#I’ve never gotten a handle on controllers or mouse/keyboard

[sodacowboy]

every day I wake up and wish I could play video games

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

heated, m | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: An (innocent?) conversation about D/s dynamics accidentally leads to you confessing that you think about your childhood best friend while getting off. To your childhood best friend, Jeon Jungkook. Erm. This is after he told you that you would be “an awful sub”, btw.

warnings: rated M (18+) for language, discussions about adult topics; reader is bisexual; smut (fem reader, dry humping, fingering, [tiny bit] m-receiving oral, penetrative sex); fluffy af; non-idol!AU; F2L; softdom!Jungkook x softbrat!reader; you kind of have a forearm kink and you never let Jungkook have his lovey-dovey moment, whoops

MMA 2020 ‘ON’ Jungkook? Yeah. That one.

--

“I could never be a sub.”

You clicked rapidly as you spoke, mashing the right button on your mouse. It was quite loud, paired with your mechanical keyboard.

“Why not?”

The music coming from Jeon Jungkook’s smartphone was a rhythm game, nearly as loud as you, since he was grunting angrily at it. It was very obvious when he missed a beat.

“I can’t imagine that being me, you know?”

You, on the other hand, were on your computer, playing with the new items in League of Legends from the latest patch. Using the practice tool, you had loaded up your favorite champion, Jhin, the Virtuoso, and messed with various builds, trying to find the best combination. So far, Lethality was feeling pretty good.

“Like why would I ever let my pleasure be handled by someone else?” you mused, reading the high damage numbers of each shot. Oh, the fourth shot felt nice. “That sounds stupid.”

Jungkook rolled over on your bed, growling in his throat as the level ended. He restarted it, trying to get a better score. “Maybe people like to let go sometimes. You know, not always be in control.”

You snorted. “I could never trust someone else with my body.”

“You got an alien body or something?”

“Shut up, Jungkook.”

“No.”

“Fine.”

“Anyway,” Jungkook continued, ignoring your outburst. “I didn’t ask if you could be a sub, I just asked what you thought of domination and submission as a dynamic in general.”

You shrugged, trying to see if you could do Baron alone. Welp, you needed lifesteal, of course. “I mean, I’ve tried it in various situations. I was never the sub.”

“Kinky.”

“Shut up, Jungkook.”

“No.” Jungkook suddenly sat up, excited that he achieved a higher score. “Look, look. I got ninety-eight.”

You craned your head to look at his phone screen. “Why isn’t it one hundred? You’re a disgrace to this family.”

He bopped you on the nose with his phone. “If I was part of your family, your family would be even more dysfunctional than it is now.”

You rubbed your nose and looked up at him. “How much gel did you use in your hair? You look like a wet dog.”

Jungkook’s eyebrows went up and he touched his long black hair. “It’s not crunchy though.” He grabbed your hand and lowered his head, placing your palm on his slicked back hair. “See?”

You pulled your hand back, staring at your palm. “Still feels weird though. I call sorcery.”

He shrugged, creaking the black leather jacket he was wearing. He wore a black t-shirt under it. The black jeans he had been wearing were on your bed, swapped for the black joggers he kept at your place. You weren’t really sure why he left the jacket on. Maybe he was cold or something. It was pretty cold in your apartment. You were wearing fleece green pajamas with Pikachu all over them.

“You want me to turn the heat up?” you said, gesturing to his jacket.

Jungkook looked down at his chest. “Eh. It’s fine. Saves you money.”

You shrugged, getting up from your chair, leaving the League client open. “You’re only staying a little while, right? Party to go to and all that?”

Jungkook followed you as you left your room. “Told you it was cancelled, so I was just going to sleep over. No reason to go back home.”

You turned around, walking backwards. “When did you say it was cancelled?”

Jungkook raised his dark eyebrows. “Literally when I walked in your apartment.”

“Hah.”

You turned back around and went to your fridge, grabbing an aloe juice. Jungkook went to your water kettle, hunting for hot chocolate among your tea packets.

“You’d make an awful sub anyway,” Jungkook said, returning to the original subject as he filled the kettle with water from your filtered sink faucet. “Like, probably the fucking worst.”

You took a large swig and glared at him. “Alright, first of all, you wouldn’t even–”

“You’re terrible with authority.”

You paused. “Okay, true.”

“You’re angry, twenty-four, seven.”

You walked up to him and slapped him in his very hard pecs. He gestured at his chest, as if to indicate, exhibit A.

“And you’re super uptight.”

“I am not uptight.”

“Control freak.”

“That’s–”

Jungkook turned around and placed the kettle on its stand. You swooped in with a Pikachu-themed kitchen towel and wiped the excess water away, scowling. Jungkook raised his eyebrows at you, brown eyes laughing.

“That’s literally a safety hazard!” you exclaimed, waving the towel at him.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and pressed the button to start heating the water. “Haven’t you ever just… not freaked out over every little thing? Done something spontaneous and stupid?”

You placed the kitchen towel back in its proper place. “No, because that would be spontaneous and stupid, Jeon Jungkook.”

He leaned against the counter, watching you perfectly fold the towel into three parts and hang it on the rail. He scratched his nose, shaking his head. “You should be more like me.”

“Having the police called on you because you were standing on a lawn chair tooting a party horn at four in the morning?”

“That was one time! Stop bringing it up,” Jungkook groaned.

You raised your hands in innocence. “Well, I was the one called to pick you up because you literally couldn’t remember any other number and I was very disturbed on New Year’s Eve, where I should have been peacefully sleeping and not hauling your drunk ass across town.”

Jungkook sighed exaggeratedly. “I’m sorry, okay? I won’t drink that much again. Jimin made me do shots–”

“You always blame Park Jimin,” you interjected, smiling. “Jimin’s the kind of guy who only wears clothes to take them off.”

“Well, it gets him laid, so I guess it’s working.”

The kettle whistled noisily, cutting through the conversation. You took a sip from your aloe juice as Jungkook grabbed a mug from your cupboard and poured the hot chocolate powder into it.

“You want some milk?”

He looked up. “You have milk?”

You went to the fridge and took out a small carton. “Because you said you were coming.”

“Aw, what a sweetie.”

“Shut up, Jungkook.”

“No.”

That’s how it was with you two. Growing up together was the same conversation over and over of you constantly saying shut up and Jungkook always replying with no. If both your dads hadn’t been such good friends, you probably wouldn’t have been able to tolerate him. Since they were, you were forced to, which turned out to be okay, since it turned out you had similar interests in games and such. It drifted apart a bit when you two entered high school, but you two reconnected once university started.

The dysfunctionality Jungkook was referring to was your two older sisters, who both got pregnant out of wedlock and thus caused a lot of tension between them, your parents, and you, the one who hadn’t actually done that yet. And you were trying to keep it that way.

Jungkook poured half-water and half-milk, stirring it with a silver spoon he found in your drawer. You lived alone, having gotten a full scholarship to be able to pay for tuition, meals, and part of a small apartment. Your parents paid for the rest – another point of strain between you and your sisters. That’s why you kept your grades up and rarely went out.

“When was the last time you fucked a guy?”

You sucked the inside of your cheek. “Dunno. Maybe two years ago.”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows and took a long sip. “So, only girls, huh?”

You tilted your head and sighed. “They don’t get you pregnant.”

“Neither does a condom.”

“That’s a ninety-eight percent chance, not one hundred.”

He licked the excess off his pink lips. He looked like he wanted to say something, but reconsidered, taking another sip before replying. “You don’t miss dick?”

“I mean, a dildo is a dick.”

Jungkook nearly spat out his hot chocolate. You snatched your Pikachu towel again and threatened him with it. He raised a hand, coughing.

“A dildo is not a dick,” he hacked out. “You insult me.”

“Hmph.” You turned back around and placed the Pikachu towel back in its place, making sure the graphic was perfectly centered.

“You tell your parents?”

You narrowed your eyes. ‘Why the fuck would I tell my parents that I fuck girls instead of guys to avoid getting pregnant?”

He shrugged. “Give them peace of mind?”

“You think too highly of the generation before us.”

Jungkook gave you a weird look. “So… you’re just using them?”

“No.” You paused. “Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not because they’re girls. I guess I haven’t found someone who understands me yet.”

He took a long, noisy sip of hot chocolate. You narrowed your eyes at him.

“No one can understand you if you only fuck once and drop them.”

“Wouldn’t you fucking know,” you replied irritably.

“Now, I fuck multiple times before I realize it’s not going to work out,” Jungkook countered.

You shoved your bottle of aloe juice back into your fridge. Suddenly, you weren’t thirsty anymore.

“Is that the only reason?”

You closed the fridge door.

“Reason for what?”

“Is fear of pregnancy the only reason you fuck girls?”

“I don’t know!” you shouted, throwing your hands up. You spun around, blowing hot air. “I don’t fucking know why I do it, Jungkook. I don’t know why I load up dating apps to only hook up with girls, I don’t know why I don’t try to get into relationships with them, I don’t know what is wrong with me and why I can’t give anyone a chance and I don’t know why you pop up in my head every time I try to fucking masturbate! It is annoying and I do not like it, so I try to get off with someone else!”

Your chest was heaving with exertion and annoyance, hand curled onto a fist and planted on your kitchen counter, glaring at the space past Jungkook’s head, muscle twitching in your cheek. Your heart was beating so fast it didn’t feel real.

Silence.

“Fuck you, Jungkook.”

And then you turned around, stalking back to your bedroom.

Or would have, if you didn’t hear the clink of the mug touching the kitchen counter and Jungkook grabbing your upper arm, yanking you back, slamming you against his muscular body. You hissed, staring into his chest.

“Let me go.”

“Hold on a second.” You watched Jungkook take a deep breath, his toned, tan skin rising and falling. The silver necklace on his collarbones flashed as he breathed. “Just hold on a damn second.”

Your eyes were on the low neckline of his black shirt. It felt weird being close to him. Not that you two haven’t been physically close, because you had. But it had never been like this. Since you realized he wouldn’t leave your mind every time you tried to masturbate. Since you started looking to other people to push him out. Since you were sure that it was not just a passing thought, not just your brain playing tricks on you. And being this close to him now, you understood.

And it scared you.

“You cannot dump all that on me and expect me not to react,” Jungkook said quietly.

“Shut up, Jungkook.”

“No,” he snapped. He grabbed both your upper arms and shook you violently, making you jerk your head up to blink at him. Jungkook furrowed his brows, his dark eyes glaring at you, jaw clenched tightly. “I will not shut up. Why should I shut up? I should shut you up.”

And then he kissed you.

Your eyes widened. Jungkook’s pink lips were on you. You. On your lips, pressed firmly against them, gripping you so tight you were losing feeling in your arms. You tore back, stumbling, touching your lips, shoulders shaking, not sure why your heart was beating out of your chest, not sure why your lips tingled and wanted more, not sure why Jungkook slowly opening his eyes and flickering to you made your knees knock together uncomfortably.

“What are you doing?” you sputtered. “You don’t even… what…?”

“I’m kissing you,” he growled, walking up to you and pinning you against the counter. “I’m fucking kissing you because you want me to.”

“I don’t…”

“Just shut up, please.”

And then Jungkook kissed you again, harder this time, pressing you against the kitchen counter, hands coming up and taking you by the waist, pulling you to him and his leather jacket, him and his black shirt, breathing your name into your lips, your hands grabbing his t-shirt and yanking him to you, gasping into his mouth. And you wanted to say, no, no, you weren’t supposed to know, but it was too late because you were shoving his leather jacket off, grasping his shoulders, fingers pressing into his hard muscles, sliding down his biceps.

