fun.”

Sirius snorts. “I’m plenty of fun. I just don’t write random people letters and put them in their mailbox.”

“At least not yet,” James teases.

“Not ever.”

James rolls his eyes, toeing his shoes off. “You’ll cave, eventually.”

“Unlikely,” Sirius says firmly, folding his legs up onto the bed. Only to be shoved roughly off not a moment later.

“Prongs!”

“No shoes on the bed!” James gestures to his own recently departed shoes. “This is the one rule that I have.”

Sirius picks himself up off the floor. “You sound like your mother.”

“Do not.”

Sirius kicks his shoes off but doesn’t return to the bed. Instead, he takes a seat at James’ desk. In favor of silently spinning in the swivel chair.

They’d been having the same back and forth debate for days now. Should Sirius send a letter to that boy who lived down the street? Or no.

James, of course, voted yes. As did many of Sirius’ friends. Sirius, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out why.

His friends seemed to be under the impression that this was some sort of young adult novel. It wasn’t.

You couldn’t just send random people letters. What if they called the police? Then what? Not to mention the fact that Sirius didn’t even know his name. That certainly would complicate things.

That’s not to say they were complete strangers though, Sirius and the mystery boy. Quite the contrary, actually.

The two had met before, when Peter’s mother pointed out the fact that that house was the one she grew up in.

The current occupants of Mrs. Pettigrew’s childhood home had insisted on giving her a tour. A sort of them versus now type thing, Sirius supposed.

As it happened, James and Sirius were there the day of the tour. And that was when Sirius had first run into mystery kid.

They’d been briefly introduced, but Sirius was too busy considering how awkward it was to be walking through someone’s house to pay attention to his name.

Now, nearly seven months later, Sirius, James, and Peter had seen the boy again. And for some ridiculous reason, James was under the impression that sticking a letter with his number on it in that boys mailbox was the best idea ever.

Ok technically it was Sirius’ own fault that the idea even came to mind. But he was absolutely joking when he’d said, “what do you want me to do, stick a letter in his mailbox?”

In response to James’ telling him to go socialize. That didn’t mean he was serious (all jokes aside, of course.)

“Yo,” James says, and Sirius stops spinning.

“Mm?”

“Peters asking if we want to come over. His mom's baking cookies.”

Sirius halts his spinning and stands. “Really all you had to say was ‘cookies’ and I would’ve been on board.”

James laughs. “Fair enough.”

James scoops up his backpack and slings it onto his shoulder while Sirius pulls his shoes back on.

“What are you bringing that for,” Sirius asks, curiously.

James shrugs. “You never know.”

Sirius rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything else about it, he just leads the way out of James’ room.

The two of them run into Euphemia at the foot of the stairs.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Peter invited us over,” James explains.

“His mom is making cookies,” Sirius adds.

Euphemia nods solemnly. “I don’t blame you, Peggy’s baking is amazing.”

“That it is!” James agrees, starting for the front door. Sirius follows him.

“Sirius,” Euphemia says, voice slightly sing-songy.

Sirius stops in his tracks.

“Those aren’t shoes are they?”

“Nope,” Sirius says. “They absolutely are not.”

“Hmm, that’s what I thought,” she says with a laugh. “You boys have fun now.”

“We will,” James calls, opening the door and then shutting it firmly behind them.

“I told you you sound like your mother,” Sirius snickers.

“Oh, fuck off,” James says. “That was a joke and you know it.”

Sirius very much does know it, but he chooses to ignore it.

A little while into their walk, Sirius feels a buzz at his side, buoyed by the familiar Apple ringtone.

“Who is it?” James asks.

“Lemme get the phone out first,” Sirius responds. Then, “Marlene.”

“Aren’t you going to answer that?”

“I’m getting there.”

A moment later Marlene’s face pops onto the screen. Her blonde hair splayed across the pillows around her.

“What’s up?” Sirius asks.

“Did you do it?” She asks, and Sirius groans.

James plucks the phone out of his hand before he can respond.

“No, he absolutely did not. I’ve been trying for hours!”

“Give Sirius his phone back,” Marlene commands.

Sirius take his phone back, eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“Pussy,” Marlene says, and then eats what appears to be a handful of gummy worms.

Sirius throws his hands up, exasperated. “What is it with you all and your stupid letter!”

Marlene shrugs. “Dunno, just need some gay drama in our lives I suppose.”

Sirius glares at her. “Marlene,” he says slowly. “You. Are. A. Lesbian.”

“And you’re gay as a maypole,” Marlene retorts. “Go get the guy, Black.”

“It is not that easy,” Sirius sighs.

“Can you write?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a phone?”

“No, I’m calling from a toaster.”

“That would explain the poor video quality.”

“Bullshit.”

Marlene ignores this. “Seems to me like you’re perfectly capable of writing that letter.”

“Yes, but I’m not social,” Sirius says.

Both Marlene and James laugh at that.

“Sirius Black you are the most social person I know aside from myself and your haired idiot over there.”

“Hey!” James says, indignant.

“You can write that letter,” Marlene continues. “I know you can.”

“The problem isn’t I can’t do it,” Sirius says, handing the phone to Marlene so that he can tie up his hair, which has decided for whatever reason to fall in his eyes and be irritating. “I just don’t want to because it’s stupid,” Sirius finishes.

“I see,” Marlene says.

She’s silent for a bit. Which is slightly alarming to Sirius. Marlene is only this quiet on the phone when she’s thinking or playing Subway Surfers, her designated FaceTime Game.

“Well then,” She says, and Sirius releases a sigh of relief. “I guess I can’t make you.”

“Nope,” Sirius says cheerfully, a girl starting to spread across his face.

“Unless of course I dare you to,” Marlene says, and Sirius’ grin drops.

It’s Marlene’s turn to smile now. “Gotcha.”

“You’re the devil.”

It’s quite the well known fact that Sirius will take basically any dare, so long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. And as far as he can tell, this dare isn’t hurting anyone. Not even himself, save for some minor embarrassment.

“How did you know what my Halloween costume was,” Marlene asks, she’s still grinning at him.

“Well, you certainly aren’t an angel,” Sirius grumbles.

Marlene waves a gummy worm at him. “Ain’t that the truth. Well then, I dare you to write that random guy a letter.”

James whistles. “Gosh why didn’t I think of that?”

“You’re afraid of being murdered, maybe?” Sirius suggests.

“And Marlene isn’t?”

“I’m the devil, remember? Already dead.”

“Right, of course, my bad,” James says.

Marlene turns her attention back towards Sirius. “You’re near Peter’s, right? You should send the letter now.”

“With what?” Sirius asks. “I’m short on paper if you can’t tell.”

Marlene gestures to James who is holding up his backpack triumphantly.

“Told you we’d need it!”

“I hate you both,” Sirius mutters, snatching a pen and paper from James.

“What the hell am I even supposed to write?”

“You number,” Marlene says unhelpfully.

“No shit Sherlock.”

Sirius decides not to ask anymore questions. He just scribbles out a quick note and folds the paper.

“What’d you say?” James asks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sirius retorts.

They’re right in front of the house now, and Sirius is wondering if he should just back out of it.

“Don’t be shy,” Marlene says from her end of the phone. Sirius has the vague idea that she’d be shoving him forward if she were here right now.

As it happens he doesn’t need the shove. He walked up the drive himself, ignoring Marlene’s, “Wait flip the camera James. I wanna see him do it.”

He’s at the front porch now, and he thinks he can hear something in the kitchen. There’s the sound of rushing water, dishes maybe?

Without giving it much more thought, Sirius shoves the letter inside the mailbox, wincing at the slight creak it makes.

Then he jogs back down the drive and continues towards Peter’s house.

James runs after him.

“Don’t you feel liberated now?” Marlene asks.

“If by ‘liberated’ you mean like a fucking fairytale charcater then, yes. Sure.”

“I don’t know of any fairyta—“

“Goodbye Marlene,” Sirius says, he takes the phone from James and promptly hangs up on her.

“Rude,” James says jokingly.

“Oh, please, she’s done worse,” Sirius snorts.

“But don’t you feel excited?” James asks.

“I feel anxiety.”

“You’ll thank us later.”

Even thought Sirius rolls his eyes and shoves James into a nearby plant, he can’t help but wonder if James and Marlene are right. And if this’ll actually go somewhere.

Ah, well, that’s another problem for another day. At present moment he should probably be running right about now before James comes to exact his revenge. And that, is exactly what he does.

[baepsaesbae]

QuaranTime

Pairing— Kim Seokjin x reader x Min Yoongi  

Genre— SMUT like str8 up pwp

Warnings— Double penetration, threesome, oral (f receiving), nipple  play, a butt slap, masturbation (male), unprotected sex, sensual themes in general

Word Count—  ~2.6k  

Summary— Bored and horny with your roommates during a social distancing period. What could go wrong?    

A/N— Hi everyone! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy~ Here’s a little something that will hopefully help lift your mood. Please let me know what you think!                                

 Your roommates have always been competitive. That was one of the first things you noticed about them when you moved in. They competed to see who could help you move in the fastest (which was a blessing since you didn’t have to do any heavy lifting). Living with two random guys was an interesting thing to get used to, especially when they were already friends. It’s been a year since you moved in, and since then all three of you had gotten pretty close.

Now, due to the ongoing pandemic, everyone has been ordered to stay inside. It’s been months now, and you could swear you were all going insane. Playing board or card games always resulted in a sore loser (one or both of the boys). Day drinking had become such a common occurrence that even the thought of alcohol made you guys feel queasy, so that was out of the question now.

“Whoever does the next grocery trip can get puzzles?” you offered.

“You think I wanna do puzzles with Jin? That guy has no patience. I give him five minutes before he starts getting bored,” Yoongi scoffed.

“You WISH you lasted five minutes!” Jin childishly argued.

“We all know you’re a one pump chump,” Yoongi rolled his eyes.

You observed them silently from the couch, doing your best not to smile. They’ve been your main source of entertainment during these trying times. Their bickering was comparable to cheesy reality TV shows.

“What are you laughing at over there?” Jin dragged you into the conversation.

“Can you guys make fun of each other’s sex lives later? Let’s get back to curing our current boredom,” you responded.

“We have too much testosterone built up right now. Let us yell at each other for a bit first,” Jin said before turning back to Yoongi, “I think it’s pretty obvious who gets the most action around here!”

“You don’t SEE the girls I bang because I go over to THEIR place like a GENTLEMAN,” Yoongi raised his voice.

“So what? Are you guys gonna jack off in front of each other to prove who can last the longest?” you laughed.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jin’s squeaky laugh filled the room, “Unless…” he shot a sideways glance at Yoongi.

“There’s no way in hell that I’m doing that,” Yoongi immediately dismissed the thought, “But ___...how are you holding up?”

“Me? I’m fine. Online classes are weird but most of my professors are being super lenient so--”

“Not that,” he interrupted you, “You know…like uh...”

“He’s asking if you’re sexually frustrated,” Jin explained bluntly.

“Okay, I know I don’t get nearly as many dick appointments as you two but I make do,” you answered defensively.

“I may have an idea to settle our argument, but we’d need your help,” Yoongi tilted his head in contemplation.

“Are you guys both gonna fuck me?” you asked, now amused at the thought.

“Yes and no. If you’re okay with it, we’d be going at the same time. One in the front and one in the back. Unless you want both of us in the back, that part is up to you. Whoever cums first loses,” Yoongi explained.

“What does the winner get?” you try to mask your interest, it’s been so long since you’ve had any physical intimacy.

“They get to have fun with you all night long while the loser has to sit and watch,” Jin answered gleefully.

Both boys seemed to be completely on board with the idea. All they needed was for you to give them the green light.

“You guys are positive that things won’t be weird afterward?” you asked.

They both gave you their word. You took it with a grain of salt, knowing that neither of them have been laid in weeks. To be honest, you have been extremely horny lately. Living with two handsome guys wasn’t helping you. All rational thoughts were thrown out the window.

“I’d prefer one in the front and one in the back then,” you winked.

“Coin toss to see who’s where?” Yoongi suggested to Jin.

“Tails cuz I want that ass,” Jin answered with a smirk, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Dammit, tails,” Yoongi announced.

“Are we just going straight into this then?” you asked nervously.

“Don’t be silly. We’re gentlemen, foreplay is our middle name,” Jin took you by the hand and led you to Yoongi’s room, “It’s your idea, so we’re gonna use your room,” Jin said before Yoongi could complain.

They sat you on the bed, and that’s when things suddenly got awkward. All three of you stared at each other in silence, waiting for the first person to make a move. You were beginning to doubt your decision, and almost opened your mouth to call it off.

“Can I kiss you, ___?” Yoongi broke the silence.

“Uh, sure,” you agreed, scooting over to make space for him on the bed.

Yoongi shyly sat down beside you, showing you a side of him that you’ve never seen before. He softly brought his hand to your cheek as your eyes met. Your heart was racing, and you were sure Yoongi could hear it as he leaned in closer.

Meeting Yoongi in the middle was a dream come true. Admittedly, you’ve had a minor crush on both of them since you’ve moved in, but who could blame you?

Yoongi’s soft lips brushed up gently against yours. You found yourself melting into his palm as he continued to cup your face. The kiss was gentle and intimate, something you never wanted to end. Until you were abruptly yanked from Yoongi’s grasp.

“Hey what the fu--”

“My turn,” was all that Jin said before his lips crashed against yours.

Unlike Yoongi’s tender kiss, Jin kissed you with such a ferocious passion, it was almost as if you’d been dating and he hadn’t seen you in months. His hands immediately began to wander across your body, starting from your hips and working their way upward. You softly moaned into his mouth when his hands slid under your shirt to fondle your breasts. You yelped with surprise when he began to pinch and pull at your nipples.

“You’re so sensitive,” he chuckled, “This’ll be fun.”

“Stop hogging her,” Yoongi grumbled.

“Make me,” Jin challenged.

Yoongi yanked you away from Jin, and pushed you onto your back. His plush lips connected with your neck, aka your weak spot. You stifled a moan as he began to mix in small nibbles with his kisses.

“Take off your pants,” he ordered you, his dominance reemerging.

You shook off your pajama pants, revealing a plain pair of panties. You suddenly wished that you had gone to change into something sexier, and as such your body involuntarily shied away from Yoongi.

Jin pinned your legs down. He was about to kiss your stomach when Yoongi shooed him away. Jin was displeased but obeyed anyway, curious to see what the younger man would do. Yoongi kissed a trail down your neck, between your breasts, across your stomach, and finally settled at the top of your panties. He planted kisses on your inner thighs, inching closer and closer to your pussy.

“Let’s get this off,” Jin focused your attention back on him as he tugged at your shirt.

“Then you guys have to take yours off too,” you huffed.

“Of course, princess,” Jin kissed your forehead, his sudden affection making you freeze.

He helped you take off your shirt, and in turn took his off afterward. You were about to make a comment on his physique when Yoongi flattened his tongue against your clothed core.

“Don’t ignore me,” Yoongi growled.

“Take off your shirt,” Jin reminded him.

“In due time, I don’t think she wants to wait any longer,” Yoongi said as he pulled aside your panties.

He licked up from your entrance to your clit. His tongue teased your clit in slow circles, causing you to moan. You covered your mouth in embarrassment, but Jin swatted your hand away.