You yanked your head back and his hand came up to grab it back, kissing you more, more, tongue licking your lips, hissing your name, grinding his hips against yours. Your hand came up in between you two, stopping him, stopping him and his insatiable lips.

“You have to s-say–” You moaned, feeling him harden against your fleece pajamas. “You have to say it.”

“Say what?” Jungkook muttered impatiently, kissing your hand, speaking into your palm.

“Say you’re okay with it,” you gritted out as he rolled his crotch into yours.

“Obviously I’m okay with it,” he grumbled. “Why else am I humping you in your kitchen?”

“You said I’m a c-control freak,” you groaned, throwing your head back as Jungkook slid his hands down to your ass and squeezed it, grinding against you.

“You are,” he grunted. “You can’t let go, you can’t enjoy yourself, you can’t even tell me you like me so I can fucking fuck you already, instead of me cancelling my parties so I can spend time laying on your bed and staring at you playing video games wondering when you’re going to fucking notice that I want to bang you.”

“What?” you replied breathlessly.

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “You’re so busy controlling your own life that you don’t even notice the people around you anymore.”

“What?” you repeated again as Jungkook hoisted you up by your ass and began to walk, forcing you to grab him by the shoulders and stare down his right arm, the fully tattooed one with flowers and script and the tiny circle with angry slits for eyes and a frown on the inside of his elbow, the one Jungkook said was for you and you had slapped him in the chest and told him to shut up.

“Let me take over for once,” he mumbled, placing his chin on your shoulder and nudging you with his head and his non-crispy but still not quite soft dark hair.

“You said I would be an awful sub.”

Jungkook dumped you on the bed, shooing you upwards. You didn’t move, frowning at him. He sighed dramatically.

“You would. You are,” he corrected, planting a hand on your chest and pushing you down, bouncing you against your Pikachu bedsheets. He sandwiched your arms at your sides and straddled your torso. The bed bowed far too low and you almost slid off. Hurriedly, you scooted upwards and Jungkook followed, unbothered.

“You said I’m terrible with authority.”

Jungkook wrestled your arms back down and pinned them with his strong thighs. “You are.”

“You said I’m angry, twenty-four, seven.”

He cocked his head, slowly unbuttoning your pajama shirt. “Still true.”

“And you said I’m uptight,” you added ruefully, pouting.

Jungkook shrugged, reaching in between his legs to unbutton he last few ones. “I’ll fuck it out of you.”

“Jungkook!”

“What?”

He paused, towering above you, eyebrow raised. His black hair curled around his ears, against his silver hoops and base of his neck. His dark eyes pierced down at you, tiny mole under his lips clearly visible from this position. You could see the bottom of his sharp chin, the black t-shirt clinging to his chest, the shape of his tan arms, one tattooed, one not, from below.

“Y-you’re pinching my right arm…”

Jungkook looked down, moving his left leg. “Sorry.”

You winced, pulling out your left arm to rub the other. He tapped your forearm impatiently with his finger.

“You’re ruining the moment,” he scolded.

“You ruined it by bruising me,” you shot back, backing up to your pillows on your elbows, grimacing as you soothed your arm.

“I’m going to bruise you more if you keep being a little brat,” Jungkook growled, following you on hands and knees, the neckline of his t-shirt hanging down, revealing way too much of his skin. Your eyes widened and you slipped, a white plush Poro bonking you in the head. He grabbed it and tossed it aside, the poor guy rolling on the floor.

“That’s very rude,” you muttered, but he was over your body now, breathing hard, staring down your now open shirt and the curve of your breasts into your black bra.

“Why do you get hotter every year?”

You raised an eyebrow. “I… don’t?”

Jungkook shoved the sides of your pajama shirt apart impatiently, reaching under your back and pinching the bra clasp, undoing it with one hand.

“Yes, you do,” he exhaled hotly. “Every year you get prettier and prettier and it pisses me off so much that I have to work out to look half as good as you.”

You felt your ears and cheeks get hot. “Well… you do look very, erm, good.”

“You’re very convincing,” Jungkook chuckled darkly, pushing your bra up and sucking in his lower lip as he revealed your hard, quivering nipples.

Your eyes shifted away from his hungry eyes. “I, uh… am very wet.”

A single, perfectly shaped eyebrow ticked. “Show me.”

“Um…”

He lifted himself off you, pointing down.

“Show me,” Jungkook commanded.

You tried to move your arms and found them tangled in your clothes. You frowned and shrugged out of your pajama shirt, chucking it and your bra aside, before gripping the waistband of your green fleece pants. You hesitated and looked back at Jungkook, who just flapped his hand downwards, giving you a neutral expression.

You puffed your cheeks and raised your hips, yanking your pants and panties down your thighs. You had to bend your legs a bit to fully take them off since Jungkook’s knees were on the outside of your thighs.

Now you were fully naked in front of your childhood best friend. And he was still fully clothed.

“Er, aren’t you going to–”

Jungkook cut you off. “You still haven’t shown me.”

You blinked at him. “What do you want me to do, become a fucking pretzel?”

Jungkook shrugged. “Any way you can prove to me you’re wet.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Fucking…” You bent your right leg and slid it up between his thighs, brushing against his sweatpants and feeling his hard-on for a hot second before you jammed your leg into your chest and lifted it out, pressing your thigh against your torso and raising your calf into the air. You turned your head to the left, letting out an exasperated huff.

“There. You see it?”

Shit, this position was embarrassing for some reason. You could feel cold air on your dripping pussy. Maybe he couldn’t see or something. You lifted your right arm to wrap around your thigh, pressing it down against your breasts since Jungkook wasn’t saying anything.

“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jungkook breathed.

“Okay, going to put my leg do–”

You gasped, suddenly feeling Jungkook’s fingertips touch your heated core, smearing your juices around the lips, his hot breath against your ear as he touched you. You shuddered as he stroked your folds, your name on his lips, his lips kissing your ear.

“Had to touch you,” he whispered against your neck, tone desperate. “I’m sorry, I just had to touch that beautiful pussy, all wet and slopping for me.”

Your eyelids fluttered as his middle finger found your clit, pressing on it. “J-Jungkook… That’s my…”

He chuckled deep in his throat. “Yeah? That’s your what?”

Slow, lazy circles, pushing it around, moan leaving your lips. “My c-clit…”

“Want me to touch it?” Jungkook purred. “Want me to handle your pleasure?”

But he as already touching it, nursing the sensitive bundle of nerves and rousing your lust, igniting it and setting it on fire.

“Y-yes…”

He kissed down your neck, whispering softly, licking your collarbones. “You trust me? You trust me with this pretty, perfect, hot, sexy, fuckable body?”

You arched your neck, giving him more access as he ran his pink lips all over, rubbing your clit, mouth on your throat. Your whole body shook, hips rolling into his finger.

“Y-yes…”

His breath so electrifying that you could barely focus, barely speak as Jungkook’s other hand came up behind your head, long fingers burying into your hair, holding tight, so tight it almost hurt, teeth nipping at your skin.

“Want to mark you,” he mumbled. “Want to give you a big fat hickey you can’t explain, want to bruise you so bad you’ll be staring at it for weeks, thinking about my lips on you, remembering my teeth gave you that.”

He pressed another finger to your clit, increasing the pace, and all you could do was hiss out a yes, a burning yes, a pleading yes, please, Jungkook, whining as his teeth sank into the spot where your shoulder and neck connected, sucking hard, his tongue licking away the prickling pain. His hips rolled into your thigh, his hard cock pressing against you, straining against his pants.

Jungkook moaned into your skin, so hot, so intense, rubbing your aching clit faster, harder, more urgently. Sucking and humping your leg as the feeling of his teeth and his fingers overwhelmed you, one hand clutching his shirt and one hand curled into your sheets as your thighs shook, trying to close but unable to because Jungkook was so strong, so there, so overpowering that you could only lay there and take it, take it as his name poured out of you in a breathless wail, throwing your head back as you felt your pussy clench around nothing, your juices becoming slicker, thicker, the scent of your orgasm staining the air.

He shoved the two fingers inside you and unlatched his mouth, moaning with you as he felt you squeeze his fingers, pumping you in long, slow strokes, all the way to his knuckles. You whimpered, tightening your core and Jungkook moaned again, eyes closed, his hair in disarray as you fucked his hand, clamping your hands on his right forearm, gasping at the feel of his muscle. Pussy throbbing around his fingers, hips meeting his knuckles over and over.

His eyes opened, watching your fuck yourself with his hand, an almost bored expression on his features, but you didn’t care because you felt him flex his fingers and his arm, telling you to continue, telling you he liked it.

“I thought you were going to let me do it.” Jungkook’s voice was low, trying to stay even despite his shallow breathing. “Have to control everything, don’t you?”

You caught your lower lip in your teeth, eyes moving to his face, his handsome, angular face with his black hair curled around his forehead and his cocked eyebrow, smirk on his lips.

“I’m not in control,” you panted. “Your forearm is…”

Jungkook flexed it under your hand and you moaned pathetically, breath hitching.

His smirk grew wider.

“It’s getting you off touching it.”

You swallowed, close, so close and Jungkook was taunting you and for some reason you couldn’t tell him to shut up, because he kept tensing his arm and it was so fucking hot that you really were going to orgasm.

“Say it,” he purred, breathing your name. “Tell me you like my forearm.”

Your eyes shifted down to his arm in your hands, the tiny angry face tattoo in his inner elbow frowning at you.

“I fucking love it, Jungkook,” you gasped. “Fuck, I love your delicious, sexy-as-fuck forearms.”

He grinned and began to thrust his fingers into you, fast, so fast you couldn’t even fathom how he could be that fast like a fucking vibrator, sending torrents of pleasure through you and his arm was so hard and his skin so soft that your eyes rolled back into your head, moaning his name far too loud. Jungkook placed a hand over your mouth and you screamed into it, liquid gushing down your thighs, but he didn’t stop, he kept going until you felt it again, pussy throbbing, back-to-back, eyelids fluttering, nails digging into his arm as the crescendo slammed into you, taking your breath and senses away, lost only in the feeling of Jungkook’s secure presence above you.

He slowed, breathing hard. Gently, carefully pulling his fingers out of your pulsating pussy, gasping as he removed his hand. You vaguely heard Jungkook place his fingers in his mouth, sighing wantonly at your taste.

“You taste so good,” he whispered around his fingers. “Fuck, so sweet and thick and delicious.”

Your brain could not compute what the fuck was happening. Did Jungkook just give you three mind-blowing orgasms in a row after you exploded at him and admitted to thinking about him while masturbating?

Holy shit.

He pressed his face into your hair, inhaling your scent.

You swallowed thickly.

“Jungkook, do you, ah… want something too?” you asked quietly.

You heard him snicker. “If I take my clothes off, I’m going to want to put my dick in you.”

“… I’m cool with that.”

“I thought a dildo was the same as a dick?”

You cleared your throat. “Ah… Well, I didn’t think you’d want to put a dick in me.”

Jungkook laughed. “If I had five dicks, I’d put them all in you.”

“Erm… mathematically speaking, that doesn’t really work…”

“Shut up.”

Jungkook sat up, looking down at you with a smile. The same smile he always had, but a little different now, because he didn’t have to hide his attraction to you anymore.

“You really let me put it in you?”

You narrowed your eyes. “With a ninety-eight percent chance, only.”

His smile became mischievous. “That’s not one hundred percent.”

You puffed your cheeks.

“I’ll take the two percent chance for you and only you, Jungkook.”

He grinned and turned around, throwing himself to the end of the bed where his jeans were barely holding on. Fishing through the pockets, retrieving the foil packet from the back pocket. You blinked at him.

“How long has that been–”

Jungkook gave you a silencing look. “I bring a new one every time I come over, in hopes you become drunk enough to sit on my dick.”

You blinked at him. “What.” Not a question, just you stating it.

“Because you’re paranoid.”

You frowned. “I’m not–”

He launched himself over the bed and silenced you with a kiss, deep and longing. You leaned into it, breathing softly, tongue against his, pressing back against him. Jungkook drew back slowly, thumb on your cheek. Eyes looking into yours, careful and tender.

“I don’t want you to worry,” he said against your lips. “I’ll do anything you want. I know it’s not easy for you. I know you’re not ready for the million babies I want from you.”

“I can’t have a million babies. It’s not scientifically possible,” you interjected.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes. “Can you just let me have one romantic moment?”

“Erm, sorry.”

“You want me to have a damn vasectomy or something? Because I’ll fucking do it. That shit’s reversible.”

“No, that kind of requires more time and I’m pretty horny for your dick right now. Condom will do.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes. “You are a shitty sub.”

“I will do better after I’ve had the dick.”

Jungkook straightened and yanked his black t-shirt over his head. “No, you won’t.”

Your eyes roamed over his toned chest. Damn, he was ripped. Maybe he was insecure about you being hot or something, but you were certainly benefiting. “You never know?”

Jungkook sent you a pained look and pressed a hand to your chest, shoving you back into your bed. “I’ve known you way too long to believe those words coming out of your mouth.”

You were going to reply, but he ran his hand over your chest, inhaling sharply as he brushed against your nipples. He ran his fingers over them, squeezing a little. You whined, trying to get more, but Jungkook pressed his palm down on your breast, breathing hard.

“Listen, woman, I’m about to explode in my damn underwear. Stop sounding so sexy this instant.”

Your eyes found his, pupils blown wide, lips pursed, and jaw tight. Your lips parted a little, tongue peeking out, a soft moan of his name emitting from your throat. You saw a muscle in his eyebrow twitch. He looked like he wanted to throttle you, at least a little bit.

You grinned.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes.

“You are lucky you’re cute,” he muttered. “And lucky I want to be in this pussy more than I want to be alive.”

“Don’t you ne–”

Jungkook planted his hand on your mouth. “The only words I want to hear out of you are, “Fuck me harder” or my own name, you got that?” he snarled, pressing his hand into your face for emphasis.

You nodded quickly.

He sighed, almost in relief, and yanked his pants and underwear down, wincing. There was a large wet spot on his boxer briefs, strings of pre-cum clinging as he pushed it down his muscular thighs.

“You made me a giant mess,” he muttered, eyes flickering up to you. “What do you have to say?”

You blinked at him and gave him a thumbs up.

He grinned. “You do know how to listen.”

In truth, you couldn’t say anything because you were breathlessly staring at Jungkook’s thick cock, red head glistening with pre-cum, dripping everywhere. You slid down quickly, startling him, and wrapped your lips around the head, moaning as his strong taste invaded your mouth. He hissed, gritting his teeth as your tongue swiped around, licking his length all over, feeling the veins and contours, memorizing them.

“F-fuck,” he gasped. “You wanted to clean me up that bad?”

Your eyes traveled up his abs, his pecs, his neck, to his face, giving him your best imploring look. He smirked, placing a hand on your forehead, and gradually, with great effort, pulled out of your tight mouth. Tight because you sucked in your cheeks, not wanting to let him go, but Jungkook was stronger than you. You frowned, but he shooed you away.

“I allowed it this one time. Now back to your spot.”

You backed up, tsking as you watched him roll down the condom, groaning as it covered him.

“I’m actually glad I have this fucking condom,” Jungkook muttered, glaring at you.

You couldn’t say anything, so you spread your legs. His eyes dropped down and he bit his lower lip, crawling to you, grabbing your thighs. Placing himself right in front of your soaked entrance, staring down at your pussy as he guided himself, sinking into you.

“Holy fuck,” he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut.

You moaned, feeling Jungkook’s cock stretch you out, so different from a silicone dildo or multiple fingers, because it was Jeon Jungkook praying for air as you clenched around his length, his cries of pleasure as he rocked his hips into you. Those long nights with your vibrator and his Instagram open on your phone were incomparable to his cock molding to your walls, his hard hips finally hitting your thighs, all the way in, and it was so good that you throbbed around him, shuddering.

“J-Jungkook…” you pleaded.

“I know,” he panted, hands gripping your knees tight. “I know, but give me a second to appreciate this pussy, holy fuck.”

He jerked his cock inside you and you cried out, definitely crushing your sheets, but Pikachu had seen a lot by now and there was only going to be more.

Jungkook finally began to slide out and push back in, groaning, starting slow and deep because quite frankly he needed to last more than five seconds and your pussy was not letting up. You had too much control over your vaginal muscles and he was too into you to not be hugely turned on by it, shoving your legs up higher so he could go deeper, feel more of you surround him and massage his length.

“H-harder…” you whimpered. “Please, Jungkook, fuck me harder…”

And how could Jungkook say no to that? Begging so perfectly, with just the right amount of desperation, and you didn’t even know it was driving him insane, because he knew normally you were so wound up, always worrying about being perfect, always worrying about doing the right thing, but now you were unraveling on his cock as he bent down and put more force into it, pounded you harder, watching the ecstasy in your eyes, your mouth opening and tongue peeking out, hot breath in his face. Knuckles white as you clutched the sheets, pleasure radiating up his length as you came with a cry, his name, his name on those perfect lips, lips he always watched with envy, wondering who had them, wondering who was so lucky to capture them.

And now it was just him, just him and you, and his hips slapping into your hips, pussy nearly choking his cock, but it felt so good, so fucking euphoric as you fucked him back, raising your hips to meet his, loud, wet, and lewd, probably causing a ruckus next door. But neither of you cared, your names mixing together, your eyes staring to Jungkook’s piercing brown ones, hot pleasure radiating up your stomach, your chest, to your head and there was no one else.

No one else but Jungkook’s name tumbling out of your mouth as the wave soared into you, pussy spasming as you came again, unsure at what number it was, but it was the one Jungkook wasn’t prepared for and he groaned, smacking into you one last time before you felt his cock throb and pulse against your walls, spilling into the condom. You gasped at the feeling, clenching around him, his right hand reaching over to grasp yours and hold it tightly, intertwining your fingers.

“W-wow…” you whispered breathlessly. “Nice cock.”

Jungkook burst out laughing. “You’re unbelievable.” He reached down and gingerly felt around in your dripping folds, finding the end of the condom and pulling out carefully.

“Fuck. It’s so much,” he gulped, brows knitted in worry.

You waved a hand. “It’s fine. I finished my period yesterday. Likelihood of you getting me pregnant is pretty low.”

Jungkook jerked his head towards you.

“Why the fuck didn’t you say that sooner?” he roared, slapping your leg. “I was scared shitless over here!”

You placed your hands over your ears. “So loud. Shut up, Jungkook.”

“No!”

--

masterpost

[lovemesomesurveys]

survey by ehxsnos

First lets get the basics out of the way...

What's your name? Stephanie.

How old are you? 31.

Where are you from? California.

What color are your eyes and hair? I have brown eyes and naturally dark brown hair, but I dye it red. I’m a year overdue, though...

When were you born? July 28th.

Now for the fun stuff! Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? They don’t have doors; I have a curtain instead that I do keep closed.

How many people have you slept with this week? Zero.

What size is your bed? Full.

What do you drink with dinner? I don’t always have something when I eat unless I already happen to be drinking something, like coffee or a Starbucks energy drink. I do always have water nearby, though. But yeah, I usually don’t drink while I’m eating, it’s usually before and after.

What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Ranch or Chick-Fil-A sauce. 

Last person you kissed/kissed you? Joseph, almost 10 years ago...

What movies could you watch over and over and still love? There’s several.

What is your usual bedtime? After 7AM. :/

When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? It varied, but there were a lot of vampire and witch costumes.

Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? Six years ago for my UC graduation.

Take a vitamin daily? No, but there’s a few I should be taking.

What do you wear to bed? What I wear during the day, which is leggings and graphic tees.

Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? Wal-Mart and Target. We haven’t had a K-Mart in well over a decade.

Ever have plastic surgery? No.

Do you want kids? No.

Where did your last kiss take place? I think it was in his car.

Four words to explain why you last threw up? I had a stomach bug. That was like 4 years ago.

Last thing you ate? Wingstop for dinner, which was at 8PM. I skipped out on my nightly ramen tonight that I typically have around 2-230AM and now it’s 4:53AM and I’m starving. :/ I actually fell asleep around 10PM last night cause I had a bad headache and then woke up around 230AM, but I didn’t feel like getting up and making it. Sigh. 

Do you get your nails done? Nope. I’ve only had my nails done once, and that was for my 8th grade promotion.

When did your last relationship end? Back in 2013.

So tell us, what room ARE you in? I’m in my room.

How many stories does your home have? Just one.

Do you own headphones? Yep, I’m currently wearing my new Beats earbuds my lil bro got me recently.

Have you ever... Gotten a Brazillian wax? No.

Gotten so drunk you couldn’t remember wtf you did? The last time I drank I got really drunk (and really sick) and there’s parts of that night that are spotty.

Been called a bitch? Jokingly. Seriously as well, I’m sure, but not to my face. 

Slut? Jokingly.

Pierced anything? *Okay, finishing this at a much later time now cause I ended up zonking out.* Anyway, I just have my earlobes pierced.

Had a tattoo? No.

Smoked a cigarette? No.

Smoked weed? Yes.

Missed someone so bad you couldn’t eat or sleep? I’ve gone through really hard times after losing loved ones. 

Worked out at a gym? Yes.

Snuck out of the house? Nope.

What’s the nearest furry object? My throw blanket.

Is the room you are in messy? No.

What is the single largest item in your house? Hmm.

How much money did you spend today? Zero.

What is the biggest amount of money you have ever had at one time? I think 5,000.

What kind of cell phone do you have? An iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Have you ever been under anesthesia? Several times.

Which Disney parks have you been to? Disneyland and California Adventure.

What does your bed comforter look like? I don’t have one. I use a throw blanket, which is rose gold and fluffy.

When did you last cry? Last night.

When is the last time you took medicine? Over an hour ago.

What was the medicine for? It was my pain medication. 

What kind of health insurance do you have? I’m not sharing that.

What is your birth control method of choice? Well, I’m a virgin but besides that I can’t get pregnant, sooo.

How much do you spend on your parents for Christmas? A lot. I love saving up and spoiling my family with what I can.

If you were given $1k and had to use it on 1 purchase, what would you buy? Uhhh. I’d have to really think about that.

Have your parents ever caught you drinking? I honestly didn’t try to drink before I was 21.

Have you ever crawled through a window? No.

What do you spend most of your money on? Food delivery, heh. :)))))))) It’s my favorite way to spoil myself. <<< Saaame.

Is there a secret you've never told your parents? Yes.

Do you still have pictures of you & your ex? Yes.

Has someone ever spread a nasty rumor about you? No.

How many rooms does your house have? It has 2 bedrooms.

Would you sex tape with you in it for 3 million dollars? No.

Are you happier single or in a relationship? All I really know is being single and while I’m not happy, it’s not because of my relationship status. Being in a relationship wouldn’t fix my problems and would add more stress.

Do you have curly hair? No.

What is a compliment you receive often? I rarely receive compliments.

How tall are you?: Like 5′4.

Who was the last person to say they loved you and when? My mom recently.

What is the last thing you said aloud? I said goodbye to my mom as she was leaving for work.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Coffee.

What is one thing that can ALWAYS be found in your freezer? Ice cream. My dad likes to always have it.