“Don’t ignore me either,” he whispered as his lips once again connected with yours.

Jin played with your nipples as his mouth collided with yours. His kisses were wet and messy, but you didn’t care. You were lost in ecstacy. Yoongi’s mouth was heaven sent; every flick of his tongue had you moaning into Jin’s mouth. You gasped when he stuck a finger inside, curling to hit your g-spot.

“I think she’s ready,” Yoongi cockily stated.

“You ready for us baby?” Jin asked sweetly.

A simple head nod was all you could give them without getting too flustered. You couldn’t believe that you were in this situation. You were roughly flipped over onto your stomach before you could think too much about it.

The boys tugged off their pants and positioned themselves on either side of you. You looked up at Yoongi with anticipation. The moment he looked down and saw you, his cheeks reddened and he had to look away.

“You can take it out...if you want,” Yoongi muttered.

You didn’t hesitate to tug down his underwear, revealing his thick dick. You began to salivate on sight, you’ve never seen such a pretty cock before. You got closer to lick it when a sharp pain stung your ass.

“We have to go at the same time. Bad girl,” Jin admonished.

You felt him run his cock against your wet pussy, teasing you even more.

“Wait, shit. I should go get a condom,” Jin groaned in frustration.

“Just pull out,” you said softly.

“What?” the boys asked in unison with disbelief.

“I’m on the pill so it should be fine. I mean, as long as you’re both clean I’m okay with you guys pulling out,” you clarified.

“You sure?” Jin asked.

You nodded again.

“Alright then. Should I go get a timer?” Jin asked Yoongi.

“It doesn’t fucking matter. Please, I just want her to suck me off already,” Yoongi grew impatient.

“Fine, fine. In 3, 2, 1,” Jin counted down.

The boys entered you in perfect harmony. Jin’s long dick penetrated you deeply, and the curvature of his dick allowed him to graze your g-spot with every stroke. Yoongi let you take the lead as soon as the tip of his dick entered your mouth. He was worried about choking you, so he stood in place. Jin’s powerful thrusts made you gag on Yoongi’s cock anyway. Tears welled in your eyes as Yoongi hit the back of your throat.

There you were, being spitroasted between your roommates. Just the thought alone was enough to get you all riled up. Here you were, living your best life.

You did your best to flatten out your tongue to let Yoongi’s dick slide neatly in and out of your mouth. Unfortunately, Jin’s rough strokes had you moaning uncontrollably. Drool dribbled down your chin and there was nothing you could do about it. You looked up at Yoongi, only to find that his eyes were already set on you.

That did him in.

“Where should I cum? I’m gonna--oh fuck,” Yoongi stuttered as he unleashed his load into your mouth.

Jin was still thrusting, making Yoongi’s explosion even messier. Yoongi collapsed onto the bed beside you, defeated. Jin finally stopped moving and got off the bed.

“You okay?” Yoongi asked you.

You nodded after swallowing some of his cum. Jin came back with a warm washcloth and wiped off your face. He even handed you a glass of water. You were happy to see that his kindhearted nature was incorporated into every aspect of his life.

“No water for me?” Yoongi joked.

“No water for losers,” Jin said sternly, “Besides, the night is just getting started.”

You were flipped onto your back (which was a blessing, you were tired of having to prop yourself up with your arms). Jin smirked above you as his hand made a beeline down to your dripping pussy. He fiddled with your sensitive nub, making you squirm beneath him.

“You’re such a good girl, ___,” he cooed, “Don’t worry, I’ll treat you right.”

He inserted himself back in. Instead of resuming his rough pace from before, he took an agonizingly long time to bottom out. He used the same slow pace to pull out. You figured he was going to do it again, but you were wrong. This time, he opted to roll his hips into you. The sensation was different, and it allowed him to set a rhythm that was optimal for both of you. Judging by the high pitch of your moans, he figured you enjoyed it. He was absolutely right.

Yoongi moved to cup your face once more. He was leaning in to kiss you when Jin forcefully pushed him off the bed.

“Dude, what the he--”

“Losers don’t belong on the bed. They definitely don’t get to touch her for the rest of the night,” he snarled as he brought your knees by your ears.

This position let him hit even deeper, which you didn’t even think was possible. Again, he began to roll his hips. He leaned over to kiss you, forcing you to moan into his mouth.

“Hold your legs for me, princess,” Jin whispered.

You complied. As soon as his hands were free, one of them began to stimulate your clit. He went straight to rubbing you quickly, wasting no time in toying with you. It seemed as if he was desperate to make you cum before he did.

From the corner of your eye, you spotted Yoongi sitting at his desk chair, his eyes fixated on you. His pretty hand was wrapped around his fat cock, pumping it quickly. It looked like he wanted to cum with you too. His sweaty hair stuck to his forehead, and his mouth was agape as he concentrated on you. Yoongi gave you a little smile when you looked over at him. This time, it was his turn to make you come undone. That, and of course Jin going to town on you.

“I’m c-coming,” you announced as your body spasmed.

Jin helped you ride out your orgasm, his hand quickened over your clit. The extra stimulus made you squirt all over him, something you’ve never done in your life. Once he was sure that you’ve come down, Jin quickly went to jack himself off over you.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” he panted before he splattered all over your chest.

Again, Jin went to go get a warm washcloth. In his absence, Yoongi quickly made his way onto the bed to cuddle you. He was the big spoon, and he brought you in close to his chest.

“Did you cum again?” you giggled as you asked.

“I did. Don’t look at my underwear. It was the quickest thing I could grab to clean myself off before Jin came back,” he answered.

“Dude, my cum is still all over her,” Jin said when he got back.

Yoongi just shrugged and kissed your cheek as Jin wiped you off.

“Guess I’m the little spoon then,” Jin said as he wiggled his way into the cuddle session, “Did you enjoy it, ___?” he inquired.

“I did. Maybe a little too much. I’ve never squirted before,” you admitted.

“I can always make you do it again,” Jin laughed.

“I can do it too,” Yoongi chimed in.

“You think you can do that? You can’t even last in her mouth!” Jin mocked.

“You would’ve cum first too if you were in my position!” Yoongi yelled back.

“Looks like you guys have another argument to settle,” you joked, trying to join in the teasing.

“Bet,” Jin said.

“Oh, you’re so on,” Yoongi sneered.

They agreed that the new bet is to be settled at the same time, different place (Jin’s room) tomorrow. You wouldn’t mind spending the rest of your isolated days like this.

Published September 18th, 2020. No editing, copying, translating, or reposting allowed. All Rights Reserved © 2020 Baepsaesbae.

[eggtoasties]

Chapter 2: II. Adagio

Read Chapter 1: I. Allegro

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsuro x Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Summary: Kuroo used to think the best sound in the world was a volleyball hitting the court on the other side of the net. Now, he has other things on his repertoire.

They were both called to the music room during study hall. As Kuroo walked towards Jouda-sensei, he watched as their teacher tried to cajole her into something, unable to catch their words at a distance. Arms crossed, she sent Kuroo an unimpressed stare making him respond with a nervous grin as he came to a stop.

“I was hoping to set you two up for lessons during study hall,” Jouda-sensei said, nodding between the two of them.

“No offense,” she said, quickly glancing at Kuroo, “but I’m paid to do this outside of school. Also, I don’t really have time to meet every single day—shouldn’t Daisuke be doing this? I’m sure he,” she jutted her chin towards Kuroo, “and I will both get called to other teachers and clubs during study hall so I don’t know if this’ll work out,” she huffed.

Eyebrows raised high, Kuroo said, “Wow, didn’t realize I was dead meat to you already, first chair,” resulting in a pout from Jouda-sensei and a glare from her which made him nervously snicker. He put his hands in his pockets, subtly wiping away at the clamminess of his palms.

“Aw, come on now, you know Daisuke-kun isn’t…” Jouda-sensei trailed off, trying to find the words, “the best at teaching. But,” she said brightly, “you’re the leader for a reason! And it doesn’t have to be every day—just coordinate with each other and other people to set up a rotation. I just want Kuroo-kun to be set up with good habits from the start.”

Sighing wearily and nodding, she faced Kuroo as Jouda-sensei left them.

Slouching in what he hoped was a nonchalant pose, he flashed a grin.

“So, are you gonna charge me by the minute?” Kuroo arched his brow. “Because I don’t really have the funds for that. Plus, I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to sell anything on school grounds.” Readjusting his backpack straps and slightly loosening his tie, his eyes met hers quickly before finding a place over her shoulder. “But, if you don’t have time or whatever that’s--” he stumbled over his words, “I’m sure I can figure something out.”

Rolling her eyes, she loosened her school tie. “Yeah, I’m going to charge a thousand yen a minute and if you don’t pay up, I’ll have my goons knock your kneecaps in.”

“Didn’t realize being captain,” she shot him an amused grin and he bookmarked it for later, “of the orchestra came with your own henchmen. Maybe I should’ve started way earlier,” he drawled.

“Yup,” she said cheerily, popping the ‘p.’ “They do all my coursework and bully people out of their lunch money so I can add it to my secret treasury in the cave underneath the school,” she said conspiratorially. “Also,” she began, facing fully towards him. “It’s nice to meet you—I really don’t mind helping you out, it’s just that with my last year of high school things are hectic with exams and applications and I really can’t commit to everyday,” she explained.

His shoulders relaxed with a breath he didn’t know he was holding, previous tension dissipating with her explanation. Kuroo nodded and held out his hand. As she grasped it, he raised a brow at the strength of her small grip and brightly painted nails.

“I get it.” Kuroo finally said. “I’m a third year too and it’s hard enough as it is without having to teach a newbie every day,” he said, semi-fondly thinking of Lev, “—all good.”

“Alright, well,” she said, swaying on the balls of her feet, “let’s get started.”

She had him play open strings so she could assess his posture and Kuroo was not accustomed to being the center of such intense concentration. Sure, he’s served a million times in games where he knew every eye was on him, but she seemed to scrutinize every aspect of his body. The distribution of his weight on his legs, the angle of his shoulders, the slope of his wrists, finger placement, and even his face—there was something to adjust. To be fair, she did say his face looked like he was constipated, but he figured it was because one should always look serene during such a cultured activity.

A gentle tap to the shoulder, a tap to his left inner wrist, her hands guided his body as he became accustomed to the instrument. She stood slightly behind him to his side at one point and gently held his right arm and set another hand on his shoulder to show him how the bow should move. He’s used to his body—Kuroo would say he has a better understanding of what his body is capable of than most people but, gentle movements to work with a foreign object was completely new territory. She’s not teaching him how to read a volleyball midair and figure out what the best millisecond worth of contact is. She’s not grabbing his lanky arms to show him how to position for a block—this is completely different.

He figured it’s one thing to adjust to new innovative plays mid-game and another to feel so entirely helpless and clunky. Although she’s only been patient and gentle, he can’t help but feel unsure and awkward in his body as he tried to follow her instruction. Maybe, Kuroo thought to himself, I should cut Lev some slack.

“Can you feel how your arm hinges at the elbow, but the elbow itself stays still?” she asked, lightly grasping his elbow and guiding his forearm. His skin tingled at the contact through his shirt and he repressed a shiver.

He’s used to physical contact—from his teammates. High fives, hugs, and fist bumps. But from a stranger…it’s different. He’s hyper aware of the calluses of her left hand when she taps the bare skin of his wrists and although each touch is light and fleeting, a part of him wished they’d linger for a little longer.

After a while, she grabbed her instrument and mirrored his movements, showing him the angles of her body in relation to the violin and bow. He stood in awe of the confidence of her actions, drawing a rich deep sound from the strings unlike the scratchy wobbly sounds he’d been producing.

She taught him two scales, explained basic music concepts he vaguely remembered from piano lessons and before he knew it, study hall was coming to a close. Head full with new information, shoulders a little tense, he absentmindedly fixed his tie while they packed up.

“Don’t feel discouraged during class,” she said. “Everyone around you has been playing for years longer. Just keep practicing and you’ll get there.” Adjusting the books in her hand she asked, “Why’d you decide to take orchestra?”

“I needed art credit. Can’t sing, can’t draw, didn’t want to do something on the computer and I didn’t know what band music was,” he shrugged. Immediately, he internally cringed at his explanation.

“Wait, actually--” Before he could try and amend his previous statement, he’s cut off by her laugh.

“You chose well,” she said. Then leaning towards him, she dropped to a faux whisper, “orchestra’s better than band.”

Kuroo felt heat creep up the back of his neck while she laughed so he tilted his head to the side and covered it with a smirk. “I don’t know about that,” he said cockily.

She snorted which did little to calm the confusing beating of his heart and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she didn’t take the bait. Oh well, he thought, better try harder.

“You’re the one who enrolled in or-ches-tra,” she said, over enunciating the syllables. “Unless,” she sing-songed, “you feed into the stereotype that athletes are,” she pouted and batted her lashes, “stupid.”

He guffawed at her boldness but revelled in the glint in her eyes and the smug way she held her head.

“It wounds me that you would insult my intelligence without even knowing me,” he sniffed and wiped away a fake tear while she stifled a giggle. “I cannot believe my music teacher—my classmate—my captain has a bias against athletes,” he frowned and tilted his head. Pausing for a beat in contemplation, he sighed and continued lazily, “You must have been one of those kids in elementary school who always got picked last in gym.” He shrugged before delivering the final blow, “So you had no choice but to turn to music.”

He kept his face neutral as he studied her reaction. Her eyes narrowed at him and he broke out into a grin.

“It’s okay to admit it, I promise I won’t ask you to do something impossible like catch a ball or something,” he said, waving a hand placatingly. He caught the corner of her lip twitching despite the deadpan stare she tried to maintain.

“Give me your number,” she said, pulling out her phone.

“Woah, woah,” he said, dodging her attempts to force her phone in his hands. “If this was all an elaborate ruse to ask me out,” he dodged a jab to his side, “you didn’t have to get Jouda-sensei in on it too, who would’ve thought our little prodigy had it bad for the volleyball captain?”

“First of all, study hall is ending, but it seems that you were too preoccupied with trying to flirt with me to notice,” she said as Kuroo crossed his arms indignantly. Was he trying to flirt, he wondered. “Also, you’re forgetting that you’re the one who needs violin teachers,” she explained impatiently, finally getting him to accept her phone.

“Plus, if anything this just shows that you’ve been planning to confess to me for the past three years, but you were too nervous so you used your arts credit as an excuse to talk to me when everyone knows there are easier ways to get the credit,” she rambled as he punched his number in. “Also, you have a stand partner and a section leader—both of whom are not me, so I bet you,” she pointed an accusatory finger, “roped Jouda-sensei into this cozy little arrangement,” she said triumphantly.

Kuroo stuttered. “Maybe you should be a writer—what is up with your imagination?” he asked disbelievingly.

“No, no,” she said breezily, waving a hand absentmindedly, “I just figured you out, no need to feel embarrassed.”

Shifting his weight to one foot and running a hand through his hair, Kuroo’s lip quirked. “Guess you caught me,” he shrugged nonchalantly, extending their jest, “I’ve been in it for the long con, but,” he dropped a little lower to her height. “I never lose.”