How many pets do you own? One.

How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 32.

Last time you went out of town? February 2020.

First thing you wash in the shower? My body. What kind of shampoo & conditioner do you use? A salon style for red dyed hair.

Do you own something from Hot Topic? I own a lot of things from Hot Topic, from clothes to accessories to collectibles. Majority of my graphic tees are from Hot Topic and their sister store, Boxlunch.

Have you ever bought anything from Pac Sun? Yeah.

How often do you hold hands with someone? I hold my doggo’s hand a lot, ha.

What was the most recent thing you bought? Food.

Could you ever forgive a cheater? I don’t know. Possibly. It would depend on some things.

Do you have Verizon? Yes.

Have you ever been pregnant? No.

What is your average cell phone bill? I don’t know. I’m on a family plan and my parents and brother handle it.

How many piercings do you have? Two; one in each earlobe.

Do you start the water before you get in the shower or when you get in? When I get in.

Have you ever had stitches? Yeah, I’ve had several surgeries. 

Do you think it’s right for straight guys to get their tongue pierced? Uh, it’s a piercing. Who cares.

Are you more of a coffee or alcohol drinker? Coffee all the way. I don’t drink.

Do you have a wireless keyboard and mouse? Nope.

How many songs are on your iPod or MP3 player? *shrug* I haven’t used my iPod in almost a decade. 

Where did you get that shirt you're wearing? Speaking of Hot Topic...

What are your pet’s names? Princess Leia, either one for short. And a ton of nicknames.

Honestly, are you in love right now? Nope.

Honestly, what color is your underwear? Blue.

Honestly, do you think you are attractive? No. I’m a mess.

Honestly, do your wrists hurt? Not at the moment.

Honestly, wouldn't you rather be having sex right now? No.

What would you do if the doctor told you that you were pregnant? Say they got me mixed up with someone cause that’s impossible.

Was there anyone who "made your day"? My mom went and got me my favorite breakfast before she went to work. 

Are you vegeterian? Nope.

How many windows are open in your computer? Two.

Do you read Perez Hilton? Nah.

Is there a baby in the room with you right now? No.

Do you plan on moving within the next year? We’d love to, but I don’t see that happening.

Have you been to a baby shower? I’ve been to several.

What brand is your computer? Apple.

How many cars can fit in your driveway? Two.

Are you taller than your mom? No.

Are you a cuddler? Not really.

Sleep on your back or stomach? I have to sleep turned toward my side and propped up due to acid reflux. 

Do you go to the bathroom with the door open or closed? Always closed.

Do you dress for style or comfort? Comfort, definitely. 

Think of the last time you were angry. Why were you angry? Blahhhh.

Would you marry someone if they were unable to have sex? Sex isn’t a big thing for me, honestly. Also, I don’t plan on getting married. 

Have you ever made a boyfriend or girlfriend cry? My first boyfriend did when I broke up with him. 

Does heartbreak really feel as bad as it sounds? It’s horrible.

How long has it been since you had sex? Virgin here.

Who was the last person to call you babe? *shrug*

Last reason you went to the ER? I haven’t had to go for myself since my accident.

Were you a planned pregnancy for your parents? Yes.

How old was your mom when she gave birth to you? She was in her early 20s. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Yeah.

When was the last time you shaved your legs? It’s been awhile. My legs don’t really get hair growth for whatever reason, but that’s fine with me.

What facial cleanser do you use? I don’t.

Do you use a blowdryer? No.

How many purses do you own?: Several.

What are your top five favorite stores to shop for clothes? Boxlunch and Hot Topic.

What kind of clothes do you mostly wear? Graphic tees and leggings.

What about shoes? Adidas.

Have you ever cheated on the significant other that you have now? I’m single, but no I’ve never cheated before.

What are your first thoughts when your visitor visits? It’s always like, ‘ohhh, that’s why I’ve been feeling like that.’

Favorite underwear brand? I don’t have a particular favorite, really.

Last thing you bought at the mall? It was Christmas gifts a couple years ago.

Do your parents like your boyfriend/girlfriend? I’m single. What color are your pillows? I have like 10 pillows and they all look different.

What if an ex asked to be back in your life? No.

Don’t you just love DVR? It’s nice to have.

If you're on a laptop, how much charge does it have left? It’s plugged in, so it’s at 100%.

Last gift you recieved? My brother recently bought me a new pair of Beats earbuds.

Lesson you recently learned? *shrug*

[awesomelogicflip]

Family Matters Chapter 1

It has taken me a long time to get up the courage to write this. For many reasons, I’ve delayed and postponed the publishing of this book. Mostly because of its subject matter: Inko Midoriya. I can easily imagine the reactions I’ve already gotten from that name alone.

Disgust. Admiration. Curses. Maybe even a bit of hero worship. Its a name that stirs up many feelings and even more names. Monster. Destroyer. Invader. Hero. Idealist. Wild Card. The number of pedestals that she’s been put on or forced into as some see it, is as numerous as they are vague.

I think the main problem people have with her is that she is not a clean subject. Not Black-and-White and can’t be slipped into a slot that perfectly wraps her entire being up in a little bow. Coming off the heels of massive characters like All Might and All For One, it was undoubtedly hard for her to be put into one camp or the other.

Was she a villain? No, she saved lives. Was she a Hero? No, she’s taken lives as well.

To me though, she was my mother.

So many people have gotten caught up in the results of her actions that they’ve forgotten that most of the things blamed on her were far out of her control. From the activation of our family genes to the incidents during my time a UA to our fights against the Villain Alliance to the rise of the JJE to HIM breaking out of prison, were not her fault. I know no matter what fame or infamy that these events gave her and I, my mother would’ve rather had a normal happy life. Would’ve rather had me have a normal happy life.

Instead, we both had to become strong to face what was ahead.

-Izuku Midoriya, My Mother The Warrior.

Chapter 1

Seeing the scorched blown out front of the corner store, Yagi wondered if there was ever going to be a time in which he wouldn’t be shocked by the random acts of violence he had, would, and knew he’d continue to come across.

He sighed behind the smile he forced to make as genuine as possible for the cameras around which had been, before he’d arrived, trying to get a better look at the crime scene but were now squarely focused on him. Between the click-flash of photos being taken and the rush of questions from the news anchors trying to crowd around him, he was tempted to simply make a statement on how the situation was handled and exit as quickly as politeness would allow.

Hell, this wasn’t his scene. Heroic involvement had ended when the commission of the crime had and even more so now that the police were investigating but he wanted to offer a helping hand, especially considering who’s Hero Firm was involved. But he was here now and leaving as soon as he got here would cause an unnecessary media stir.

Giving the crowd a small wave of acknowledgment, he strode through the police cordon, and only barely managed to not completely halt when he got inside.

What he saw was enough to turn his stomach which was good, it meant that he wasn’t completely jaded but that was the only positive thing he could pull from the horrible sight before him.

The store was totally wrecked. Shelves of snacks and other things knocked over and scattered. Chunks of the cashier’s counter were smashed into pieces and in the very rear of the store, the refrigeration units were cracked with glass, warped by heat, scattered everywhere on the cracked floor glittering like little round diamonds among the debris.

It would almost be bearable to look at if it wasn’t for the bodies. Two boys, teens really, still dressed in their school uniforms were sprawled out over the shelves. With their closed eyes, Yagi could easily imagine that they were just asleep or out cold if it wasn’t for them being cut in half.

Cleanly sliced at the waist with a massive pool of blood under them.

With the shelves down, he got a clear view of the next victim who was... Male? Female? A body was all but planted into the far wall, clothes burned away and surrounded by scorch marks.

The last body was without a doubt the worst. The man was identifiable as a hero, his black and white checkerboard suit hanging loosely around his curled shriveled husk of a body. Yagi was grateful that it was a full body suit that covered even the face because he didn’t want another horrible sight etched into his memory to follow him to sleep.

He hadn’t known the young man well, he was a Member of the Rakka firm, One of Endeavor’s people CrossCheck. He didn’t know the young man’s actual name.

Endeavor, Japan’s Number 2 ranked hero, stood over the body with his usual scowl even fiercer that usual, and raised his head to look at him as he entered. Yagi wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but it seemed that the flames that he wore dimmed slightly. The death of any hero was one the affected them all, even more so when you’re responsible for them and it was clear by his body language that he was just reining himself in. He wanted to lash out but had no target...at least until he showed up.

“What're you doing here?” He began as he stepped around the body, putting himself between Yagi and the rest of the store. “This is my scene and if you think-”

Yagi raised a hand to hold back the argument and was rather surprised that the Number 2 Hero actually stopped. “I’m just here to help. I was in the area when I heard the sirens.” He couldn’t help the second glance at CrossCheck and winced. “I’m sorry.”

Endeavor scoffed and looked away, his fists clenching even tighter and making the material of his gloves creak. “The idiot was supposed to be off duty. Don’t even know why he was here, damn it. He knew my rules and now...”

Yagi knew. While Endeavor called them ‘his’ rules, they were pretty universal for hero firms all across Japan. Interns were NEVER to patrol alone.

“What happened?”

The other man looked back at him with a glare, his mouth working as if chewing on something unpleasant. He sighed and then pointed at a old man with white hair that Yagi had passed right by without noticing. The man was being questioned by the officers over at nearby ambulance, a blanket around his shoulders. “A robbery gone wrong or just gone violent. The cashier, Mitsuki, over there was ringing up a customer when a young man and a young woman in hoodies and facemasks came in and told everybody to get down on the floor.” He waved in the direction of the two teens that had been sliced in half. “Those two were unlucky. According to our witness the our murderer at large simply cut them down as soon as they'd entered. No warning or anything.”

Yagi felt his blood run cold. There weren’t many who could just kill like that. His surprise must’ve shown on his face because Endeavor nodded. “Yep. And if it wasn’t for th-”

“Uh, Sirs?” They both turned to look at a female officer, who crisply saluted them then waved over to the backroom of the store. “We’ve managed to pull footage from the cameras.”

Yagi turned back to Endeavor. “You mind if I stay?”

The man’s response was another snort as he spun on his heel and made his way to the indicated place.

Yagi motioned for the officer to lead and with a grateful nod, she paused as they reached the battered looking door. The smell of burnt everything from the body on the wall, while not gone, was still strong enough to unsettle the stomach. “Do we know who did this?” He asked, hoping to distract her.

She jumped at his question but shook her head. “Not yet, All Might sir.” She twitched her head in the direction of the burned body just enough to indicate it but keep it out of sight. “We know that is one the girl. We’ll have to use dental records to ID her. We have an APB out for the other but...”

She didn’t say more. She didn’t have to.

The male was in the wind...for now.

When they got to the backroom, she stepped aside for him to get a view of the computer that sat at a desk tucked into the corner of the room among the shelves of products. Two other police officers with Endeavor looming over the one who was working at the keyboard, gave him enough space to see clearly. “We’re going to start, at least two minutes before the robbery.”

“Play it.” Endeavor snapped and with the click of a mouse, the video began. The camera angle was perfect and gave them all a full view of the entrance, Cash register, and the store as a whole. The second camera was of the backroom they stood in now, with a view of the door the led into the store proper.

“-ou boys better be planning’ on buying what yer readin’.”

The slightly balding owner, Mitsuki, was pointing squarely at the two teenagers who, Yagi hated to remember, were dead on the floor in the next room. The two boys were standing by the magazine racks flipping through ones they had in their hands. The one closer to the door, shrugged, mumbled something and waved off the old man.

It looked like the man was getting ready to kick them out when two people entered the store. A woman and a boy who couldn’t be even ten years old. From their similar green hair and facial features, they were certainly mother and son. The woman held her son close, guiding him to the fridge section in the back, past the teens.

“Whi-...on...nt?”

“-at one...”

The microphone wasn’t clear but snatches of what she was saying painted enough of a picture, a picture that that was even more solid after the boy pointed at a frozen ice cream treat of some sort and she picked it up. The pair made their way over to the counter and it was at that time the two boys lost interest in whatever they’d been reading and, putting the magazines up in the wrong spots, made for the exit

By all rights, in Yagi’s opinion, that’s where it should’ve ended. The obvious school friends should’ve left, the mother should’ve been able to buy the treat for her son, which, now that the pair were closer to the camera than anyone he could see that the treat in question was his All Might Special. It made him think back for a moment about the commercial he’d done for it more than a year ago now. ‘Red, white, and blue-berry’ if he was remembering the line right.

Then his attention was grabbed by a fast shadow of movement by the entrance, in the far left corner of the video. No one saw it happen. The boys were fooling around like teens do on their way to the door, with roughhousing shoves and laughs and the man and woman were focused on the purchase as the little boy was just beginning to pull the wrapper off.

The doors were thrown open with such force that the glass cracked and a new pair filled the space. The noise was enough to make everyone jump. With bulky gray hoodies and fully matching outfits of loose jeans, Yagi had a hard time at first figuring out who was who until the smaller of the two raised her hand and shouted. “ALL YOU DOWN ON THE FLOOR!!! NOW!”

There was the expected moment of disbelief which was followed after by GREAT and unexpected violence. Even with preparation, even with seeing the bodies first hand, Yagi barely held back the jump of surprise as the male stepped in around her and sliced his hand right at the school kids even as the boys were in the process of raising their own. His fingers wreathed in energy of some sort, lightning from the look of it and it smacked both boys clean off their feet and sent them crashing into a shelf right behind them. When their bodies settled, they did in two pieces. Neither moved after that and Yagi hoped that the shock had knocked them out.

The streak of power continued like a wave, knocking over row after row of shelves and smashing the refrigeration units in the back of the store. There was no sound from the video, the microphone was unable to record all the noise for the moment.

However what he saw next amazed him. The mother scooped up her child in one arm, who was screaming when the sound came back, and with her other, grabbed for the store owner. He had been nearer to the end of the counter and was dragged along as she ran for the backroom.

It caught the criminals off guard as neither of them reacted until she was just getting to the door.

“Where you going?!” The male shouted, coming around the destruction her created with his hand cocked back like he was about the throw a pitch. Energy...no, it was electricity, wrapped around his hand and he flung it just as the woman had let go of the owner and grabbed for the door. She’d been so close, Yagi was certain that had the villain acted just a second of two later she would’ve made it. Hell, if she had been alone, he was certain she’d have made it.

But between her just putting her son down at the same time, she was reaching slowed her just enough. Plus, the little boy, like any child in this situation, clung to his mother and so was holding her hand as the ball hit her square in the back.

Again the sound cut though in time with the flash as she and her son were smacked down as if they’d been shoved, the concussion that followed sent the two rolling across the floor in different directions. This put the shop owner into action and he hurriedly threw the door shut and locked it. Not a moment too late, as another cracking blast crashed into it.

The man seemed to struggle, looking from the mother to the son as if not sure who to help first.

“Pause it.” Endeavor instructed. The video paused with the old man in mid-scramble, the male villain in mid throw and his partner barely having moved up to now except to get, what he guessed was, a better view.

“The woman and her son?” He asked. From the fact that their bodies weren’t still on the floor, it gave Yagi a little hope.

The one of the officer’s nodded though his face was grim. “I was here when they were taken to the hospital. The mother in particular was in critical condition, last I heard.”

 The video continued and Yagi noticed right away that there wasn't a decibel of sound coming from the speakers. He found out later that the microphone had been blow out, the blast had been so close to it. The man charged for the door and the hero had to bite his tongue to keep from cursing. However, Endeavor growled his characteristic grumble. "Can't be 18, if a day." The criminal, in his rush for his victims, had not only closed in to the camera that gave them a better view but let his hoodie slip off his head. He was young enough to be a classmate of the students he killed but that's where any consideration of youth flew out the window. It was silent but Yagi could easily read the bellows and shouts from the way he blasted at the door, an expression of seething rage. When it was becoming clear that his Quirk alone wasn't getting through, he began to beat on it with his fists.

"Officer." Yagi said, putting a hand on the shoulder of the nearest police officer, a woman with a tight bun of hair pinned down. "Make sure to update the APB with this face before we leave."

If the other hero had a problem with him taking even this little bit of initiative, he didn't show it.

It was a movement near the counter that reminded the hero about his accomplice. The woman, possibly girl if the age of the male was any indication. She was leaning over the counter reaching for the cigarettes but froze, clearly seeing something that the camera and the man couldn't.

     If there had been a warning, Yagi didn't know. But a form crashed through the glass window closest to the counter, and in one smooth movement landed and body checked the girl. Half-bent over a counter, she had no chance to defend herself and was knocked clean off her feet and into a shelf. CrossCheck, his hero costume perfectly fitting him, was aware enough to not look at the criminal he'd knocked over and spun to face the other one. His right hand snapped up, palm up and forward. A huge circle of energy sprang up in the air before him. A black disc-shaped shield. Not a moment too soon. The other villain's reactions were just as sharp. There was no hesitation or pause. He just swung around, arm leading and fired.

The power hit the shield, which held the ball against it for a brief moment, then the color flashed to white and the villain's own attack fired back at him. Much faster than when it had come at the hero. So much so that, the man had to throw himself to the floor in order to dodge. The ball of electricity splashed against the door in an shower of sparks, buckling it slightly.

Yagi glanced over to Endeavor, the question obvious. The Number 2 Hero's ever present frown had etched deeper lines in his face at the appearance of one of those under him. "His Quirk is called Reflect. Any attack taken on his shield gets bounced back with twice as much force."

Nothing else was said nor did Yagi want anything to be said. The next minute of video led to the death of a hero in training. Even the police officers who were watching the video with them shared grim expressions.

CrossCheck was on the man before the sparks had touched to floor. His lunge carried him clear across the space between them. He not once lowered or dispersed the shield, instead using it at a battering ram to pin the criminal to the floor.

The blow was powerful and savage. Meant to take down right away before the criminal had a chance to adapt.

It had been working. Two more swings of the shield, the force of which was doubled as it changed color. The young man's face was bloody and there was a hazy unfocused look to it that anyone who'd ever really had their bell rung could recognize.  

Then CrossCheck stiffened in the middle of cocking his arm back, half turned, and looked down. He shifted his leg as if he'd snagged his foot in the debris around him. It was only when the hero in training actually stumbled that Yagi noticed that a hand was wrapped around his ankle.

The girl. He saw her now. She'd crawled from where she'd been thrown and had grabbed him while he'd been focused. As CrossCheck began twitching and then shaking, it was apparent to everyone that this was the moment when everything went wrong. His arms went limp, his shield present but with his sudden forced paralysis, useless.

The state of that young man's body must have been from whatever her quirk was. And no doubt it was painful, to what degree Yagi didn't know. The only pain he was sure of was the sting in his chest as he watched. And he knew it had to be worse for his fellow crime fighter.

In the time that CrossCheck was held in place her partner, face dripping blood and beginnings of bruises starting to color his skin, began to stand.

He raised a hand and the biggest electric blast yet flew right at the Hero. Somehow instead of striking him, most likely because of the beating that he’d been on the receiving of Yagi supposed, the aim was off and it caught the very edge of the shield.

The shield that was hanging low.

The energy rolled along the edge of the shield in the same way a glass filled right to the rim would hold that little bit more before spilling.

The shield turned black just as the power curved down its edge.

Right into the other villain’s face.

The video cut then.  The explosion that followed or the concussion that came with it too much for the kind of security camera that would be used by a convenience store.

“I’ll get the bastard.” Endeavor’s voice was the first roll of thunder before the hurricane makes land. All threat and menace. With a quick step, he marched for the exit but the stopped as if he forgot something. He turned a fierce gaze at Yagi and pointed. “He’s mine. If you find him, back off.”

He then left without another word. Yagi couldn’t blame the man for wanting revenge. A charge of his was killed but that wasn’t what worried the hero.

He took one last look at he blank screen, chewing at his bottom lip in thought. No, it was the condition of the villain still at large.

If he was somehow uninjured by that explosion, which he doubted then he was working himself up for nothing. Any criminal with any sense would find a place to lie low. Yet that face, the man’s expression twisted into such hatred, quickly shoved aside his hopes for a rational mind. Which made the more possible situation, that they were currently dealing with a desperate INJURED unbalanced murderer who was now doing God knows what.

It was that very idea that put an extra bit of speed into his step as he left the building to start patrolling the streets.

XXX

Darkness and cold. Drifting and weightlessness. No air to breathe or anything to hold.

That was all that Inko felt at first. A numb empty nothing that flowed across her being and clawed away at her rising consciousness. The more she became aware, the more information followed. Bit by bit, her senses came back. She felt gravity finally settle around her, her back pressed into the soft surface of a bed, a blanket over her. The chill on her exposed skin told of air conditioning and let her know that her arms were on top of the blanket, not under it like she normally slept. A tightness on the back of her skull and a pressure on her face was another warning that something was off.

A steady thrum from deep in her chest was matched by a noise that felt distant yet closer than she thought as if hearing through a long tunnel. Then someone somewhere turned up the volume and she was able to clearly make out what it was.

-EP.

HISS.

BEEP.

HISS.

BEEP.

HISS.

BEEP.

She moved to turn off what she thought at first was an alarm or rather...she tried. Barely had she worked her unbelievably tired muscles to move her body in the direction of the sound when pain lanced through her. White, hot, and pure, the darkness before her exploded into fireworks.

The pain made her open her eyes and, after laying still until the fire searing all the way to her bones cooled, it took her bewildered mind a long while to figure out that the white void before her eyes was a tiled ceiling.

The realization came upon her suddenly and violently, not as a comforting revelation but a hollow horrific flash that yanked her sluggish mind up by the neck and throttled her. With it, all details that had been distant snapped vividly into place. The beeping was a heart monitor.

The hissing? A breathing machine.

The pressure on her face and head? The strap and warm plastic of a breathing mask.

The bed? A hospital one.

Opening her mouth, which felt dry and filled with too much of her tongue, she coughed. Doing so made her whole body throb and the sound that came out was raspy and scratchy.

“Oh my god.” The unexpected voice just next to her would’ve made her jump if she’d had the energy. Instead, she twitched as a familiar face came from her left to peer over her. Mitsuki Bakugo’s expression was a mix of things, shock mainly as her hand covered her mouth. It was around that moment that Inko realized the gasp she’d heard wasn’t her own.

“I’ll get the nurse.” Another voice, Masaru’s she realized, quickly said, followed by the sound of quick footsteps around her and of a door opening.

“Stay with us, Inko.” Mitsuki pleaded, her red eyes looking at her with more worry than Inko had ever seen from the woman in the years she’d known her. She felt the woman’s hand close around her own as if she needed to hold her in place to keep her here.

The open concern was a relief...

...at first.

Then worry followed and it made her stomach twist into knots as it slowly hit her that she hadn’t really seen herself yet. She could barely turn her eyelids in any direction without pain coming in like a slap across the face and the numbness was fading so SO slowly. With a cold vice closing around her heart, she began to think of what she would do if the numbness went away but left something...lacking behind it. What could she do if something was missing?