Kuroo wanted to stab himself. It’s one thing, he mentally berated, to say those lines in the shower. Another thing entirely to say them to a human being? So used to provoking people just before they really got annoyed, he figured he got too comfortable. While his friends were used to his sarcastic quips and little agitations, not many people threw it right back at him. Should I apologize? Am I going to fail orchestra? Yamamoto was right, I should’ve taken sculpture I should’ve—

He was broken from his internal panic when she gently pushed his shoulder. “Well, seeing that the volleyball team has never won nationals, that seems to be a lie.”

Completely forgetting his previous anxieties, his mouth gaped open. “W-we’re definitely making it to nationals and we’re definitely going to win this year!” he nearly yelled. “A-and since when do you keep up with the volleyball team! This is more evidence that you’ve been trying to get my number for the past decade!”

“Who said anything about the past ten years!” she screeched. Kuroo watched his phone in her hand with concern as she waved her arms in disbelief. “And Yaku’s in my homeroom, idiot. He talks about the team constantly,” finally shoving his phone back to him.

Sighing a little in relief he checked his messages. “If I’m so wrong about you lusting,” she rolled her eyes so hard all he saw was white, “after me for all these years, what’s this!” he exclaimed, presenting his phone screen to her face.

It was a message from her that read: “Tetsu-chan, I think you’re so, so, so, so, sO cute!!” with several brightly colored heart emojis trailing after the message.

She immediately lunged for his phone to which he responded by smugly holding it above her head, pouting a little when she wouldn’t try and jump for it.

“Y-you planned this!” she yelled, making a move to grab at his sleeve.

“Nope,” he said languidly, smoothly side stepping her advances. “You just think I’m so, so, so, so, cute!” he said brightly as he placed his phone in his back pocket.

“I’m going to break your kneecaps in your sleep,” she grumbled.

As the bell rang and study hall ended, he sent her a little wave as he walked to his next class.

“Looking forward to it!”

.

Nearing his next class, he felt a short buzz in his pocket. Pulling out his phone he grinned at the texts. Nothing like riling people up on a Tuesday morning to get his blood pumping.

After he had left her standing in the music room, cheeks tinged pink and arms crossed, she sent him several texts. Many of them listed the ways she was going to abuse his kneecaps—he wasn’t quite sure why she was so fixated on them—poking fun at athlete stereotypes, and how he’d better practice every day.

They spent the day sending each other sporadic insults without heat which eventually devolved into actual questions about each other.

How did you start playing the violin? When did you start volleyball? Do you play in orchestras outside of school? What’s your position? How should I practice? What are sports practices like? What class are you in? What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite color? What do you mean you bought a chemistry set for fun?

Kuroo was in his history class when he realized he was barely paying attention to the lesson. Expecting his usual meticulous notes when he looked down at his notebook, he saw he had hardly filled half a page of information. Too preoccupied with the little thrill of excitement that came with each text, he couldn’t help but discreetly check his phone every few seconds. He tried paying closer attention to the lecture, but tapped his foot restlessly, itching to see how she responded.

.

The school day ended in a blur and he found himself in front of the club room door. Violin case in hand, he swung open the entrance and proudly stated, “I learned scales today.”

“Fukunaga and I took choir last year and learned scales too,” Yaku responded. “Stop looking so proud about it, it’s literally a basic,” he commented offhandedly as he put on his uniform.

Chest still puffed, Kuroo didn’t let it deter him. “I’m reading music!”

Kenma grimaced over his phone when Lev seemed impressed and Fukunaga tried to stifle his laughter behind his hand.

Pulling top from behind, Kuroo asked, “Yaku, do you know the concertmaster?”

“The, huh?”

“The first chair violinist. Our year, in class 3-B?” Kuroo clarified. “She’s about this tall,” indicating with his hand, “her favorite color’s blue and she really likes fruit tarts?”

Ignoring the questioning glances from his teammates, Kuroo waited expectedly. Yaku paused. Eyes widening in recognition he brightened.

“Yeah! She’s been in my homeroom for the past three years, she’s nice. Smart, big on music, does a bunch of music competition thingies!”

“Thingies?” Kuroo mocked. “How old are you?”

“Shut up you glorified bean pole! I don’t know what she does in her free time, why are you so interested all of a sudden?

“She’s my violin teacher! I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t a serial killer or something,” Kuroo mumbled, tying his shoes a little forcefully.

“Okay,” Yaku drawled out, not believing his teammate. “I know the theatre club always asks her to be in their pit orchestra, but man their funding really got cut over the years, I wonder how they’re going to build the set this year, I mean they’re really trying to out-do themselves and—”

He stopped when he noticed the rest of the team staring at him in varying states of confusion and disbelief.

Yaku sniffed. “I have other interests and friends outside of volleyball, thank you very much…” he said, turning his head.

“Wow,” Yamamoto said, slowly shaking his head from side to side. “Yaku-senpai doing Shakespeare or something, could you imagine?”

“Yaku-senpai would definitely play the jester or something,” Lev chimed in. “But he’s so small would the audience even be able to see him on stage?” He wondered out loud.

Facing away from his bickering teammates, Kuroo hid his flush in the collar of his warm up jacket and willed for the heat to subside. He thought about what Yaku said—not about him being secretly into theatre, which Kuroo would definitely use in the future—but about having other friends outside of volleyball.

He knew he wasn’t as shy as he used to be, thank god, but he realized he had always kept his inner circle small. Not entirely on purpose, but those he spent the most physical proximity to tended to also become close friends—thinking fondly of his parents forcing him to meet Kenma.

He remembered how he nearly threw a tantrum when his Tou-san told him they were visiting neighbors down the street and that they had a son his age that he could play with. The thought of leaving their home—which hardly felt like home at the time of their move—to meet some stranger had filled him with such trepidation he had promised he’d practice the piano harder if he could just stay home.

However, his Tou-san gently grasped him by the shoulder and made him carry the box of oranges to Kenma’s. Multiple hours of awkward stuttering and silent game playing finally bloomed into a tentative friendship with the introduction of a volleyball and Kuroo figured that now Kenma’s more of a brother than anything else.

Outside of his team and casual school acquaintances, Kuroo thinks of Bokuto. A pleasant surprise when they met at a Tokyo training camp. With Bokuto came Akaashi and with Kuroo came Kenma and Kuroo never felt the need to expand beyond his core group. But meeting her—is different.

Different in that she stumbled into his life outside the court and he’s not sure if his fingers had ever been this sweaty from texting all day. He wondered if she’s a sign that he should actively try and meet new people but he quickly discards that idea and chalks it up to serendipity.

“—hey cut it out!” Kai yelled at Yaku lunging for Lev who was holding a volleyball in one hand, “To be or not to be, will Yaku-senpai ever grow again?”

Snapped out of his musings, Kuroo raised two hands to the group, “Alright, alright,” he tried to placate while Kai held Yaku back and Yamamoto cried tears of laughter.

“Keep going, Lev!” Yamamoto egged on.

“Too sleep, perchance to dream,” Lev continued, “that Kuroo-san will finally fix that rooster’s head of his.”

Amidst the collective roar of laughter, Kuroo snatches the volleyball from Lev’s hand and throws it at him.

.

Head lolled back against the train window, grimacing at the pull of his worn muscles, Kuroo stretched in his seat. Next to him, Kenma absentmindedly scrolled on his phone, sporadically showing Kuroo funny tidbits to pass the time on their nightly commute back home.

“Kuroo,” Kenma said as quick fingers typed out a text, “why are you taking this orchestra credit so seriously?”

Pausing for a bit, not-so-subtly reading Kenma’s text, he responded.

“I had a lesson earlier today and it seems like,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know, a disservice,” his voice rose up as a question while his brows drew together, “if I don’t give it my best shot when everyone else is so much better.”

Kuroo shrugged at Kenma’s contemplative nod.

“Anyways,” Kuroo continued, “she said thirty minutes of daily practice for a beginner will go a long way and she said we’d only really focus on the stuff for the concert so hopefully I can manage by then.”

Pausing his scrolling, Kenma looked up at Kuroo and blinked at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Kuroo narrowed his eyes at Kenma, having a growing suspicion of where his friend’s thoughts were, but ignored it in favor of watching him scroll through his phone.

Other passengers shuffled around them, coming and going onto their train and Kuroo looked out the window, frowning slightly at the last remnants of sunset fading away to cool indigos.

“Y’know, Kenma, I don’t think I want to just do volleyball for the rest of my life,” Kuroo said softly, breaking the stillness between them.

“No shit,” Kenma responded instantly over the animated beeping of his game. “Your joints definitely can’t take it for the rest of your life.”

Scoffing, Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Please--I mean, I’m going to go to college and still play, but,” he shifted his gaze towards the ceiling of the train car, “I want to learn more things.”

“Yes,” Kenma said slowly, “that makes a lot of sense.”

“I like learning new things, I always want to know more and I don’t know,” he pulled at his shirt collar. “With violin--it feels like I haven’t sucked at something for a while.”

With that Kenma snorted, thinking of when Kuroo tries to play video games with him or that horrendous volleyball club promotional poster Kuroo made that yes, he did take a picture of before crumpling and throwing it in the trash.

Kenma’s game pinged as Kuroo hugged his violin case between his legs.

“Plus,” Kuroo continued, “she said music is kind of like math with the rules and the counting, and when it all comes together like pieces of a puzzle it makes your hair rise and I feel like that’s kinda like volleyball too.”

“You get goosebumps when you solve a math problem,” Kenma repeated slowly.

“Missing the point there, but yes.” Contemplating a bit he added, “More when I balance a chemical reaction, but yeah, why?”

Kenma paused his game and set it on his lap, lips twitching.

“You’re not allowed to judge me,” Kuroo complained.

“I am,” Kenma responded quickly.

“Well quit it.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Kenma popped the knuckles of his fingers and unpaused his video game.

“No.”

They sat there for a beat, each thinking about the unknowns--the unknown power of this new boss guarding the princess in the tower and the unknown of the near future, where game plays are traded for textbooks and the hopeful future of featherlight, fleeting touches and sweet, sweet melodies.

[caguaydreams]

A thorough analysis on why Vah Medoh’s dungeon theme makes me want to cry

Yep, that’s an accurate title. Hi there! do you have a moment to hear about Breath of The Wild soundtrack? posting for yet a third time in hopes that tumblr won't hide it. I'm so tired

What started as a quick and harmless post, pretending to simply point out a couple of things, rolled downhill, out of my grasp and turned into a massive snowball of a short essay. How and why did this happen? Well, I assume a lot of people know about this song, and know what I’m talking about when I say that it makes me tear up and sob uncontrollably with every change in key as the seconds tick by and I spiral down into a dwell of misery from where I struggle to find the exit and to later recover.

……No?…..At the VERY LEAST it makes you a little uncomfortable. And I state this with much certainty, because after reading hundreds of comments everywhere online where this song is present, I picked up on a vast majority of people who expressed to feel the same way I did when it came down to our current music subject. See, statistics don’t lie… normally. So, naturally, my intrigue got the best of me. I wanted to find out exactly why this soundtrack was mercilessly stirring up everyone’s emotions, so I caved in and we ended up with this.

Buckle in, fellas.

Out of all Divine Beasts’ dungeon themes, Vah Medoh’s is the one that I can’t sit through. Not without growing antsy and wanting to turn it off as soon as possible. I find it genuinely difficult to listen to, and it’s not only because Revali is my favorite character and the song is just, plainly put, depressing, mind you.

We’ll start from 0 terminals activated.

It opens up similar to the other three dungeon themes; the pace is slow but eerie, gives off the impression that it sounds broken somehow. Something is off here, and it’s easy to figure out what that is from the get go: you’re basically entering a majestic, ancient, mechanical mausoleum, where everything went terribly wrong a century ago. Someone is gone, someone you knew, someone who was probably close to you, but it’s impossible to be sure. You don’t remember a thing, and this entire ordeal is confusing at best, and terrifying at worst. It’s your duty to make things right again.

It’s the same for all four Divine Beasts upon entering, save for the obvious little differences that separates them from each other and make them unique. Ruta’s is played on a major key, adhering to a sense of hopefulness. Naboris’s begins with a startling smashing of the piano keys, much like thunder of a sudden lighting strike. And Rudania’s theme starts threatening, dangerous, like scalding lava.

But now, back to Vah Medoh. The tone here is… alienating. The dissonant chords are all over the place, and feel disconnected, cold. It’s almost as if someone doesn’t want us to be here, or just like the elusive key, our presence is unexpected. Fitting, for a Divine Beast that’s high above the land, impossible for most to reach, yet we somehow made it. Apart from the piano, we have the occasional hint to rito culture, in the shape of a short, synthetic version of the rolled chords at the very beginning of Rito Village. A quiet reminder of where we come from. There is also, of course, the morse code distress signal, but we’ll talk more about that later.

As soon as this formal introduction is over, we finally get to the more, say, intimate stuff. Oh, and wouldn’t you know, it’s just tragic.

One terminal activated.

There’s no better short way I can describe this passage, other than anxiety-inducing. Especially when the strings come into play, and there’s two reasons I can think of why I feel this is an important thing to point out:

1- Characters and Symbolism.

I tend to associate stringed instruments, all of those which compose the violin family, with rito culture. And Revali, most specifically. In Creating a Champion we can see the early concept art and designs for all or most major characters in the game, and Revali’s highlighted rough design might be the one that changed the most throughout proper development of the character, out of all champions. He looks quite different from our usual depiction of him, it’s fascinating. What truly catches my eye, however, is the design of his bow.

You thought bird puns were bad? Oh boy, how do you feel about Revali having a bow that looks like a violin/cello/viola??? And do you need a bow to play it also??? Like, is it even an instrument or it’s nothing more than a mere fashion statement?-

Anyway. I believe this was originally going to be a not-so-subtle wink to rito culture, being heavily musically inclined as we can see and conclude for ourselves. Perhaps Revali was going to be a musician as well, now how cool it that!

Needless to say, the idea was eventually scrapped. But one detail I am CERTAIN carried over to the character we know and love today(okay not all of us love him but seriously if you dislike him why are you still here lol): strings. The association between bows(weapon) and stringed instruments, aside from being a quite clever and creative one, goes beyond the concept art and remains strong as part of Revali’s character, settling for having a presence via score. After all, Revali is a master of archery, so in that way it makes sense to keep strings as symbolism to reinforce the idea and drive it home.

But can you guess what other thing Revali excels at? That’s right: flying. He’s the only rito we know of who successfully managed to take advantage of wind currents and bend them to his will. And do you know what musical instruments are often used to evoke the feeling of flight and gale? If you thought of bowed strings, you’re correct! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much support on this topic online, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I am most certain that this is fact, although not something worth discussing on the Internet, by the looks of it.

Anyhow, violins/cellos/etc are ever-present whenever we’re close to Rito Village or dealing with a rito related mission. Attack on Vah Medoh, for example, features a sequence of strings that is meant to evoke the strong winds we’re fighting against in that particular moment(*). Another great example is The Final Trial, the song that plays at the shrine of resurrection nearing the end of the Champions’ Ballad. Preceding the activation of each terminal, you’ll notice that a new instrumental element joins the crowd: the first one corresponds to the tambourines, related to the zora and Mipha; the second one are strings, referencing the rito and Revali, etc. I tell you, the moment I heard this during the trial I almost started crying like a baby. And, although strings have a lot to do with Rito culture in general, they tie most strongly to Revali, since he was the champion of his people, and his legacy carried over throughout the years. His accomplishments became material of folk tale, a legend, a source of pride and inspiration for the village. And let’s not forget that, at the end of the day, Revali is the crucial and foremost connection Link has to this place. Other than appeasing Vah Medoh, Link’s responsibility here is to free his past fellow champion’s spirit from Ganon’s malice. The soundtrack is referencing Revali first, and by extension his devotion to his home.

With all that in mind, let’s move on to our next point:

2- Nowhere to Go.

You shoot the canons, land on top of the Divine Beast, do what you gotta do, activate the first terminal and the soundtrack goes off unannounced. Like some sort of surprise anxiety bomb. The rhythm turns fast, the melody erratic, incredibly desperate in its execution. There’s this sheer despair, fear, this feeling of suffocation almost, which are so well achieved in this particular piece.

And that is, partially, because a quite familiar resource is used here as well; one that we’ve heard before in songs such as Rito Village or Revali’s theme. You could even think of it as a motif: two notes are played in an semitone interval, repeatedly and in quick succession. For the sake of later convenience, we’ll call this the Flight Motif, now let me explain why. In Breath of The Wild, this semitone loop is often followed up by some form of resolution. In Rito Village, formerly known as Dragon Roost Island(**), that resolution consists of a graceful descent of the melody, from a high that was built up previously during the motif. On the other hand, if you listen to Revali’s theme, you’ll notice that the interval repeats itself for a couple of times as thought charging up, to then rise fast and determined into a triumphal reprise of Revali’s distinctive assigned melody. This juxtaposition supposes the difference that lays between common rito flight and Revali’s trademark ability; both musical sequences are speaking of flight, albeit in two different languages depending on the way to achieve it. While the rito traditionally use their wings to glide and let themselves get swayed by the air currents Buzz Lightyear style, Revali takes full advantage of his flying capabilities to somehow create an updraft of his own, rising meters above the ground whenever he likes or needs to.

So, now that I layed out my base of thought when focusing on the strings, this’ll be much easier to explain. We’ve settled what the instruments themselves are a symbolic representation of Revali, in this scenario specifically. He was the only one inside Vah Medoh, and the score is, in a way, a retelling of what we can vaguely assume went down here during the Great Calamity, as much as it is what sets the tone and ambience for Link’s mission. But what are we hearing exactly? What we talked about, the Flight Motif, is being repeated nonstop. And that’s the thing, remember how I mentioned that this sequence usually finds resolution at the end? Well. Inside Vah Medoh,… it never does. The melody picks up in numerous occasions, but it’s not nearly as graceful, or calculated, as we’ve grown used to by now. It gets tangled and lost, and then inevitably falls to the ground in disarray. The pattern repeats itself, reaching higher after a handful of failed attempts, but no matter how much it tries, the cycle never ends. What used to tell us about flying and freedom in the skies, has morphed into an almost sinister musical incarnation of a tornado, and there is no way out of this trap. What do you think it must feel like to mindlessly flap your wings against wind currents so strong and violent, that it is impossible to get anywhere nearby, let alone take off every time you lose your balance. Or every time you’re shot down. On top of that, trying to aim and fight back in whatever short breaks and opportunities you get, at an enemy that’s much more powerful and relentless, who’s using your own element as a weapon to destroy you… it’s a risk Revali surely had to take in order to put up a fight. Even knowing full well that the odds were not in his favour, that he was most likely going to lose this battle, that he was going to die. Let that sink in. I’ll skip the activation of the second terminal, since there’s barely any change registered in the theme in general. So-

Three terminals activated.

I know this post is supposed to be a breakdown of the song purely, but that doesn’t mean there’s no place for a little theorising, and the following scrutiny is also quite relevant for our discussion. Bear with me for a bit. I’ve read almost everywhere about people’s most common interpretations on the Divine Beasts SOS signals, and how everyone thinks that Revali’s coming in last (a few seconds later than the other champions) has to do with him holding on for longer. Or, also, overconfident as he was, it means that the idea of calling out for additional support didn’t cross his mind until it was too late, and that’s why the beeping sounds more frantic and panicked than the others’ when it does appear. After giving it some thought myself, I’m betting on the latter option holding more ground, and that’s not all. I want to touch upon a detail of the piece that I never acknowledged was there until very recently(after seeing myself obliged to listen to this song fully and a handful of times, suffering every minute of it for the sole purpose of this analysis. It’s okay I didn’t need my heart anyway). Soon after activating the third terminal, the SOS signal disappears, or grows distant and faint enough that we can’t make it out from the background anymore. In its place, we’re confronted by this… shrill, piercing and painfully slow tune. It sounds synthetic, artificial, devoid of life. And it’s funny, because you know what it reminds me of? I’ll tell you:

A heartbeat flatline sound.

And I want to highlight that this doesn’t happen in any of the other Divine Beasts themes. All their SOS signals carry on, but Medoh’s is no more. This abrupt stop, followed by this bone-chilling tune…. makes me believe that Revali was the first of the champions to fall. A few days ago I came across SuperZeldaGirl’s video on a similar topic, theorising that this could very much be the case. There is not much evidence to support this claim other than some visual cues that could be suggesting to it, but after I found this in the soundtrack, and if we’re to rely on it for anything, I believe Revali was either the first champion to be ambushed by Ganon, or well…. the first to be killed. It is plausible, because short after Calamity Ganon unleashes his power, Revali parts from the group and flies directly to Vah Medoh, and he very well could’ve been the first pilot to arrive.

On this note…. we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves, when Age of Calamity provides long-awaited answers to many of our questions.

Four terminals activated.

An interesting melody is being played on what, for me, would qualify as a glockenspiel or a celesta, which are keyboard based instruments that produce a sound similar to that of a music box(***). If you want to pay more attention to it, I suggest listening to Vetrom’s Instrumental Mix Cover of the theme, where they practically zoom in on this part of the song (keep in mind that it uses the All Terminals’ time signature so it’s being played faster). For some reason, this particular addition makes me feel profound empathy. The sound of this instrument could be described as cute or childlike, magical, even. It is more often than not used to represent innocence, but I highly doubt that’s specifically the intention here. Much like the leading strings’ melody, the melodic contour of this one is trapped in a loop of going up and down constantly, but the difference is that this time around it sounds more under control. And much more uniform too. It doesn’t lose focus or takes risky, fruitless leaps, but rather chooses to stay on a path of waves that consistently rises and falls without taking detours. Like a determined battle strategy, giving it your all. You fall, but get back up again, and try again, and again. It reminds me of Revali’s approach to training, being persistent to the point of overworking himself. He had discipline nailed down to a tee, which I also think served him well in combat. It’s not just about being hard on yourself, either, but being confident and having complete faith in your abilities; believing that you’ll make it.  For this to appear now, that the SOS signal is almost completely gone, is significant because it means that by this point, being so close to success on Link’s behalf, the music is sparing genuine encouragement for once, in spite of the tragic outcome of the past and the danger of the current situation. But, in all honesty, this is probably just me reading too much into it. Perhaps the composer just thought this addition sounded pretty bitching and there’s not much else to it, which is completely fine. Although, intentional or not, sometimes coincidences do happen, and at the end of the day, interpretations like this are a form of appreciation for an artist’s work and for what they can unknowingly accomplish.

All terminals activated.

This is the moment when the song finally lightens up. Notice how the strings abandon the wave pattern for a more even contour. The beat quickens, the melody stabilizes. At first I thought, coming from our flight analogy, that this meant a cease in movement entirely, and it was partly one of the reasons why the song in general makes me anxious. But thinking about it now, …there is something different going on here. The strings are playing on a steady rhythm. It resembles a march, it’s like a pounding heart. It’s a lively, hopeful statement. And what’s interesting is that, up until this point, there was so much fear and helplessness present in the score, even going as far as to reach a dead end when we activate the third terminal. But that’s it, isn’t it? the music just keeps going further. 

It’s saying: this isn’t over yet. Even after complete and utter defeat, there’s still hope and an underlying wish to overcome this predicament, and we started to hear this as soon as a fourth terminal is activated. The melody we previously talked about? it’s here as well, and its beat is much more daring and confident.

And I just want to say… this is so powerful. Because this sentiment is deeply tied to the game’s story and Revali’s character arc. You see, he is introduced as someone who resents Link for being the manifestation of his failure, in a way, because Revali has trained arduously his whole life to be where he is, to be recognised. And yet… this hylian gets chosen by a magic sword and some tale of divine destiny and, apparently, that’s all it takes for him to be deemed the hero that will save the land. In Revali’s eyes, Link has done nothing to prove his worth before him, so it is easy to see why he despises the silent knight so much; he is yet another individual that was born into their destiny. Meanwhile, Revali has had to build his reputation from the ground up, earning him a place among the greatest warriors of Hyrule, and even then he finds himself surrounded by people who grew up praised for being born gifted.  We can see how Revali is the odd one out, and can map out the reason for him acting so antagonistic towards Link.

But once we’re on Medoh, things start to change. When Link enters the Divine Beast, Revali greets him with disdain, as per usual. Of course, Link has no recollection of whatever happened a hundred years ago, other than a small glimpse of the rito champion talking down to him, a memory that came and went in a flash. So as Link, we more than expect Revali to act cold and mocking, which he does. He provides us with as little help as needed in order to free Medoh, reluctantly, shielding his wounded pride over having to wait for Link, of all people, to come to their rescue. But you can hear him starting to open up bit by bit(I wish I could translate his dialogue directly from Japanese but I’ll make do with a couple of dubs and other numerous sources from translators online). With each little step Link takes towards success, activating the terminals, the perception Revali has of him shifts from one of resentment to one of genuine admiration and respect. By the end of it all, he is willing to not only cheer on Link during the boss battle, but to trust him with his life’s worth achievement. And once left alone, he admits defeat and lets go of his bitterness, realising that he was wrong to underestimate Link, and later wishes he could’ve had a chance to measured up to him. To take all of this into consideration and work with it in the soundtrack I think it’s genuinely splendid. And for once, I am grateful that it ends in somewhat of a positive note that puts my soul to rest. I still have a hard time listening to the first two thirds of the entire thing, but now I can look forward to a hopeful and earnestly heartening conclusion for all the pain that this composition puts me in. I must admit that it’s beautifully and brilliantly crafted, and that I am enamoured of it regardless.

That is why I wrote roughly 4k words about it! I hate myself!

If you’re as crazy as me about the soundtrack of this game, I recommend you read the published cd interview with the composers themselves! if you haven’t already. I just found it yesterday(unbelievable but it’s true) and… after writing all of this and checking it out, I felt validated. It sure is a one of a kind feeling. 

Alright folks, we’ve made it to the end. Congratulations for sticking around and thanks being interested in my nonsensical rambling! 

I also hope that you, like me, will now be unable to listen to bowed strings without being reminded of Revali. Good luck!

————– Annotations/Sidenotes/Whatever

(*)The Flight Motif(in point number 2) is also present in this track. We can hear it in the background right after the Rito leitmotif, as per usual. It starts with a clarinet, I think, before the strings take the lead. (**) Note that the Flight Motif only comes into play in the Breath of The Wild rendition of the song. (***)I strongly associate this instrument with Mipha, given that it is used in her theme, in every “response” to the initial melody. It can be heard in Attack On Vah Ruta, as well, it enters the scene when the notes Mi(E) and Fa(F) are played. The initial tune, Si and Do(B and C) are played on a clarinet or oboe, wind instruments just like the flute that leads Sidon’s respective theme. The celesta can also be heard inside Vah Ruta, activating the first terminal…. when the song really takes a turn just like Medoh’s. Mipha has nothing to do with the song of this analysis, however. We must understand that instruments, although they are attached to characters/various story elements in some cases, can always be used outside of that context, for that is the nature of an orchestral soundtrack. If you have this many tools at your disposal, you will make good use of them.

[apexqueenie]

Hi I would to request Genos relationship hcs with a sweet so who loves giving him affection (but knows how to give space), and loves showing him all the human things he’s missed out! Thank you!!

Our favorite cyborg boiii yaaaaaaaasss❤️

•Even though you’ve been with Genos for a year and a half now, it seems like he’s way more robot than human.

•Still, it doesn’t stop you from trying your best to enjoy things with him.

•He seems to think it’s odd that you like cuddling with him, despite the fact that you’re basically hugging metal, but silently likes it when you stroke his hair. Probably because his head has actual human nerves.

•Because you like going out food tasting, he’s had doctor Kuseno modify his tongue to identify each and every different ingredient, saving it in his memory system so that he could make it later in case you were to crave it again.

•You thought at first that he didn’t like PDA because he wouldn’t really respond to your pecks on the cheek or hand holding, so you stopped for a while. He later asked if you were embarrassed around him in public, and you explained that you thought he didn’t like it. Turns out the poor bby gets flustered and doesn’t know how to respond back, but he loves every bit of attention you give him.

•Tries every now and then to do something cute for you like installing fireworks into his hand cannons for New Years. He found out later that they actually make really good flash bombs against monsters.

•Genos had overheard that you said you wanted to try a white elephant game for the hero association Christmas party, so instead of buying a gift for the gift exchange game, he found an actual albino elephant and gifted it to you. It’s now in an animal shelter and is protected from poachers.

•You often say that you think kids are kind of cute, and that you “wouldn’t mind a little Genos running around”. He took that the wrong way and desperately asked if his size was intimidating to you. You just laughed and said that he was perfect the way he is and made a mental note to have the “baby talk” with him later. (mostly cuz you wondered if it was even possible).

•Doesn’t understand the point of horror movies. He tries really hard to stay quiet, but he can’t help but point out obvious flaws in the movie like “why would they explore the basement? They don’t have any kind of weapons.” Or “there’s a window, they can just smash it and run away”. You still find it cute, it makes the movie a bit less scary knowing Genos would know exactly what to do in that situation.

•You love walking around with your boyfriend on his days off, but you hate the flirtatious stares from other people, especially the girls. You hate it and sometimes get noticeably upset. When Genos sees you upset, he tries to gently hold on to you somewhere, like your hand. The first time it happened though, the first thing he could lay his eyes on was your glorious butt. Naturally, he didn’t think too much about it because you’ve grabbed his ass a couple of times before, so he slips his hand in the back pocket of your jeans and gives your bootay a gentle squeeze. It makes you relax almost instantly. He does this every time now, and let’s just say, the other girls don’t like this too much:)

•Genos doesn’t like giving you already dead flowers, they’ll rot away in a matter of a few days anyways. Instead, he’ll take note of your favorite trees when the two of you go out for hikes and *ahem*, carefully uproot them, placing them in your favorite park when you're not looking. This’ll often have you wondering whether those trees were always there, or why some trees look oddly familiar.

•Overall, Genos really loves you. His loyalty is unmatched and he’d gladly tear his body apart over and over again just to keep you safe. He knows you really hate seeing him broken to pieces, but you’re alive, and that’s what matters most to him. Be gentle wit this boi please, he don’t know what he doin half the time🥺

Submit a request!