What had happened to her? She wasn’t given time to search her memory before the footsteps came back followed by more than one set. For the next few minutes there was nothing but frantic activity around her. Too many voices, too many questions, too much to try to process. She squeezed her eyes shut and tired to block out the sound as her head began to throb. She just needed a moment to think about what happened. How did she get here? What time was it?

“Mrs. Midoriya?” This was a new voice. Male and tentative. The speaker leaned into view and judging from the lab coat, he was the doctor. A man with an obvious quirk, his ears were the shape of a stethoscope and his salt and pepper hair was combed over in just the right way to barely hint at a bald spot.

He also had what Inko had to assume was supposed to be a comforting smile on his lips. It wasn’t comforting at all and didn’t help the worry building in her stomach. “Ah, Mrs. Midoriya. Good. Good. I apologize for the disturbance but we are glad to see you’re awake.” He pulled a clipboard from under his arm. “I understand you probably have questions but first, can you speak?”

She tired to say ‘Yes’ but instead of words, a dry croak left her throat.

Luckily, that was all it took to communicate to the doctor that she couldn’t. “Okay, here’s what I’d like for you to do, Ma’am. I will ask you some simple Yes or No questions. Just blink once for Yes, Twice for No. Can you do that for me?”

She blinked.

“Good.” The Doctor said, writing something down on his clipboard. “My name is Dr. Shirokuro and you are in Musutafu General Hospital. Do you understand?”

Blink.

Another mark. “Can you move?”

Two blinks.

“Is it because of the pain?”

Blink.

“Do you know what happened to you?”

Inko was about to blink twice, she hadn’t had time to mull over the blank spot in her memory, when the blank filled in. The store, the attack, the pain, IZUKU!!!

She sat straight up and the room began to tilt in response. Her vision flashed white as the pain savagely reminded her of its existence Her skin burned as every muscle and fiber and joint screamed protests but she grit her teeth and bore it.

Dr. Shirokuro jumped slightly, mouth dropping open. “Uh, Miss- Ma’am! You must lay back down! Your back-”

His frantic face paled as she snatched off the oxygen mask and spoke, her voice barely recognizable as her own. Her tongue felt like lead, thick and heavy but she forced her words out.“Wuh...Where i-is muh...my son?”

“Ma’am, you need to-ulp!” His words were ended with a yelp and splutter as Inko reached out and snatched the man by the collar and with strength that surprised both of them, she dragged him towards her until he was bent at the hips over the rail on the hospital bed and looked him dead in the eyes. He needed to understand that her bed could be about to fall of the edge of a cliff right now and it wouldn't matter if she fell or not until she got her answer  “Whe-re is meh...my son?”

There must have been something in her eyes because Shirokuro, rallied his mouth. "Your son is-"

Inko, so focused on listening, she didn't hear the short commotion in the hall but the doctor did and glanced to it. A flash emotion washed over the woman. She was so close, not even a full sentence away but this...this idiot couldn't even complete the sentence without getting distracted. Even with her so close that she was right in his face? Demanding it?!

The bundle of feelings in her mind uncoiled into...something she didn't recognize and even as frantic as she was she didn't like. Yet, they came upon her in that moment like a tidal wave and washed away at her hesitation. Hands trembling against the collar, she settled into the foreign yet somehow familiar thoughts as if she'd suddenly gained a new perspective on some idea she'd known all her life. This man wasn't taking her seriously. When someone demanded an answer, did anyone with the slightest bit of respect for the one asking answer the question halfway? No. She just needed to-

“Mommy!” The door slammed open and in that moment, not only did those thoughts flee but she let go of the man's collar.

Izuku, small hospital gown fluttering, sprinted in so quickly, she barely had time to react as he clambered up onto the bed and threw his little arms around her. The blooming pain in her back from the jostling had nothing to do with the tears building in her eyes as she hugged her son back. Her little boy was alright! She couldn’t help but see the red zigzag-ing lines on his left hand going halfway up his bare arm but he was up and talking and ALIVE.

Her little boy was alright. Inko couldn't stop the tears spilling down her face not that she would've tried. Her eyes burned, her body ached in ways that warned her to stop what she was doing but she ignored the way her muscles twinged and pulled her son closer into a hug.

He pulled back from her with tears running down his round face and soaking into his own hospital gown. Her little boy was alright. That was good...great...yes. Now that the fear was gone, things were becoming just a little fuzzy. The bed began slowly turning under her. She tried to tell whoever was pushing the bed to stop but her mouth suddenly wasn’t working at all.

“T-they told me you weren’t waking up and-and-and...” Inko wasn't quite able to read his expression as he looked up at her but that didn’t matter. “M-Mom-my?” Her little boy was alright. He was walking and talking so that meant...

“Mrs. Midoriya?”

Her...her...little...

“Mommy?!”

...boy...was...

“Nurse! Get him ou… f here-”

“MOMM-”

Alright...

XXX

"MOMMY!! MOMMY!"

Izuku's wails tore at Mitsuki’s heart. The boy was wailing, inconsolable as a her and a nurse had to pull him from Inko's arms. What made it even worse was the woman, her friend, was slumping over so slowly. Her face which had been so sharp and then so happy to see her son, was going slack as if deflating. The doctor with the help of a few other nurses he was calling in rushed to her side and helped lay her down and my god, Mitsuki had never seen Inko look so small. So fragile. All the while, Izuku hadn't stopped crying, struggling and pulling with all his might against them to get to his mother. To her and probably the nurse's shock, he was actually gaining a little ground, little bare feet somehow gaining traction on a tile floor with two full grown women holding each arm. Had he always been his strong?

It was Masaru who'd been the deciding factor though. He swept Izuku up into his arms and carried him out. The boy's cries reached a new pitch of desperation Mituski knew in her soul no child should ever make. It took the work of two other nurses, her husband, and her to get him back to his room in the pediatric ward. Somehow, Izuku had managed to not only get out of his room but find his way to Inko's room near the ICU, another surprise to her since she'd never have found her way to his without the staff guiding the way.

Luckily, and Mitsuki felt a pang of self-loathing at the thought, Inko's boy had cried himself out. She sat with her husband on a pair of overstuffed yet somehow still very uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room that was near between both rooms. Masaru had his head in his hands, glasses pinched in his fingers and she was near to tears. This couldn't have happened to two people who deserved it less. There were no updates about Inko and a horrible thought came to her, one that brought back another bit of loathing for even considering it and a pang of sadness so great that she caught herself clutching at her chest. Would she make it? People had survived worse, she knew of many stories of people surviving falls from high places, bullet wounds through the head, or any number of things. What those stories rarely covered though was the life of the victim after. If Inko did pull through, would she even be able to live normally?

"It's been two days."

That comment put the brakes on her grim thoughts. Mitsuki looked at her husband who was still bent into his palms as if it was some kind of prayer.

It had been two days since the attack. The first she'd been made aware of it was on the TV that day, a day which had turned surreal as a call from the hospital informed her that her Best Friend and her son were in Urgent care, the former in critical condition. They'd come as soon as they could but were directed away when they first arrived, and now this afternoon with it's roller coaster of events happened. Now here was her husband stating the time that had passed as if she hadn't been here for it. She was about to say so when he raised himself up from his hands, a coolness in his eyes she'd never seen before. It wasn't for her, not even when he turned to meet her eyes. No, her husband was clearly angry...but not at her.

His next words had made it clear just who he was angry at though. "So where the hell is he?"

It was said like the curse it was and Masaru’s out of character near swear had the effect of stirring a little heat in her chest. If she were honest with herself, it had been a thought she’d been avoiding.

The ‘He’ was Inko’s husband. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, it wasn’t where he should’ve been doing what he needed to be doing like being here for his family. Mitsuki didn’t know what Inko’s husband did for a living. ‘Working abroad’ was all that Inko had ever disclosed and she’d never pressed the woman for more details. It was clear that the man was providing for his family at a great sacrifice. Until today, she’d actually admired the man for his dedication. To be so far away, all to be a good man of the house.

Now, however she was wishing she’d had. It had better be something damn important because this situation was inexcusable.

There was no way the man was unaware, between everyone who had his contact information which included calls from the police and the hospital. She had no doubt that calls had been made to the company he worked for too. The only fucking way anyone could do any better in getting the man’s attention was to carve a message into the goddamn moon.

And at this point, she was starting to doubt if that would even get his ass in gear. If it were her and she ever got a phone call like the one she’d made to his phone, her ass would be in a plane seat so fast it the friction would light it on fire.

His absence was now was like salt in the wound. “I don’t know.” If Inko recovered, Mitsuki wasn’t even sure if she should tell her or let her figure it out by herself. No, she’d tell her. A realization like that shouldn’t be suffered without friends around. And Izuku...Oh, god. How would Inko even begin to explain that to him? She imagined trying to even broach the subject with Bakugo and she had to physically shake the idea off, it was so depressing.

If she didn’t make it though...

That thought lingered with her even as visiting hours closed out and the two of them were courteously shown the way out.

It must’ve followed Masaru as well because when they picked up their son from daycare, he gave an extra long, extra big hug and then on the way home, between the two of them picking their words carefully, they began to explain where they had been going for the last two days and why when he saw  Izuku he’d have to be extra nice since he’s had a hard time.

Either way this went...they’d at least be there for the Midoriya family, no matter if only one member walked out of that hospital.

XXX

There was no gentle floating this time. There was only the sensation of falling, a void of black speeding past her as she tumbled through an empty nothing. The only way she was even able to recognize that she moving was the streaks of white lines that passed before her eyes in chaotic swirling curves. She flailed her arms wildly in a vain hope to catch herself. Nothing happened as she tried to call for help. Her voice was silent even though she knew she should've been screaming at the top of her voice. Then...the white lines began to shrink, resolving into dots and the sinking sensation of plummeting stopped.

However, the decelerating descent became a peripheral concern when the realization hit her that the dots surrounding her were stars.

But that was insignificant compared to the massive orb that loomed above her. Even as she looked at it, she knew that it was a planet but it was unlike any she'd ever seen in a textbook. It was so crimson that if it hadn't been for the streaks of yellow that she could only guess were clouds or land or something, it would look more like a giant ball of blood hanging in the void of space.

That's where she was, it had to be.

She felt the heat before she saw the flash, it was as if someone had shined a light directly into her eyes while walking into an oven. What had just happened...what-

CHU~

There was no slow pull out of the light closing in around her, just a snap to alertness as the pain and wooziness broke away like a hangnail. She straightened, half-sitting up and was just recognizing the sensation against her cheek as lips, which pulled away as she flinched awake.

“Looks like I got here none to late, dear. Looked like you were having a nightmare.”

Still trying to adjust to the sudden explosion of clarity, Inko slowly looked to the voice next to her hospital bed. “Huh?” The question tumbled from her mouth as she registered who it was. She knew this hero, a name big enough that even she knew her name

The elderly woman looked down at her through a visor attached to a pink helmet, a white lab coat open to slightly show a more colorful outfit underneath.

Recovery Girl.

“Good morning.” The woman greeted kindly. “A little confusion is expected after what you’ve gone through, dear.” She began, leaning her slight weight into her syringe-shaped cane. “Sorry for being late.”

“Sorry?” While she was now alert, her brain was still trying hard to catch up with her mouth.

“I should’ve been here yesterday but things have been hectic for the last week.”

"Yesterday?" If Recovery Girl was irritated by her echoing, she didn't show it. In fact, she gave her a gentle smile. "Don't worry about that. I'm here now and I suspect you're quite thirsty." The woman nodded, only now noticing that her tongue was dryer than she’d ever remembered and a the small pressure in the small of her back.