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[twoidiotwriters1]

Just one chance (Diego Hargreeves x Fem! Reader)

A/N: I'm really excited because a lot of people liked Diego's previous one-shot so ... here's another one. it has nothing to do with the other, I hope you like it, thank you soooo much for reading. <3 - Val

And btw, Thank you very much for the 300 followers, REQUESTS ARE OPEN ONCE AGAIN !!   Check the post we made for the celebration.

Words: 3,035

Diego walks through the corridors of the house. He sighs, taking courage, and knocks on the door. When it opens, his sister Vanya is at the other side.

“Hey, Diego,” She says with a smile.

"I need your help, it’s urgent," He answers nervously. She frowns and lets him walk into her room.

"What's up?" Diego sits on the bed and plays with his hands. "I've never seen you so nervous…”

"Nervous? Me? Please,” He scoffs.

"What? You’re in trouble?" Vanya stands in front of him and crosses her arms.

"Something like that," he finally says.

Vanya knows what her brother does at night. Using his skill with knives and the arduous training everyone had in their childhood, Diego takes it upon himself to aid helpless people.

"Do you need me to call the police?"

"No, not that kind of problem,” he says wiping his hands on his pants.

“Okay, I don't mean to sound rude, but you're not giving useful information. So maybe you better ask someone else for help?”

"No!" Vanya startles, pulling away a bit. "Shit, I'm sorry– I didn't want to scare you, just that- uh, I-" He growls. “You're the only one who can help me, Vanya.”

The relationship she has with her brothers is somewhat complicated. With Diego, she’s sure that she’s not Diego's first choice when he needs help, so this is confusing.

"What's going on?" She sits next to him on the bed.

"I'm not good at these things,” He answers through gritted teeth. "But I’m desperate, this’ll be my last try,” Vanya raises her eyebrows. “I have problems with... girls?"

Both of them are silent for a few seconds.

"Since when? How come only I can help you?"

"Oh come on, you're the only one with a stable relationship!”

She can't help a little smile.

"Sissy is not my girlfriend.”

"But you haven't ruined it yet, you're the one that has lasted the longest out of all.”

Maybe that's true.

"And Allison? She’s still with Raymond.”

Diego makes a face and scratches the back of his neck.

"She wouldn't help me for this.”

“Why?" Vanya now understands the big problem. “Oh… Are you sure you want to try?"

"You already regret wanting to help me?"

“No, it's just that- well… are we talking about Y/N? Allison's best friend?” She asks.

They met Y/N when they were twelve years old and since then she and Allison have been inseparable, actually, they all like her and over time she’s gained the trust of the Hargreeves.

"But doesn't she hate you?"

Diego nods, feeling hopeless. It’s true that for his last -perhaps only- opportunity, he needs Vanya's help and her attitude is not helping at all, or at least that’s what he thinks.

Vanya grins and Diego looks at her in disbelief.

"I'm not laughing at you, idiot,” She smiles. "I thought you’d already given up with her.”

"I guess I can still attempt something, but this is my last try,” He says.

From the moment Diego saw Y/N, he thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his life, but every time he tried to talk to her the girl would walk away or try to avoid him, so the only solution a 12-year-old could think of was to tease her; from pulling her hair, making fun, throwing knives at her -without hurting her- and as they grew older insults were added. In a way, Diego's plan worked, Y/N noticed him more, but it was only to yell at him. All this caused Diego's feelings for her to grow faster. He explained it to Vanya and she laughed again.

“So, all those bruises, yelling and insults were because you like her?” She says.

"Hey, I was just a kid!” He defends. "Now's different and I really want to do things right."

His sister is surprised, this is not a game, Diego’s asking her for help to conquer a girl and Vanya thinks it can work.

"I just want to add, I always believed you’d be a good couple.”

Diego's eyes light up.

“You'll help me?"

“That's right, brother. But you have to follow my lead…”

"I promise. Thank you, Sis! " he hugs Vanya very tightly making her squeal.

Later the doorbell rings, Allison's voice sounds soon after.

"Oh, that's right,” says Vanya with a smile, looking at her brother. “Y/N'll have dinner with us.”

Diego's breath hitches and his muscles tense.

"Oh.”

"First lesson, Diego."

***

After a few hours, they are whispering in the main hall, Diego’s about to panic as Vanya tries to reassure him.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"First, breathe,” she says. “It’s only dinner, relax. You can start with compliments, maybe of what she’s wearing, things like that.”

"Ok, ok, I can do that,” answers Diego.

“Well, let's go.”

Vanya takes his hand and they both enter the dining room, the other members are already waiting. Luther is the first, and on his left side are Allison, Y/N and then Ben, opposite to Luther is Klaus, then Five. Vanya tells Diego to sit across from Y/N and she sits at the end of the table.

Diego feels his legs shaking when he sees the girl for whom he’s trying his best not to scream. She’s laughing at something Allison said, the boy can't help but smile when he sees her happy. He sits down and waits patiently for dinner.

For a few minutes he only allows himself to admire her without saying anything, everything that Vanya said to him disappeared and he can't help but think how great it’d be the reason why she laughs, to take her hand under the table, whisper in her ear and kiss her cheek…

But his fantasies are interrupted by Vanya, who clears her throat to get their attention. While Luther helps his mother serve food, the others talk different things.

"It's good to see you again, Y/N,” says Vanya looking at the girl and she smiles at her.

“Same here, Vanya. How’s Sissy?"

"She’s fine, actually, we've thought about going to see a movie, any recommendations?"

Vanya could remember that Allison's best friend wanted to see a movie, and she had no one to go see it with, because none of her friends liked it, but she knew a certain man that would be willing to go without problems. The girl's eyes lit up, but then she grimaced.

"Oh yeah, they released a good one, but I'm not sure you’ll like it.”

"Are you still crying about it?" Says Five entering the conversation. Y/N looks at him offended.

"Shut up, I thought you’d be my salvation, but I only suffered from your betrayal!”

"That rhymed!" Klaus claps and Five rolls his eyes.

“None of your siblings want to go, but if you do, can I go with you? I don't mind being third wheeling…”

That's Diego's chance, but he doesn't say anything, so Vanya lightly kicks his leg.

"I could go with you!”

Everyone at the table looks at him in surprise and Vanya just wants to hit him again. Apparently yelling wasn’t part of Diego's plan. Y/N raises both eyebrows and huffs.

“Yes, right. I don't want you to be throwing popcorn at me during the whole movie, Diego. And surely you’d be talking all the time,” She rolls her eyes and Diego lowers his head. He knows the reason why she thinks that. It wouldn't be the first time that a movie went wrong because of their arguments.

Ben could notice how uncomfortable his brother is, so he decides to change the subject and now everyone forgets what happened. Vanya leans over to talk to Diego.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, your help was useless!”

“You have to slow down, Diego. Baby steps, come on, give her a compliment!”

"Yes, okay,” He says nodding and they both turn to her.

Diego takes the time to think through his next move. Everyone has finished eating. When Diego leaves the dishes in the kitchen, he returns to the table and sees Y/N alone, perhaps waiting for her friend, so he approaches a little and notices her outfit.

He clears his throat to get her attention and smiles, hiding all the anxiety he feels.

"Hey, that blouse suits you very well, it matches your eyes,” While Diego expects a positive response, he receives the opposite.

"If that's your way to check out my breasts, let me tell you it's a pathetic attempt.”

Diego straightens up.

"No, no, no, no, n-o is not what I- uh, I didn't mean to," He stutters and behind him comes a laugh.

"My pathetic brother,” says Allison reaching her friend's side. Y/N huffs and they both leave the house.

Diego is startled when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Ok, that went wrong,” says Vanya. "Maybe you can offer to take her home?" She tries.

 “She'll probably think I'm going to kidnap her," he says with a grimace.

***

The next day Diego and Vanya talk for hours about all the possibilities in which his comments can go. After last night, Diego can't take any risks.

"Hey, it's not my fault that your favorite hobby was teasing her."

"I know! I know I was an idiot, but I didn't think this was going to happen,” He says.

"Now we can only hope for a miracle."

Diego complains again and hides his face with a pillow.

"Vanya, have you seen my skirt?" Klaus says entering the room. "Trouble in paradise, Dieguito?"

Diego restrains himself from throwing a knife at his brother.

"No, Klaus, I haven't seen it, are you going out?"

"Oui, mademoiselle. Y/N and Allison invited me to a party- Oh! There it is…”

Klaus grabs the skirt from the floor and leaves the room and as soon as the door closes, Diego sits on the bed and takes off his pillow. Both siblings share a hopeful look.

***

“Now, tell me how the hell am I going to be able to talk to her if she's with an idiot,” says Diego speaking louder so that Vanya could hear him above the music.

"As soon as she’s alone, you must go at it,” she answers.

These days have been stressful for the boy, he cannot believe his bad luck and he’s not used to this. Normally he has no problems with girls, he’s dated and even had a serious relationship with Patch, why is it so difficult with Y/N?

Hours pass and it comes to the moment when Diego is left alone on the balcony of the host's house, cursing every happy couple that passes by, and snorting every time he sees Klaus with a different drink. But everything changes when he hears a voice complaining near the balcony.

The boy walks away from the railing and toward the doors, only to find Y/N yelling at the boy she was with earlier. Diego doesn’t know what is happening, but he can get an idea of ​​how it will end, especially when he sees that the boy takes Y/N by the neck and forces her to kiss him. Anger runs through the boy's body and he's about to go and hit the jerk, but halfway he stops totally shocked.

Y/N steps away from the idiot and punches him hard on his nose, causing him to fall to the ground and scream covering his face with his hand. Everyone around him reaches out to help and see what happens. The girl takes advantage of the opportunity, runs out of the scene, straight to the balcony passing Diego without noticing him.

The boy follows her, he can see that she’s holding her wrist and complaining, so he runs around the house and gets a bag with ice as if they were chasing him, he returns just as fast.

“Hey,” He catches her attention and she looks up with teary eyes.

"Diego, please, not now," She says in a tired voice.

"I brought you ice, for your hand,” He says quickly.

She looks at him and nods raising her injured hand. Diego gently takes it and puts the ice on it. He tries to ignore the chill that runs through his body at feeling her soft hand.

"Does it hurt too much?" he asks trying to distract her.

"I've never hit someone before," She says with a grimace. Diego smiles sideways, he can't help but be proud.

"Maybe I could teach you one day, I'm an expert in punching and receiving every day…” He says without much thought and she laughs slightly.

"I've only seen you fight with your brothers, but something tells me that you are not lying," She adds with amusement.

"It was a great blow, surely he deserved it.”

"Some people don't know what ‘No’ means" She sighs.

"I think it’s clear to him now.”

"I didn't know you liked parties," She replies, looking at him.

"Today I had a good reason to like them,” He shrugs.

"A girl?" When he nods she laughs again. "I think it's the longest conversation we've had without insulting each other…”

Diego laughs too.

"In my defense, I've tried to have a civil conversation with you for a couple of days, but you weren't helping much,” She frowns.

"I know you well, Diego. You always try to make fun of me.”

His smile disappears.

“I don't want to do it anymore, Y/N,” His serious face confuses her.

"What are you talking about?"

Before Diego could answer, Allison reaches his side and checks on her friend, pushing her brother away. Y/N assures her that she's fine, mentioning Diego's help, but Allison doesn't care.

"I'm glad but– uh, we have a problem.”

"I'm not in the mood to have another one,” complains the girl.

“Ray’s car just broke and we have to go with some friend of his, I have to take Klaus before we lose him and Vanya and Sissy left already, so... there's no place for you,” says Allison with a grimace, “Sorry.”

Y/N complains taking the ice from Diego's hands.

"Are you serious?"

"I'm sorry, really, Ray said that he offered his place for you, but you know he lives far away…”

Y/N doesn't live very far, but she can't go alone in the dark and Diego knows that.

“I'll take you home,” He offers.

“Diego…” starts Allison, but he cuts her off.

“It's not a game, I promise. Come on, I can't let her walk alone, I can watch over her,” He puffs out his chest.

"Okay, but if something else happens, I won't hesitate in saying the magic words to you, brother,” threatens Allison. The boy stirs uncomfortably knowing very well what the magic words are.

Both friends say goodbye and Allison returns to the party. It doesn't take long for her, her boyfriend, and brother to leave.

"Do you want to go?" Diego asks shyly and she nods.

***

The two of them walk slowly towards Y/N's house in a slightly awkward silence. She keeps holding her wrist.

"What did you mean before?" she asks suddenly.

"What?"

"When we were on the balcony, you said you didn't want to make fun of me anymore.”

Diego fortunately remembers Vanya's advices: ‘Don't be too hasty’, ‘Tell her how you feel when you get the chance’, ‘Don't scare her’, ‘Be honest’, ‘No, you can't just kiss her and then run away’.

He shakes his head and keeps walking.

“Sorry for being an idiot all these years. You may not believe me, but I want to try to fix things with you.”

"How?"

"Good question,” He replies with a grimace. “I don't know, these days I've tried to be nice to you, but you think I'm still playing– I don't blame you!” He raises his hands. “You have many reasons, but– I just want to say that…” He sighs. “I don't want to continue with that.”

She frowns in confusion, but also wants to know more.

"Why do you suddenly want to do it?"

"It's not something spontaneous, I- uh…” He fidgets. "Since I've known you, I wanted to be your friend and I thought you were beautiful and all,” He says with honesty. "But you always did your best to ignore me, so I did all those things to get your attention.”

Confession takes weight off his shoulders. Y/N stays silent, thinking about Diego's words. Without realizing it, they both arrive at her house. The girl steps forward a bit, but Diego takes her free hand and draws her.

"Listen, I know it's a lot to think about and you might not believe me, but I really want to be with you."

She knows that he’s not lying, Diego had never dared to talk to her like that, but there’s still something that prevents her from trusting him.

"What are you really asking me, Diego?"

He thinks about it and smiles sideways.

“I’m asking for an opportunity. Just one, you won't regret it.”

Y/N laughs at his confident demeanor, then he gets a little closer, looks directly into her eyes and puts a lock behind her ear with gentl e fingers.

"When we were kids,” She says, taking a step back. "I used to walk away from you because I thought you were cute, I liked you, but when you wanted to talk… I’d get nervous and run away,” She admits. "Then you started teasing me so I thought you hated me and eventually I gave up,” She shrugs.

Diego can't believe what he's hearing and feels stupider. He could’ve had the girl of his dreams much sooner if only things weren't wrong. They’re both silent, she waits for an answer but Diego continues to panic. Finally she sighs again.

"One chance, Hargreeves.” She points out and Diego's eyes lit up.

"Only one,” He says avoiding the urge to jump for joy. She shakes her head, but smiling sweetly.

Y/N goes up the stairs of her house and before opening the door she turns back to find Diego doing a very strange dance. As soon as he notices her look, he stops and smiles innocently.

"Good night, angel," He says, smirking.

"Good night, Diego.”

Would you like a second part?

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE, MORE BLOOD Vol. 5: Mukami Yuma [Track 2]

Original title: ユーマのいる教室

Source: Diabolik Lovers More, More Blood Vol. 5 Mukami Yuma [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Translator’s note: Translating this CD alongside Yuma’s MB route is giving me a culture shock because it is almost like two entirely different guys. It really shows just how much the franchise has changed compared to its earlier days. (That’s saying a lot considered the MMB CDs aren’t even particularly ‘fluffy’) I know some people prefer the darker/more intense versions of the boys but I think I personally would rather have this Yuma. The more aggressive one would probably kill me just by poking me with his little finger. xD

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5 + Epilogue

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 2: The Classroom where Yuma is

*Scribble scribble*

“Argh...Aah...? Ugh.”

*Flip*

You walk up to Yuma, asking what he’s doing.

“...Aah? Oh, it’s you. What, ya ask? I’m doin’ yesterday’s homework. When I told the teacher I didn’t do it, he wouldn’t let me go home until I finish this shit. I could just ignore it and leave anyway, but then Ruki’s gonna give me an earful.”

*Scribble scribble*

“I’m copyin’ his right now.”

You tell him he shouldn’t do that.

“It’s fine! If I try and do it myself, it’s gonna take a fuckin’ eternity.”

You ask if he will go home later then.

“Nah. I’m almost done. So wait there, ‘kay? I’ve been asked to run an errand too, so let’s walk home together.”

You nod.

“Ah, speakin’ of which! Kou doodled yer face and it turned out so funny and ugly, I’ll show it to ya as well!”

*Flip flip*

*Thud*

“Uhm...Where did it put it again...? It’s gone...!? Where did it go!? I could have sworn I put it in here...”

You tell off Yuma for making a mess.

“Aah...? There’s stuff ‘round my desk? Oh shut up. It’s not that bad it’s worth cleanin’ up. Besides, when I run out of space, I just use the desk of the dude sittin’ next to me so who cares.”

You look at the desk next to his, frowning. 

“Yeah. ‘Bout half of the stuff on that desk is mine as well. I borrow it whenever I’m runnin’ low on space.”

You shake your head in disapproval. 

“Who cares? They always let me borrow it with a smile on their face.”

You offer to clean it up.

“Why should I clean it up? Just forget ‘bout that guy’s desk.”

You insist.

“Who cares ‘bout some other person’s desk? Cleanin’ up is a big pain in the ass...”

You start cleaning it up yourself.

*Rustle rustle*

“Didn’t I just tell ya it’s fine? Why are ya so worried ‘bout some other dude?”

Yuma leans in close. 

“You’re my woman, right? In that case, don’t be thinkin’ ‘bout anythin’ or anyone but me. ...Or are ya tryin’ to butter up to this guy, hopin’ to seduce him afterwards? Am I not enough to satisfy ya?”

You shake your head. 

“Then just leave it be. It pisses me off so stop cleanin’.”

*Rustle*

“Besides...You haven’t forgotten ‘bout our lil’ bet, right? I said I’d tease ya until ya start voluntarily beggin’ for my fangs, right? Are ya sure ya should leave yer back wide open like this?”

You flinch.

“You’ve realized? What I’m gonna do to ya now, that is.”

He runs his hands across your back.

“I’ll punish ya for worryin’ ‘bout some other guy. A penalty to ensure ya won’t ever pull this sorta shit again.”

You try and break free from his grip. 

*Rustle rustle*

“...Ugh. No point in strugglin’. I’m holdin’ ya from behind after all. No way I’m lettin’ ya go.”

*Rustle*

“Come on. Put yer hands on the desk.”

*Thud*

“Well then...Where should I suck ya? For example...How ‘bout I latch onto this throat over here?”

*Rustle rustle*

“No? Then would ya prefer yer legs? ...Like yer thighs, the softest part where my fangs would just sink right in.”

*Rustle rustle*

“Also...From the groin (1) would be nice as well. Pretty sure I’d be able to indulge in plenty of sweet, delicious blood.”

*Rustle*

"...And it’s quite the embarrassin’ place. However, suckin’ yer blood while yer face is turnin’ red from shame would be simply irresistable.”

You protest.

“Aah? Ya don’t want me to suck from yer legs either? Ya sure are selfish, tellin’ me ‘no’ this whole time...It has to be a punishment, remember? Geez, it can’t be helped. Come on, face this way.”

You turn your head towards Yuma.

“...And then, get on top of me.”

*Thud*

*Rustle rustle*

“Make sure to keep yer arms wrapped ‘round my back, ‘kay? If not, you’ll fall from the chair.”

You ask Yuma what he is doing. 

“I got tired of yer whinin’, so I’m gonna suck ya gently like ya want. Besides...If it feels good, it might actually be harder on ya. By the way...Yer body has gotten really heated. I haven’t even sucked ya yet, but you’ve gotten quite worked up. One bite might just push ya over the edge (2), don’t ya think? Come on...I’ll suck from yer nape. Ya better focus on the sensation of my fangs sinkin’ into yer flesh...”

Yuma bites you.

“Mm...”

*Sluuuurp*

“Nn...”

*Sluuuurp*

“ーー Haah! Just as I thought...Those are some hella sweet cries. We’ve only just gotten started...I’ll be takin’ my sweet time suckin’ yer blood...”

You whimper softly.

“Hehe. Ya can’t get enough of the thought of that, can ya? Even if ya keep quiet...I can tell by yer expression. Well...Don’t ya think it’s ‘bout time ya start beggin’ for it yerself? Tell me that ya want my fangs. Or else...I won’t ever let ya go.”

You shake your head.

“Che...Ya still won’t say it? You’re so damn persistent. In that case, this place is up next...”

*Rustle*

“I’ll suck from yer wrist so ya get a good view. Pretty sure this’ll make ya realize just how badly yer body craves me, whether ya like it or not.”

Yuma bites your wrist.

*Sluuuurp*

“Nn...”

You pull out the hourglass.

*Cling*

“...Haah? ...Aah? The fuck’s this sound? Ah! Ya turned back time again, didn’t ya!? ...Fuck!”

*Tick tock - Tick tock - Tick tock - Tick tock*

ーーー

You are running down the street.

“...Oi! How long ya gonna keep on runnin’ for!?”

Yuma catches up to you.

“...Woah there! Gotcha! Ya made a run for it as soon as we rewinded, we’ve made it all the way to the city!”

You try and explain.

“No ‘buts!’ ...No, whatever. I’ve kind of lost interest, so we’ll continue our lil’ game later. ...For today, I guess we can just do our shoppin’ and head home. Come on, I brought yer bag along as well.”

*Rustle*

You grab your bag and thank him.

“Haah...”

The two of you start walking.

“That bein’ said, this challenge is takin’ longer than I expected. I was convinced ya’d bend in no time but you’re surprisingly sturdy? Well, you’ve been usin’ the hourglass tho so it isn’t really fair. Without that lil’ thing, the score would be long settled by now.”

You protest. 

“Whatever. Anyway, let’s head to the supermarket.”

You ask him what you have to buy.

“Ingredients for today’s dinner. Also some seasonings. I’m droppin’ by the pharmacy as well. Azusa’s runnin’ low on bandages so we gotta stock up on some new ones. Also...I wanna look for some cotton gloves as well.”

You raise a brow, asking if he really needs those. 

“Not for me, but tiny ones for ya. I’d be convenient to have them layin’ ‘round for whenever ya help out in the garden, right?”

You agree, smiling.

“...No need to thank me. Come on, let’s get goin’.”

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) 付け根 or ‘tsukene’ is always a difficult word to translate for me. It is basically the ‘root’ of your leg, being the part where it connect to the crotch & hips.

[scammydoesstuff]

So about that 'Blue Bloods' episode…

I recently saw something come across my dash regarding Alex Brightman’s guest appearance on the season 11 episode of 'Blue Bloods' (The Common Good) and it reignited the vehement response I had to the episode as a whole. And, since I have this blog now, I figured…fuck it. I need to rant about it.

So that's what this is.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, of course. This show is so clearly not for me and I acknowledge that, but I went to school for and got my degree in creative writing and so much of this episode pissed me off from a narrative perspective and I just really need to talk about it. Putting it under a Read More, though, so you can ignore me if you’d like while I rage to no one in particular. Apologies in advance if you choose to read on. I'm super long-winded. Luckily I don't have pictures and this is more of just a lot of text, so…it could be longer?

So, to begin, I’ll freely admit that I’d never seen an episode of 'Blue Bloods' before this and I’ve not watched it since. I mean, if the rest of the episodes are as badly written as this one, I have no interest to either, but I digress.

Overall my main problem with the episode was how desperately it avoided ‘showing’ over ‘telling’ and, as a visual medium, that’s kind’ve a big deal. We were told pretty much every detail that was presented to us. These people love to hear themselves talk, but do little to actually show things as they happen and I believe a part of that has to do with the focus of the show itself, which is definitely unique to this brand of television. By that, I just mean that it’s not the format I might’ve expected from a show like this. Most cop shows give a lot of focus to the cases, and the intrigue you get with the characters is how they apply their own skills and knowledge to solve them, with the hi-jinks they get into along the way being more of a bonus.

This is not that kind of show.

No, 'Blue Bloods' as a show is way more interested in the cops and their familial ties than it is about the actual job that they’re doing, as shown prominently with the political plot of this episode which was also very focused on the relationship between Tom Selleck’s character and his daughter and the wholly unrelated dinner scene where they talk about lent for 2 and a half minutes and acknowledge nothing else that happened in the episode. This show doesn’t care about the job of being a cop so much as it cares about the cops themselves.

Which would be fine if I gave a shit about cops, but I don’t.

You could argue that the mentor plot is the exception to that, but that entire situation had no real consequences for the cop in question, Jamie, abusing his power. It was entirely focused on how the situation affected him and how it was fine that he’d nudged this kid to get information which ultimately led to the arrest of Dion's brother, and Dion quitting the program. Hell, if Jamie had, in his final scene with Dion, owned up to his abuse of power and left the program — to then urge Dion to rejoin so that he can have that positive outlet in his life without him there — I would’ve been way more okay with it, but Jamie faces no consequences past ‘I don’t wanna see you anymore’, which I was never convinced he actually cared about in the slightest. There's nothing cathartic about it, it's just shitty and left me feeling frustrated at the lack of consequences for the cop.

But hey, you prolly don’t wanna read me going on and on about those parts. You prolly wanna know why I hate it despite Alex’s plot — which I fully expected to love because he’s perfect and gorgeous even when he’s playing a bad guy and he was just so adorable in his lil suit and they let him keep the scruff this time, and he was all handsome an— I need to stop. That could go on forever.

Anyway, to put it simply; it was bad, but I'll definitely explain why.

Now, I don’t think any of the guests in this episode necessarily did a bad job. They still acted well enough for what they were given. I just think they had a shit script that wasn’t interested in that story line. I mentioned at the top of this that this show cared more about telling than showing and that’s a huge problem when you want me to buy a character being the culprit in your murder plot. I need evidence, not anecdotes. Cuz, yeah, by the end of the episode, I didn’t buy for even a second that Ralph did it. And it’s not because he was played by Alex who is just charisma incarnate. I can believe him playing a bad guy. I also watched his 'Law & Order SVU' episode where he scared the shit outta me. He can play a creepy and violent character very well, he just wasn’t convincing to me as a bad guy in this show.

And here’s why!

First of all, he confessed at knife point. That confession would be thrown away IRL. It’s the same problem with using torture to get information. If a person’s life is threatened or they're being harmed in some way, they’ll usually say whatever it takes to get you to stop threatening them/causing them pain. Same deal here. You can’t convince me with a confession like that.

But they didn't seem to be interested in convincing anyone as far as I could tell. They just expected you to believe it because, ‘no, didn’t you hear? He said he did it, so he did it.’ They had so many opportunities to portray this character as the shitbag that we’re told he is. Hell, great way to really implicate him? Give him a female assistant that Donnie Wahlberg and his partner overhear / walk in on him berating for something small like getting him the wrong coffee or something. Then have them talk to that assistant later on and her mention some weird behavior from him on the night of Andrea’s death. It's cliché, but it's more than what we got.

Or you could have him talk to Meghan in a super condescending voice when he approaches her after her interview later on. Or, hell, have him refer to the murder victim in a condescending way even as he talks about her death. But no. The most we get out of him is that he's maybe a little snarky and smug when talking to the cops, but that’s not enough to convince me he’s a bad dude. Frankly, his producer buddy came off as more of an asshole, if I'm being honest. Just cuz (we’re told) his character did shitty things to her in the past doesn’t mean he’s still shitty. Show me he’s still shitty. I wanna see it and I know Alex is capable of a performance like that.

Second, it’s also just…obvious to make him the culprit if we're to believe everything we're told about him. He and Andrea are described as having had beef a little while before the murder with him being abusive mentally and physically. He’s known in the community to be a misogynist and an abusive person overall. He’s the obvious suspect, but if there’s anything that Scooby-Doo taught me, it’s that it’s never the most obvious person. Like, once in a blue moon, sure — but it’s rare.

So yeah, I don’t believe that Ralph did it. You wanna know who I do think did it?

Meghan.

Alright, so bear with me. This'll prolly sound a little conspiratorial, but hear me out:

She had the motive. She confirms in the beginning of the episode that she’s also a female gamer like the victim, but that she was ‘no Andrea’. Andrea was her competition. They were (supposedly) friends and stuck together as female gamers, but Andrea was still competition. With her out of the way, Meghan’s able to rise in the ranks, if even a little bit.

She had a scapegoat in Ralph — again, the obvious suspect given his tumultuous relationship with Andrea sometime prior — and an obvious grudge against men in their community in general. And, don’t get me wrong, men in gaming can and often are hella toxic — I’m not, in any way, denying that — but she got way more emotional when talking about the men in their community than when she was talking about her supposed friend lying dead in the adjoining room.

Speaking of the adjoining room, how did she not hear the murder happening? It couldn’t have been when she was down in the bar, cuz we see Ralph there too in the crappy CCTV footage that was supposed to show him being an asshole, I think (hard to really see). Was she just fucking around somewhere else when it happened? She doesn’t mention as much that I recall (correct me if I'm wrong on that, of course). And Andrea was strangled to death. I would assume that there would’ve been a struggle with that. Are you seriously telling me she wouldn’t hear that in her adjoining hotel room? Those walls aren’t that thick. I find that kinda hard to believe. And that she wouldn’t have found her till the next morning after that, also strikes me as a little odd.

Going off on some previous points, she shows very little grief over her friend’s death. Not just in the intro scene, either, but later on as well. (Side bar: that intro scene itself was very misleading. Don’t lead with a murder plot if it only takes up less than 10 minutes of the overall runtime, kay?) The show did a pretty bad job at indicating the passage of time, but it’s implied that the convention is still happening when Meghan gets the confession out of Ralph, so it would’ve had to have been the same weekend, or possibly the same week (though most conventions I’m aware of don’t last that long — it’s usually a weekend thing, at most Thursday-Sunday — but it could be similar to AGDQ, which seems to last about a week). So, if this is only a day or so later, why would someone who is supposedly grieving over their dead friend do interviews like nothing is wrong? Wouldn't you, like, reschedule or just politely decline and say you need time to process the shock? Like, when we cut to ol’ Donnie Wahlberg calling her after her interview, she doesn’t look upset — as I imagine she might if they’d likely asked her questions about Andrea / her feelings about the murder — and she seems cool as a cucumber when she asks Ralph to go somewhere private. In fact, the look on her face indicates pretty clearly that she’s planning to do something. Specifically, not that she's scared, that she's angry.