The hero moved to the side table next to the bed and picked up a cup. Coming back to over to her, she hesitated for a moment. "I must ask this so please don't take offence but do you need help to drink?" Inko shook her head, gingerly reaching out for the cup, taking it from the woman's hands and being care not to spill it as she sipped. The water was lukewarm, she noted but to her parched throat it might as well have been the spring runoff from the snow melt it was so refreshing.

The hero's smile brightened, as Inko set the now empty cup down. “Good. You’re able to hold down water.” She took a seat on the doctor's stool nearby, all good cheer and almost motherly presence. "So first things first? Any lingering pain?"

With her tongue moistened and brain finally catching up, Inko took a moment to check herself. She moved robotically, first flexing one hand then another, and then moved her arms. It was when she began moving her left shoulder that a sting shot across it and, as if the nerves were following a road-map, ran a path down her back to her left hip and ending at the meat of her left thigh.

Her wince must of shown because she got another nod from the hero but her smile was less cheerful. "Well, that is good. Pain is a good sign." Standing up, she went over to the foot of the bed and picked up a clipboard. "Dr. Shirokuro, who I should mention I'm very annoyed with that he started questioning you when you were in such a state, informed that you remembered what happened. Do you still remember?"

She did. It wasn't hard. "There was a robbery. The details are a bit fuzzy though."

"Take you time, dear." Recovery Girl soothed, flipping a few pages. "I'm not here to take a statement, that is a job for the police. I just want to make sure that you can recall." Her lips pressed into a line which tightened the wrinkles on her face as she stared on what was on the page. It was enough to make Inko nervous. "The reason why the pain is good is because you and your son were on the receiving end of a massive electrical attack. I checked in on him first and neither of you haven’t suffered any nerve damage which is a good sign for injuries like these.”

As she said this, she flipped the clipboard around so that what had removed the smiled from her face could been seen. Inko's jaw dropped.

It was a set of two pictures. One of what she knew was her back and another of her thigh. The angry crimson scar on it stood out, an angry inflamed red. Like a bolt of lighting mixed with frost, it started as a central splash right at the top of her shoulder that spread in cracks and branches some of which ended in red tendrils so thin that the could’ve been drawn with a pen. It curved along her hip and to her side which ended at her thigh. The picture of her back didn’t have a good angle on it but the other one did. The jagged shape was stamped there, tiny cuts and scrapes having opened up tiny wounds. It took her awhile to find her words and when they came she couldn't hide the waver in her voice. "How did that happen?"

"I won't mince words. Your cell phone saved you life." She began, lowering the pictures to the sheets. "The shock was dispersed and your cellphone took the brunt of it. It exploded which is why you have cuts on your thigh. By all accounts, if you hadn't had it, all that charge would've passed through you heart or some other major organ."

Inko glanced at the pictures again, not liking the idea of some as simple as a cellphone having been the only thing that kept her alive. A shiver ran up her back. Nope, she didn't like that idea at all. She continued to look and something caught her eye about the photo.

"Unfortunately, I can't help with wounds that are deep, Mrs. Midoriya. Some I can completely heal but even so there are remnants of it left." The hero continued speaking and Inko was listening but...she picked up the picture of her back and peered hard at it.

Something was on her, a brown strip lay flat across her right hip, in her initial shock she'd passed it off as a piece of cloth but it just didn't look right.

"...seems like you can handle some visitors." The hero's voice came back into focus and Inko twitched in surprise. Looking up, she saw the woman had the smile again. "Someone has been quite frantic to see you."

Recovery Girl made her way over to the door and opened it just enough to stick her head out. “You can come in now.”

She stepped aside and Izuku shuffled quietly in with a nurse in tow, looking more nervous than she’d ever seen him. His green eyes looked to her the to Recovery Girl as if asking for permission, his hands working at each other.  The hero gave him an encouraging nod and Izuku inched closer, clearly afraid of doing something wrong.

Inko helped her son up as he got to the bed and held him in her arms. This time there were no words from him, she could feel his little body trembling against her, hear the muffled sobs, she could feel the same pain.

“I’m awake now, “ She soothed, patting his head. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

[michaelmalcolmwalkeasicaus-blog]

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[ddrkirbyisq]

It's been half a month...sorry! Let's see here... My new mechanical keyboard Is a joy to type on.  For reference, it's a Pink Filco Majestouch 2 with cherry MX 'brown' switches and it looks just beautiful.  I've really gotten used to the feeling of the keys and there's definitely this feeling of tactile satisfaction that just....still makes me just want to press on the keys randomly every once in a while.  The Razer Basilisk has been working out pretty well too -- I think the only thing I wish I could do is configure the media keys to respond or not respond to certain apps (too often it tries to control a youtube video in chrome or whatever instead of foobar running in the background) but it's not a huge deal.  Having a modifier click + mouse wheel as volume adjustment is way more useful than I would have thought -- really glad I decided to map that combo. Dear Toki Is the game I ended up putting out for Friendship Jam and people seem to have enjoyed it!  It's a short text-based game about writing letters to reconnect to a long-lost friend and you can play it here. pCloud as a replacement for Dropbox Has more or less been working OK, though I've found that the automatic syncing function feels quite a bit slower than directly working with the pCloud drive network-mapped folder.  That might warrant some changes in how I organize things and what files/folders I'm choosing to make available offline, but I'm going to have to do some experimentation to know for sure.  It could be that I always grab things from pCloud Drive (?? not sure if that will work well for mapping my desktop folder to it) but use the make available offline option... Risk of Rain 2 Has continued to be pretty enjoyable as I just continue to do random runs on Monsoon difficulty.  I've actually just unlocked two new items -- the guilliotine and the royal capacitor, both of which are actually very very good items, so that may actually have an impact on my runs moving forward. Puyo Puyo / Tetris I've gotten slightly better at Puyo, but most of my random practice has actually been maintaining 4-wide combos in Tetris, which has just been...a fun little mindless thing to practice every now and then. Dance stuff I'll be teaching a styling workshop this Saturday (come out to the GCC and join us!) and am also continuing to put things together for JaSmix next month (woo!) Life Overall is continuing to go pretty well these days.  I had a lot of things that I felt like I needed to take care of these past couple of weeks, yet I also managed to take care of a lot/most of them, I feel like.  I had a couple of music commissions to work through, for example, and I knocked them out extremely quickly (being able to work fast is really a blessing).  Even taking care of a bunch of random adulting stuff like new insurance plans, replacing car air filters, blahblahblahblah....... Cooking I'm somewhat inspired to try shui zhu yu yet again (lol) by a recent visit to a sichuan restaurant (I want to try and do better than them), but actually my most recent cooking experiment has been sous vide BBQ pork ribs cooked for 36 hours which actually turned out pretty great!  I made them a bit on the salty side because I used a bit more dry rub than recommended in the recipe (oops) but they were very tender at 145 degrees and weren't really a ton of work either.  Definitely something I'd endeavor to try again. Kiki I thought about Kiki a lot last week.  I still love her deeply, that is plain as day to me.  Though it's a bit sad, I think it's also a bit of a relief.  That that aspect of me perhaps may never change.  When something was once so important to you, that you can't help but keep it close to you, even if you didn't try at all. Space Alert I took a new crew out to The Deep for a try at some sessions of Space Alert this past weekend, to a surprising great success!  As usual I was the acting captain on our Sitting-Duck class ship, along with our chief engineer who had flown a couple missions out to The Deep in the past; the other two were newbie cadets straight out of the academy and we had to show them the ropes and bring them up to speed...I probably ended up barking out a bunch of orders to them during our simulation missions, but they had good instincts, at least for rookies -- they communicated their actions more clearly than my previous squad had, and they even shot some extra laser charges towards the end of the mission just in case. I woke up in the cloning vat two days after and came to the realization that our first live mission had failed.  Unsurprising, but I still grimaced when I looked at the black box recording and realized what had happened -- in the heat of the action, both of our rookies had tripped -- one was trying to get port side and slammed right into the firing console for the main laser before picking herself up and limping the rest of the way.  I reprimanded them a bit afterwards, but one of them had managed to fix a fissure on that side of the ship with the battlebots and interceptors, so I admitted I had to give them some credit. We ended up having 3 successful missions into The Deep, one with only a single scratch on our armor by a grazing attack, no less, making it my most successful new crew yet.  We even tried our luck at one of the longer missions out by the nebula, though as quickly as we moved, it wasn't quite enough to handle the constant barrage of threats. Still, I had to count my blessings after it was all over.  Thinking on the missions also made me question the tools I bring with me on every mission -- I've always known how to work the pulse cannon better than anyone; if you've got an extra fuse and know where to poke the console, you can overload the safety threshold on the phase capacitor and extend the range out to match that of the other laser cannons.  But lately I've been wondering if I should perhaps pack my Special Ops equipment instead, or maybe a crescent wrench that I could use to jury-rig the rocket launcher like ol Yoshiko used to.  I'll have to think on it, for sure...

[ntrending]

Microsoft Surface Book 2 review: sweet overkill for your stick figure drawings

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/microsoft-surface-book-2-review-sweet-overkill-for-your-stick-figure-drawings/

Microsoft Surface Book 2 review: sweet overkill for your stick figure drawings

I wrote the first draft of this Microsoft Surface Book 2 review with the Surface Pen in a program called OneNote. The vast majority of it is unreadable, mostly thanks to my terrible handwriting, which resembles the panicked scrawl of a fifth grader trying to finish homework he forgot to do before the teacher comes around to check it.

What is it?

Parsing the Microsoft hardware landscape can be tricky thanks to its frustratingly similar naming conventions, but the Surface Book 2 is the company’s flagship laptop. Unlike the confusingly name Surface Laptop, the Surface Book 2’s touchscreen display completely detaches from the keyboard so it can operate as a stand-alone, tablet-style device. That’s not to be confused with the regular Microsoft Surface Pro, which is a dedicated tablet to which you can attach a keyboard case.

Short version: It’s Microsoft’s flagship laptop with a detachable touchscreen that moonlights as a huge tablet.

A large chunk of the Surface Book’s hefty price tag depends upon the value of its detachable touchscreen display, and its utility as a practical tool for creative professionals. This is Microsoft’s shot across the bow of the MacBook Pro, which is having a moment of weakness after its most recent update skimped on the overall power level and put a lot of emphasis on a touch-sensitive control bar that seems woefully outmatched when compared to a fully touch-sensitive screen. After a week with the Surface Book 2, I’m impressed.

Note taking

Aside from the overall speed of the machine, the responsiveness of the Surface Pen experience has improved a lot. Oddly, Microsoft doesn’t ship a Surface Pen Platinum in the box in an effort to cut down the already-high retail price, but if you’re thinking about buying this laptop, you should just consider the addition of a Surface Pen an essential part of the purchase. The latency is low (both the Surface Pen and Apple Pencil hover around 20 milliseconds) and the increased sensitivity with more than 4,000 levels of pressure makes lines look more realistic.

The screen is still smooth glass, so there’s no nice paper texture feel while you’re writing, but drawing and writing with a Surface Pen is now at least as good as using an Apple Pencil on the iPad. I took notes on Magazine pages I was editing and no one sent them back to say they were unreadable and the ability to switch colors and tip-types on the fly proved extremely helpful.

Drawing

My sketching abilities are one step above those of a finger-painting gorilla, so a personal illustrator friend took it for a spin to draw some mythical dragons. His verdict was similar to my note-taking observations. The lack of lag makes the lines feel as though they’re under the pen instead of behind it, which is the goal for digital drawing. It’s not perfect, yet, and it may never be, thanks to hardware limitations, but it’s not impossible to forget you’re drawing on a computer, especially since palm rejection has gotten so good and you’re now less likely to accidentally pull up a menu or something with an errant touch.