Finally, she’s the one who’s attacking Ralph when Donnie Wahlberg and company arrive on the scene. She doesn’t seem to have any marks on her indicating that he made any move to harm her (again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember seeing her with any marks / cuts), but he’s got a clear, bleeding cut on his face. She attacked him first and was going in for the kill.

Or…was she? Cuz right before Donnie Wahlberg pulls her into that bear hug to stop her from the attack, she doesn’t do a great job of actually trying to kill Ralph. She was close enough that a quick dart at him would’ve probably been enough to at least injure him pretty significantly — maybe even fatally — and would’ve surely led the cops to pull them apart to secure him, but she kinda just hops around a bit and screams before lunging for him. That’s a really weird way to attack when you actually want to kill someone.

But, then again, I don’t necessarily think she did want to kill him. I’m convinced she wanted that confession, but that she also wanted him in jail and was playing the part of the super sad and hysterical victim who was just so overcome with her grief that she wasn’t in her right mind. I think that’s what they were going for in regards to her character in general, but it came across as less sincere in the performance and more like the character was putting on an act. They then cart Ralph off while comforting her — despite the fact that she disobeyed a direct order from police, which should lead to her being detained as well! — and that plot ends.

So, she gets what she wants in the end. A person she despises is now in police custody, her competition is out of the way, and the publicity she might get for bringing that ‘murderer’ to justice might eventually lead to her own career getting a nice boost. I dunno, it just strikes me as her having a great reason to have initiated this over Ralph just being a misogynist who 'was really trying to kill Meghan and just got the wrong girl'.

So yeah, with what the show presented to us, I believe Meghan’s the real killer. Again, if they’d done more to show me that Ralph was a bad dude or that she was more affected by her supposed friend’s death, or if they'd just given that plot more room to breathe to show those things, I might’ve been more inclined to buy the narrative they were pushing but…as is, I don’t believe it.

That’s pretty much all I wanted to say on the matter. I had a lot of issues with the domestic abuse plot line too, but they barely gave that 5 minutes of the overall runtime, so does it really matter in the long run? This is just…my thought process of the only part of the episode I watched for and how disappointing it was for me. And yes, I timed each section of the episode to figure out how much time was given to each of the 4 plots, plus the dinner scene at the end, but not counting the intro theme, and the murder plot got just over 8 minutes, of which Alex was on screen for half of that time. He got less than 5 minutes of screen time. It was definitely worth it just because he’s wonderful and I just like seeing him on these shows, but from a narrative standpoint, it felt pointless.

Okay, I’m done. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Unless y’all wanna talk about this some more, cuz I’m so down for that.

[theprotagonistdies]

Mortal Kombat 2021 Movie Review (w spoilers)

Just wanted to get this off my chest now that the movie’s been released in America. I watched this on 8th April when it was first released in Singapore, and two more times the following week.

So, overall I give the movie about a 6.5-7/10 or C+. Acting: Decent Story: Average at best Action: Above average to Good Gore: Graphic but not as often or much Best highlights: Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Costuming

I’ll be referencing some comments by others about the movie, but this’ll all be my opinions. I reviewed the movie based on my understanding that it’s a low budget film before even watching the movie. I am also a fan of the game (though I do not play, I watched most of the lore)

-------

When I first watched the movie, I was excited. The intro showing Hanzo Hasashi’s backstory would be something familiar to fans of the game. As expected, his wife and child were killed, but as we know it, they have an extra baby girl who later survives and carries on the bloodline. At this point, I was already ‘eh’ because it was so predictable what happens next. I was already disappointed that they named the son ‘Jyubei’ in the subtitles, when the wife didn’t even utter his name in Japanese. In the game, Hanzo’s son is called Satoshi. But one can say that’s something petty.

Anyways, as it goes on, we meet Joe Taslim as Bi-Han. He’s menacing, he’s cocky and has the presence that fills the screen. Already, I was smitten. While some people were saying the movie is rushed, I’d say this part of the intro felt a little draggy. But, the fight scene after is great, and we see Hanzo and Bi-Han throw hands.

I’d have to say at this point: ALL fight scenes including  Bi-Han/Sub-Zero were great. They’re the best. Every other fight scene with the other characters were decent but not great.

Then we get introduced to Cole Young. From the get go, I do not like new characters not in the lore. I’m that type of person who does not like original characters in fanfiction. And his story further made me feel that a lot of time was wasted on him. Mortal Kombat has story elements around family, yes, but it’s not central, and it made the movie too wholesome and not in a way that I feel implemented well. In my opinion, it made the movie a little cringey at times. I like Lewis Tan who plays Cole but unfortunately he’s been given a role that was completely unnecessary.

A Youtube reviewer said it best: Why make up an entirely new character when there’s a plethora of characters to choose from? Heck, if you want him related to Hanzo, you could have used Takeda or something (though yes i know he’s not related to Hanzo, but he could be like a distant cousin relative whatever, with Takehashi on one of this other parents side).

There’s Jax and Sonya - why not just use Sonya? She’s the one gathering all the information. They could have used her. 

Anyway, moving on. We also meet Kano. He was good and I see a lot of people loved him. Personally I thought he was okay, but he was too comedic in my opinion and felt underwhelming. While funny quips and mockery are appreciated, he felt like what Liu Kang called him: A small, angry little bunny. Not at all what I’d expect of the leader of Black Dragon. 

There was... it that supposed to be Reptile? I honestly do not know, but I don’t believe that’s the Reptile we know from the game, and more of a mindless monster that has Reptile’s abilities.

I loved Sonya in this movie. Jessica McNamee was amazing as her. One - she’s attractive as hell, and Two - she felt far more relatable than Cole Young. From her being a soldier living in her ‘shithole’, to her curiosity in trying to find out more about the Mortal Kombat tournament.

They look for Raiden’s Temple in the desert. This was a little slow and again, I say Kano just felt like a chump here. A try-hard doing his best to appear intimidating but failing.

Liu Kang appears. Kano won’t shut up. Liu Kang’s introduction was interesting and I liked it, but later on his monologues and exaggerated actions were so odd and ‘extra’ to me that I was cringing. I don’t know why they don’t just make him a normal guy who’s a Shaolin monk lol.

Raiden is as cranky as we know him in the game. He’s kinda dull here, but to be honest, so is he in the game, so I don’t mind it. I saw someone compare him to the 1995 version which while I enjoyed and appreciated, did not think he suited the game and movie. So Tadanobu Asano’s Raiden is fine to me! Also, shut up to the people who get on others’ case on the way they pronounce Raiden. In Japanese it’s Rai-den, not Ray-den, like they say in the game. Both are correct, so shut up.

Sub-Zero makes an entrance again, menacingly running down the hall and making me sploosh, and Kung Lao also makes an entrance. Here you can see how poor the CG is. This is where you can tell the budget is low and realise that all the sets we’ve seen so far is pretty small and closed.

The ‘arcana’ thing that they made up to explain their powers was honestly pretty smart and I quite liked it. It then becomes a training arc, which while understandably can be seen as slow, it’s quite needed for the story.

The villains in this story were sadly underutilised. Admittedly I am unfamiliar with Nitara and Reiko, so them being throwaway characters did not affect me. Kabal, while very charismatic, died but I felt it was a decent end. I personally wish they could have included him more. However, for Mileena and Goro, I could see the moment I watched it that people were gonna be mad. I’m not fans of either of them but I understood that they are major characters in the game. So for them to be offed that easily was... tbh very disappointing and quite insulting. I sincerely hope they will bring back Mileena for the next movie, experimented on and brought to life using Kitana’s blood or something.

But best villain? Obviously goes to Bi-Han/Sub-Zero. Honestly I went into the movie expecting to root for Scorpion but I ended up being so in love with Joe Taslim’s menacing and chilling portrayal of Sub-Zero. He’s soooo good. People said he was like a slasher film villain and I think they made a great choice doing so!

As for Cole - I’m still not a fan of him or his powers. I like they used tonfas, but as some called it - he has literally plot armour which, tru. Hahahhaa.

So finally after all that, we finally get to the last fight.

Sub-Zero is about to kill Cole then Scorpion is summoned. They both fight and actually one can see Scorpion is winning? He got more hits in than Sub-Zero (two stabs, a side slash and a throw from Scorp, meanwhile Sub got one slash and a throw) so I don’t understand why people thought he actually needed help from Cole.

Also, this is another major complaint about the ‘wholesomeness’. Why was Hanzo’s family killed but Cole’s family spared by Sub-Zero? Why couldn’t they just killed them off for extra weight to the story instead of making it so safe? I felt that would have redeemed Cole’s character as more of  Mortal Kombat character if they did so.

But I really enjoyed the fight here. As I mentioned all fights that involved Sub-Zero are amazing and people not giving the credit to this fight scene are blind. I also saw a comment that said they were expecting ‘John-Wick level’ of fight. Both fair and unfair comment because: It’s a low budget movie and they are two different styles of movies. John Wick is more realistic while this one is more fantastical. Though for them to call this a Marvel level choreography... I’m not sure bc Marvel put a lot of money, so that means for their budget the MK movie did well? So IDK but I believe the fight choreography was good in this most especially in the Sub-Zero/Scorpion fights.

Fatalities were great, costuming were great and for the sets while small and enclosed they did good.

Story could have been better and I cannot stress how much I find Cole’s role completely pointless. Pacing wise I actually do not find a problem with it. I only wished for more fighting and less about ‘family’.

From the movie overall I understood it as to be a set up, and even before watching it, from the trailers, I somehow knew it was not going to have a tournament so I don’t know why all these people in comments are lamenting about the lack of a tournament. It feels clear to me that this is a set up movie and more are to come.

So while I have a lot of issues with this movie, I do think it’s a fun watch which is why I give it a pretty generous score imo.

Hopefully we’ll have more to come, improving everything in all aspects with hopefully a bigger budget!

[thetriggeredhappy]

How about the team agreeing to play baseball with Scout for his birthday? Because they always admired how happy and free he looks when he's running. (SniperScout in between if possible would be great)

pushed up in the requests backlog for reasons. team bonding fic is best fic

(warnings for alcohol mention and passing non-graphic cartoonish violence)

-

“The hell is he so excited about?” Demo asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing over his shoulder towards where Scout was laughing his way down the hall.

“No idea,” the Engineer said, shuffling the deck neatly. “Been all high-energy high-spirits the whole damn day.”

“Unfortunately,” Medic agreed, a little bitter. That garnered several more raised eyebrows from around the table.

“Twice in one day Doktor has to fix broken leg in fighting,” Heavy explained, placing a placating hand on Medic’s shoulder. “And Scout takes many bad risks. Overconfident.”

A questioning noise from within Pyro’s suit. “I’d sure like to know why, as well,” Engie nodded. “Tryin’ out some new energy drink, maybe?”

“High spirits and hubris from consistent victory?” Soldier suggested.

“You’re joking,” Sniper suddenly cut in, glancing around the table, who all looked right back, surprised to hear him cutting in on the usual gossip. “...You lot really didn’t remember?”

A snort from Spy, a vague shrug from the rest of the table.

“It’s his birthday tomorrow.”

A pause, then noises of surprise, shock, and from some of the table, alarm. “A repeat of last year, how very unfortunate,” Spy hummed, taking a sip of his drink.

Pyro shouted something with no small amount of conviction that might have been along the lines of “this is terrible!”. Demo seemed to agree, from the shock on his face, the widening of his eye.

“Oh no,” Heavy rumbled, looking legitimately worried. Medic’s eyebrows were furrowed.

“I can’t believe you,” Sniper deadpanned, glaring at all the other mercenaries sitting there. “First year, you don’t bother wishing him a happy birthday. Second year, he plans a whole damn party for himself so you lot wouldn’t forget again and half of you don’t plan ahead and we get scheduled out on a mission and leave the bugger all alone all weekend. And you promise you won’t forget again. And one year later, here we are.”

Pyro appeared to be in a state of panic, pacing at high speed behind their chair, tugging at various points of their suit in high agitation. The Engineer’s face was largely hidden behind the hardhat and goggles and the hand clamped over the bottom part of his face.

“Perhaps he won’t be upset,” Medic suggested. “We all simply wish him a happy birthday and have drinks.”

“We do that every other weekend,” Demo pointed out. Soldier murmured in the affirmative.

“Sniper has remembered,” Heavy noted, looking at the man in question. “Maybe team helps with plans?”

“I already got him a gift,” Sniper mumbled, fidgeting with his hat. “But I don’t think we’ll manage to pass it off as from the whole team.”

“He’s gonna be so disappointed if he finds out that we forgot again,” Engie sighed, head in his hands. “It’ll break his damn heart.”

“So once again, it seems that I’ll need to step in and save you all,” Spy drawled, putting his glass down and reaching into his jacket, pulling out and unfolding a sheet of paper. “With your collective track record regarding this specific event, I assumed you would all forget again, and so took some steps to ensure that there would be a backup plan when the event arises and we wouldn’t need to deal with moodiness and general malaise from the team for the next several weeks.”

The Engineer took the paper, holding it so Medic could read it at the same time as him, Heavy leaning to try and get a look. Eyebrows began to rise. The paper was passed around the remainder of the table.

“You think this’ll work?” Demo asked suspiciously.

“Obviously. Well, and to be fair, you don’t exactly have any other options.”

He had them there.

-

“—Just totally can’t believe you talked Miss P into lettin’ us do this that’s just the coolest shit in the world lemme tell ya, like seriously that’s completely nuts and I can’t even believe it, she’s the best—!“

Scout had only stopped talking long enough to breathe over the course of the entire walk from the base to the makeshift baseball pitch that the Engineer had propped up overnight, absolutely bubbling and more high-energy than any of them had assumed to even be possible—even for him. And most of them had anticipated already hating the idea by the time they got to the pitch, but so far things were actually going rather well. The uniforms that had been shipped in (in their team colors, obviously) all fit them correctly and weren’t nearly as embarrassing as expected, in particular since most of them opted to keep at least one part of their usual wardrobe in the mix, such as masks or helmets or hats. Pyro, for one, just put the baseball uniform on over their entire flamesuit, but nobody was particularly surprised.

They crested the little ridge and got a look at the pitch, and for a moment, Scout went silent, eyes wide and mouth agape. Demo elbowed the Engineer to get his attention and flashed a thumbs up, making him grin and fluster a bit, mumbling about how it was nothin’ special, really.

“Alright,” Scout finally said, turning to them with his hands on his hips, taking on an authoritative tone. “So who here knows how baseball works?”

The Engineer and Soldier raised their hands. After a moment, Sniper and Pyro tentatively did the same. Demo made a so-so motion with one hand.

“And who knows how sandlot baseball works?”

Everyone but the Engineer dropped their hands, and even then, he looked a little doubtful.

“Alright,” Scout said, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “So we don’t exactly got enough people to make a real team—need twelve for a standard six-players-a-team. So we’re gonna be improvising a little bit.”

He looked around, and started addressing each of them with a pointed finger.

“Heavy,” he said, and the giant raised an eyebrow. “You’re catcher, all you gotta do is stay behind first base and catch the ball so it doesn’t roll away. I know you’re not gonna flinch when you see somethin’ speeding at your head, yeah?”

Heavy nodded thoughtfully.

“Cyclops, first base,” Scout said next. “Fucks with your blind spot the least, and you know how to throw shit. Mumbles, you’re on second, Helmet-Head on third.”

Demo flashed a thumbs-up, Pyro clapped their hands together, and Soldier raised an arm in a sturdy salute.

“Doc, right field. Odds are, none of these chuckleheads are gonna hit anything too far to the left or right of normal, but if they do, you’re like practically as fast as I am and can handle it. Spy, you hang out back there in left field. I know you’re probably not gonna catch shit if it comes at you, but hey, it’s worth a shot and you won’t gotta deal with much anyways.”

Medic nodded at the compliment and Spy raised an eyebrow at the insult.

“And Snipes, you’re the pitcher,” Scout concluded, hands returning to his hips.

There was a snort from Demo. Sniper elbowed him.

“Figured you know how to throw shit and won’t straight up brain anyone,” Scout continued, not noticing the squabble. “And I’ll be first up to bat, and we’ll cycle through everyone in that same order, starting as soon as you guys can stop me from running all the bases, then we’ll play normally from there, how’s that sound?”

“You’re sure talkin’ yourself a big game there, son,” the Engineer observed, eyebrows raised.

“Damn right, I’ve been playin’ this shit since I was three,” Scout said, grinning wide. “This is gonna kick ass.”

-

Indeed, the first eight pitches went by in pretty rapid succession. Two because they fumbled and hesitated and miscommunicated in their pitching and couldn’t beat him to the bases, two after that as Scout scored home runs, another general fumble, another home run, one where the ball landed a few feet away from Spy who outright didn’t attempt to catch it, only kicking it closer to Medic as he rushed up to get it, and then one where Scout didn’t notice until he was back at home base that Soldier had unintentionally thrown the ball directly into the side of Pyro’s head (who was distracted by drawing shapes into the dirt at their feet).

They just barely managed to get him out on third, and then it was Demo’s turn.

Overall, by the first circuit through the whole team, they were surprised to find that they were actually having fun, even and especially with the odd shenanigans that ensued during the course of the game. There was one point where Soldier full-body tackled Demo at first base (just slightly confused about a few of the contact rules), and another where Sniper thought it would be funny to throw a hard ball of clay from at his feet, sending the team laughing as it exploded all over Pyro’s suit and they needed to stop to wipe the lenses on their mask clear. Demo surprised all of them with the first bunt of the game, and the Engineer with sending the ball soaring nearly into a homerun, with him sheepishly asking if using the Gunslinger to swing was allowed after he’d already run the bases. Then there was Pyro calmly stealing their way to third after the team thought their turn was over, and Heavy accidentally cracking the bat, and Medic absolutely eating shit as he tried to take off towards first. And nobody for sure knew how to react to the one time that Spy actually caught the ball, all but diving to catch it and send it to second just in time to get Soldier out. And of course, all of them were left just slightly in awe as Scout sent home run after home run sailing towards the stratosphere.

They finally had to stop when it was getting dark and Heavy informed them that they didn’t have any more baseballs left in the bucket for all the ones sent sailing far foul or off into the distance with a homerun. Soldier and Demo promised to go pick them up the following day and they all began their trudge back to base, covered in the bright orange loam of the desert and already slightly sore and feeling like they were in much higher spirits than any of them had expected. Scout, most of all, seemed... contented. Not just cheerful, not just bubbly, but contented, satisfied. Happy. He seemed so very happy.

Several of them, glancing around between themselves, considered telling Scout the truth, that they hadn’t put in nearly as much work as he thought they did. But most of them just settled in for saying happy birthday a few more times over assorted bottles of booze and maybe even a movie.

Sniper, for one, was a little fidgety on the way back to base. Halfway there, he took Scout by the shoulder, pulling him to slow down just a bit.

“Had, er,” Sniper said once they were a good few meters trailed behind the team, eyes averted. “Heavy said we were out, but. Had, er. Had one ball left.”

He pulled the baseball in question out of his pocket, unfolded it from the handkerchief it was in, passed it over, a little sheepish. Scout took it, confused, turning it over in his hands.

He stopped dead in his tracks. The rest of the team slowed and turned as they realized two of their party weren’t with them. Scout’s mouth was agape.

“Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod ohmyGOD—“ Scout babbled suddenly, eyes widening, practically starting to vibrate in place. “—is this a real actual serious legitimate gen-u-ine real signature? Snipes please tell me you’re not fuckin’ around right now ohmyGOD.”

“Nah, yeah, from the actual bloke,” Sniper agreed, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yats-rem-key, something like?”

“Only just jersey number eight, left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, five-time All-Star four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner and overall MVP in the entire American Major League of baseball, Carl Michael motherfuckin’ Yastrzemski!”

Sniper faltered under the sudden weight of the entirety of Scout as he was all but tackled in a hug, Scout continuing to babble excitedly on about the man whose signature was on the baseball in his hands. There was a general chuckle and rolling of eyes from the team as they watched the scene unfold.

“And we’re sure Sniper’s not the catcher, then?” Demo asked lightly, and with Sniper not there to elbow him, the Engineer took his place, making Demo snicker.

“If you would please cease embarrassing yourselves,” Spy called over after giving them a solid minute, which made Scout look up and apparently notice the entire team looking at them, flushing red and promptly trying to pretend he didn’t just do all that. “I believe that Heavy has prepared some kind of cake and I for one would rather not eat it after Pyro has covered it in candles and torched them all.”

Indeed, Pyro by then had a good head start on the team, who all hurried to catch up. And they all bumbled their way through at least five nationalities’ rendition of a Happy Birthday Song, and each very nearly got through their slice before the first scrap of the night began and the rest of it was lost in the mayhem, and overall, Scout would remark the next day through the haze of his hangover that actually, that was easily one of his favorite birthdays in a long time.

[petersasteria]

Wrong Number - Tom Holland (College AU)

Pairing: Tom x Reader

This is my entry for @hollandsrecs​​‘ 1k fic bingo x

* * * *

Ever since Tom was a little kid, he loved school and he loved studying. He would often be seen at home or at school holding a book. As he grew older, he would often be the butt of the joke and he would always get bullied simply because he loved to study. Tom didn't just love to study. He loved to learn new things and he'd do anything and everything to learn new things. He learned in an old fashioned way, though.

His best mate, Harrison, was the complete opposite. Tom's parents were shocked that Tom became friends with someone who wasn't like him. But they figured opposites really do attract because Tom and Harrison were each other's ride or die and they loved it. Harrison was like a son to them.

Tom and Harrison have been through a lot together and they were glad to know that they got into the same university. Harrison was studying to be a fashion designer because he loved clothes. He wanted to break the stereotype that fashion design was only for ladies and gays. If he loved clothes, loved designing different clothes everyday, and had the talent for it, then he would show it to the world.

"Fuck the people who try to tear me down, mate. It's honest work and I'm not hurting anyone. Fashion is a form of expression and I express through fashion and I deserve to show it everyone." Harrison said to Tom once. Tom thought Harrison was brave and bold for being one of the great ones to break the stereotype and he admired Harrison for that.

While Harrison was studying fashion design, Tom was studying dentistry. He later realized that dentistry wasn't the one for him, so he shifted to interior design. After all, he had background in carpentry because of his grandfather.

One night, Tom was studying when he got a text message from an unknown number.

Tom couldn't believe this 'Y/N' person. He was completely hurt and offended that's why he stood up to Y/N. To his surprise, Y/N didn't seem fazed at all judging by the reply that was sent.

"Fuckin' Harrison!" Tom hissed under his breath. He immediately texted Harrison to ask for an explanation as to why he was the fun British guy.

Tom's jaw dropped at his best friend's reply. But then he looked back and thought that maybe Harrison was right. "Scratch that, he IS right." Tom sighed to himself. "Let loose, Tom!"

A few minutes later, Harrison entered the dorm he shared with Tom and called out, "So are you coming?"

Tom left his room and looked at Harrison before nodding, "Yes. I'll finally let loose."

"Good!" Harrison cheered. "Go take a shower or something and I'll pick out your outfit."

It was times like this when Tom was grateful to have a best friend that was some sort of fashion expert. He didn’t have time to pay attention to how he was dressed and having Harrison pick out his clothes for him was very helpful.

Tom didn't say anything, but he nodded. Tom would have the same routine everyday and he didn't have any amount of 'fun' in his body so at this point, his body was on autopilot. After taking a shower, he looked at his bed and saw the outfit Harrison laid out for him.

On his bed were black chino pants, a white and dark grey striped long sleeved shirt, a gingerbread colored blouson jacket and black foot socks. Tom didn't even know how in the world Harrison could make a decent outfit for him in that closet of his.

Tom got dressed and went to the little kitchen where Harrison was. "I'm ready to go." Tom announced. Harrison turned around and nodded at Tom's overall look. "You'd be a head turner there, mate. I assure you." Harrison smirked. "Fuck, I'm good at this shit."

Tom playfully rolled his eyes, "Everyone knows that, Haz. Now, let's get this over with!"

A few minutes later, they arrived at the party. Harrison was immediately welcomed and Tom was pushed aside by random people. He didn't know that his best mate was popular. 'To be fair,' He thought. 'I don't go out at all.'

While Harrison was being whisked away by the crowd, Harrison yelled, "Tom, call me if you need anything!" With that, Harrison was swallowed by the crowd. Tom had never been to a party before. In fact, the last party he's been to was his little cousin's 8th birthday party where he played 'pin the tail on the donkey' and 'egg and spoon race'. He actually didn't want to do it because he was 15 years old at that time, but his mother and aunt insisted that he should because they said "it would mean a lot to your cousin if you played, Thomas".

"So, you're the one I texted earlier! I'm glad you came." A voice said. He turned around and saw the most beautiful girl he's ever met. "I'm Y/N Y/L/N! I'm studying fashion design like Harrison. He mentioned that you were in dentistry! You must be really smart." Y/N rambled.

"Oh uh, I shifted to interior design." Tom said. "I realized I didn't fit in dentistry as I thought I would."

"Why'd you choose interior design?" She asked.

"Because I have background in carpentry." Tom answered. "Anyway, how'd you know it was me you texted? I could be anyone."

"I heard Harrison yell at you about calling if you needed him and I looked at the direction he was looking at and he was looking at you. Plus, I've never seen you before. You're one of the new people that came in tonight."

"I could be one of them." Tom shrugged.

"Yes, but I've already met all of those new people except for you, Tom Holland." Y/N winked. "Anyway, do you want a drink?"

"I, uh, I don't really know what to drink." Tom said as he followed her to the kitchen. Y/N wordlessly handed him a beer. "You see, I don't drink often and-"

"Tom."

"Yeah?"

"Just drink the beer." Y/N said as she drank her drink of choice. Tom did what he was told and nodded, "It doesn't taste so bad."

"Yeah, it's alright." She chuckled. "You know, Harrison never mentioned that you were cute!"

Tom blushed and looked down, "Thank you. He, uh, he actually picked out my outfit tonight. I didn't even know I had this in my closet." He chuckled nervously. He's never spent time with a girl for this long. Usually the girls would leave after finding out that he loved to study and read instead of going out. He's never been on a date since high school and his ex-girlfriend was his first girlfriend. That was years ago.

"Harrison has good taste." Y/N nodded, impressed at Harrison's work. "He always does."

"Do you like Harrison or something? I can get you guys together." Tom offered, but Y/N shook her head.

"Harrison doesn't like getting in relationships. Besides, everything between us is platonic. But I did sleep with him once."

Tom's eyes widened in shock.

"After that, we went on one date but it didn't work out because we both see each other platonically. So no, you can't get me and Harrison together." Y/N smiled. "What about you? Do you like anyone that I can set you up with? Or are you in a relationship?"

"Neither."

Y/N nodded, "Yeah, you need to let loose."

With that, she and Tom began drinking some more and they participated in drinking games like beer pong and spin the bottle. Harrison was proud of his best mate as he watched at the sidelines. He noticed that Tom was a touchy feely drunk and he knew that Y/N was the same.

"Oh shit." Harrison said to himself as he saw two of his friends going up the stairs to occupy one of the rooms. "This'll be fun." He snickered before taking a sip of his beer.

Y/N and Tom did occupy one of the rooms and they made out. They clumsily moved to the bed without breaking apart and they continued to make out. Y/N pulled away to take off her top and Tom stopped her. "Oh my god, wait!" Tom said. He was kind of sober already. He shook his head, "I-I'm not ready for that yet. It's nothing personal. It's just that-"

"I'll suck your dick, then."

"What?!"

"I'll suck your dick."

Tom looked away from her to think about it for a second. "You're letting loose, dumbass!" His conscience told him. Tom shrugged, "Sure."

Y/N smirked and unbuttoned his pants and pulled it down along with his boxers. Her mouth watered at the sight as she got down on her knees and began to lick the tip.

"Fuck." He whimpered.

"Honey, relax." Y/N said. "It'll be fun, I swear."

It was fun indeed.

-

"Okay I'll repeat what you said." Harrison said as Tom groaned. "Y/N texted you because she thought your number was Stacy's number. Then we went to the party THAT SAME FUCKING NIGHT and both of you went upstairs. I can confirm that I've seen both of you go to one of the rooms."

Tom nodded.

"Then you made out and when she was about to take her clothes off, you stop her and she offered you a blowjob. You thought about it for a second and agreed. Am I right?" Harrison asked.

"Yes."

"And then you're telling me this a few days later because-?"

"Because she hasn't texted me, Haz! I thought she'd have the decency to do that." Tom frowned. Harrison pursed his lips, "It doesn't work like that, Tom."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when strangers fuck each other's brains out, they don't text each other after that now, do they? Of course not. They're called one night stands for a reason. And I know you two didn't sleep together but it's kind of the same thing." Harrison shrugged.

"Yeah, but she said she slept with you and you guys still talk." Tom pouted.

"Yes, that's because we were already friends when we slept together." Harrison explained. "It's different."

Tom stayed silent. Harrison could see that he really liked Y/N and said, "Since you like her so much and you're so upset, just text her."

"You think I should?" Tom asked innocently.

"Yes. Now, do it. I have a project to do and it's due tomorrow and I've only finished one-fourth of it." Harrison chuckled and went to his room. Tom gulped and pulled out his phone. He opened his message with Y/N and edited her contact seeing as it was still set as 'unknown number'.

He sighed and typed a few texts but didn't send them. Eventually, he settled for a simple hello.

He couldn't believe her confidence. It actually turned him on and it gave him butterflies in his stomach at the same time. He didn't even know it was possible.

Tom smiled to himself and locked his phone before he yelled, "Haz, I have a date on Saturday!"

He then heard footsteps and turned to see Harrison with a big grin on his face, "You know what this means."

"No, I don't." Tom said. He was kind of scared of Harrison was about to say.

"We need to buy you new shirts and stuff, mate. Dress to impress." Harrison said.

"I thought we were supposed to dress for ourselves and not for anyone else?" Tom asked. Life was confusing.

"In this context, no. It's a first date, Thomas." Harrison said with his arms crossed. "First dates are for making good impressions until both of you slowly show each other's true colors and it's up to both of you if you like it or not."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course, I'm right. I can't recall a time when I was wrong."

"Shut up, Haz."

"Love you too, Tom."

* * * *

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