Photo-editing

The first thing I opened in Photoshop was a small collection of 200MB TIFF scans of medium format black-and-white film. They choke computers as you zoom in to carefully clone out tiny bits of dust and debris, but the Surface Book 2 handled it just fine. It’s this kind of neurotically detailed work in which the touchscreen and pen really make the difference. Pinching to zoom in and out, and wielding the clone stamp tool freely with the pen, is much more efficient than endless clicking around with the mouse and keyboard, at least once you get used to the workflow.

The Surface Book 2 also excels as a presentation tool when you’re trying to show people pictures. I typically use an iPad Pro to show clients and editors my work, but that tablet seems relatively puny next to the massive 15-inch, 3240 x 2160 pixel screen of the Surface Book 2. That also means it has about the same pixel density as the iPad Pro, and more pixels per inch than the MacBook Pro.

It also still has a built-in memory card slot for dumping photos off of SD cards, which is one of the things I miss most in the current model MacBook Pro.

My thoughts are similar when it comes to video editing. I ran some 4K footage from a GoPro Hero6 through the latest version of Adobe Premiere and it handled the import, edit, and export without a hitch. It’s certainly no match for an industrial-grade desktop, but few laptops really are.

But, is it a good laptop?

When you’re not using the touch interface, the Surface Book 2 is solid, if slightly unremarkable. I installed and ran the super-popular team-based video game Overwatch with no problem, but it’s not going to compete with a dedicated gaming laptop in terms of pushing crazy resolution at insane framerates.

Its battery life is solid, easily covering a whole day of work in “recommended” battery mode unless you really start pushing hard with things like Photoshop—then it drains much faster. Microsoft claims 17-hours of battery during local video playback, or five hours if you’re using the screen as a stand alone device detached from the keyboard.

It has two USB 3 slots, as well as a USB-C port to replace the Mini DisplayPort connection in the previous model. Microsoft also snuck a single USB slot on the charging brick so you can power up an extra device when it’s plugged in.

The audio performance isn’t great, and the headphone jack is still awkwardly place at the top righthand corner of the screen if you’re using it like a laptop, but a pair of wireless headphones to connect via Bluetooth clears that problem up nicely.

Who should buy it?

It’s important to note that, despite its form-factor, buying the Surface Book 2 isn’t quite the same as buying, say, a laptop and an iPad. The detached Surface display is beautiful and impressive, but the battery only lasts roughly five hours, and it lacks some common tablet functionality like a native Kindle app. It doesn’t necessarily replace an iPad for every user. In fact, it doesn’t really claim to, but I’ve seen and heard that comparison a lot.

Also, an iPad can be subtle and inconspicuous, whereas this thing feels like a light up boogie board sometimes thanks to its size.

The Surface Book 2 is a fantastic laptop, and it reminds me of a smaller version of Microsoft’s massive touch-sensitive desktop, the Surface Studio. But, this is a lot of machine and, unless you’re considering a laptop in the range of a high-end MacBook Pro, it very well could be overkill for your needs.

Written By Stan Horaczek

[ddrkirbyisq]

Let's see here...the first major thing I have to write about is foobar2000!!!

I'm perhaps ages late to the party (?), but I've finally taken the plunge and switched from using iTunes to foobar2000!  This was not a decision I took lightly, but I decided to pull the trigger after working with foobar2k and considering the pros and cons, and I've been pretty satisfied so far!

Foobar2000 is a free windows-based audio player that is known for many for its customizability, advanced features, modular design, and basically being the dream of anyone who is not scared of complexity and wants to really have their music player function the way THEY want.  It's also available for OSX as of ~1.5 years ago, though I have not tested that build yet.

Perhaps more importantly, foobar2000 now (as of ~a year ago I think) has a mobile client, available for all of iOS/Android/WindowsPhone.  This is key as one of the primary things tying me to iTunes has always been the fact that my ecosystem includes a lovely iPhone SE running iOS and of course I'd really like to have my music readily available on that.

Right, so let's first talk about the things I'm losing during the move to fb2k:

First off, syncing music to iOS is a bit more involved.  Unfortunately, foobar2000 has no way of directly interfacing with the iOS media library, so instead you write music to the foobar2000 app's sandbox and only fb2k can access it.  There is no "automatic" way to do this, but fortunately the iOS fb2k app includes an FTP server that you can use to transfer files via FTP.  This is as far as I can tell the best way to transfer music to fb2k mobile as you can't access the foobar2000 app sandbox directly (without jailbreaking your phone).

Of course there's no built-in "sync management" like there is with iTunes, so instead I first use foobar_onewaysync to copy out the relevant playlists (and their associated music files) to a temporary directory, then use WinSCP to mirror that on the iPhone over FTP.  So like I said, this is "a bit more involved", but now that I have that flow set up it's as simple as running those two commands and waiting for them to complete.

Like with all things in foobar2000, I have so much more =confidence= in what is happening here with the sync.  There would be all kinds of uncommon weird annoyances back when iTunes was in the picture -- you'd find it transferring old files again and again (why?), you'd find that certain songs were missing and showed up on the device but weren't actually playable (why?), you'd find that every time you did a sync one of your playlists mysteriously duplicated itself (why?).  I think a recurring theme so far with foobar2000 is that you have to spend some effort setting up your workflow for doing certain things, but once you do, it Just Works.

The REAL main thing I'm losing during the move to fb2k is actually a significant one: it's bluetooth media browsing via the AVRCP protocol.  In other words, browsing music via my car's on-board display (or through the controls on the steering wheel).  I can still trigger playback and track skips via bluetooth, but any attempts to browse the tracks/playlists/etc from my car's bluetooth interface will result in it looking at the native iOS music library, which is now empty (as all of the music is in foobar2000).  This is actually a pretty major loss as it means that I can't really fire up a music playlist in my car unless I'm parked or stopped for a good minute, as I have to actually do that browsing on my phone itself.

As far as I can tell there's no real way around this.  foobar2000 used to have an iPod management module but that is looooooooong defunct and iOS tends to be very closed off in terms of these sorts of things anyways.  The only way I could really get this functionality back would be to bring iTunes back into the picture, and then use iOS music as my mobile app while still using foobar2000 as my desktop/laptop music player.  We'll see if it comes to that, but I don't think it will.  foobar2000 mobile is a better media player anyhow, and I don't see an efficient way to sync from foobar2000->through itunes->to the iOS device for anything more than maybe a single playlist.

That being said, what I'm =gaining= in the transition to foobar2000 feels well worth the loss so far:

- A =working= ReplayGain implementation!  I now use replaygain to play music at adjusted volumes for normalized listening.  iTunes has a proprietary "Sound Check" feature that is supposed to do this but completely fails on VBR-encoded files.  This is super useful for social dance DJing in particular as having normalized (normalized as in equal perceived loudness, not as in peaking at 0dB) volumes is pretty important.

- I've customized my UI to include a clickable waveform display that shows the current song progress and can be clicked to seek to any point in the song.  Super useful for visually seeking to a given point in the song!

- The ability to work with ID3 tags and file metadata in a very fully-featured and rich way.  Want to convert all ID3 tags to ID3v2.3?  Want to batch-append a genre or grouping tag to 500 songs?  fb2k can do it all!

- The ability to ensure that your media library's files are organized correctly and robustly.  iTunes of course attempted to do this automatically, but it wasn't customizable at all and there were a lot of times when it would come up with filenames and/or paths that seemed a little....off.  fb2k gives you the option to organize your paths however you want and will give you a preview of what files need to be moved where before actually reorganizing everything.

Anyhow, that's sort of been an ongoing pet project of mine, but I'm basically done with the switch now and have been enjoying not only the new functionality but most of all the peace of mind and robustness that fb2k offers.

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Alongside that big customization project, I also spent quite a while looking at mechanical keyboards and finally decided to get myself a pink Filco Majestouch 2!!!  I first started thinking about buying a new keyboard when I saw the Razer Huntsman Quartz Pink edition, but after some research I figured that I'd probably be much happier with a less "consumer-y" brand and decided on the Majestouch 2.

Just look at that beauty!  It's possible I might replace the keycap color scheme with something a little more exciting in the future, but I'm happy to just try going with the all-pink for now.  I decided on Cherry MX 'brown' switches, as I'm not a huge fan of the infamous clickety-clackity noises of the blues, and I'd still like some tactile feedback (so not going with the reds).  I also decided to go with a "TenKeyLess" size -- you'll notice that it has the arrow keys and home/end/printscreen/scrolllock/etc but no numpad.  Having full arrow keys around I think is still very useful and necessary but I think I can actually live without a numpad as there are only really a few cases where I really use it and I think the prospect of having that additional desk space freed up (and having the mouse be closer to the keys) is pretty exciting.  (if I REALLY miss the numpad I could always buy a standalone numpad, but I get the feeling I really won't miss it that much)

Anyways, that should theoretically arrive in a couple days -- super exciting!!!

I've also already gone ahead and got a Quartz Pink Razer Basilisk to go along with it:

Unfortunately for getting an aesthetically-pleasing pink mouse there are wayyy fewer options than keyboards, so it was pretty much between this and the pink Razer Lancehead (which has a symmetrical design), or perhaps a pink Zowie mouse, but that seemed to both look worse and have a worse scroll wheel/etc. (despite being lighter/etc).  Razer's Synapse software is.....a bit shady to say the least, but unfortunately that is an evil I ended up having to swallow for now.

On the plus side, the mouse itself is working great.  I was previously running a Logitech MX Revolution and this mouse feels more sensitive/smoothly responsive, and the control mapping is actually a step up as well.  There's an optional thumb trigger (they give you two different sizes!) that you can use as a modifier to give yourself a whole other set of mappings, so for example thumbswitch + mouse wheel up increases my volume, thumbswitch + mouse middle click triggers a pause/play in whatever media player is open, etc.  The media controls also work better than that of Logitech's -- no annoying onscreen display and it is also pretty intelligent about looking for media players to send the command to.  I miss having the scroll wheel free-spin function, but I'm fine living without it to be honest.

No bluetooth version so I'm back to having a cord, but I don't actually find myself minding that too much either.  Plus, it's got two multicolored lights (one in the scroll wheel and one on the logo display) and I have them set up to react to whatever audio is playing from my computer, which is pretty spiffy as well.  If I wanted I could have gotten a keyboard that also has fancy backlighting (basically the corresponding Razer model) but I really didn't consider that a priority, so just the mouse lights will have to do.

Oh, related to mice: I downloaded Smooze for OSX and am happily using it for one thing and one thing only: disabling scroll wheel acceleration!  I'm not super against scroll wheel acceleration in theory, but in practice the way OSX handles scroll wheel acceleration for mouse has just never seemed to be sensible for any mouse I've used (maybe it's different for an actual apple mouse).  Now that I've completely disabled it, I can go back to sensible scrolling, yay!!!

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In other news, our game Goodnight Meowmie has gotten quite a lot of attention since I posted it on itch.io, which is really great to see, especially because I feel like this is the most significant game I've ever worked on.  It's gotten about 2.5k views on itch since I threw it up there, which is pretty amazing.  It's also been really cool watching people's video playthroughs of it on youtube, seeing their reactions and interpretations of the game.  It really makes me feel like we did something worthwhile, that we were able to reach out to people and have them listen to our story, and perhaps take it to heart.

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In other other news, I'll be DJing at Friday Night Waltz this Friday!  Be sure to come out if you're in the area, it's gonna be great!

Life has actually been going pretty fantastically lately -- this weekend was a lot of fun, between FNW, spending time with good friends, and just being in a good place.  I feel as if I'm not losing my attachment with the past because of it either.  Things are really good right now.