#agony maxi

[shopwitchvamp]

NEW! Agony Maxi Skirt - available for preorder thru 2/27!

I have been asked many times to put our Agony gradient onto maxis, and so far I always ran out of time or straight up forgot or just generally didnt get around to it because-

But this time! For these preorders! I remembered, I got it done, and it is here 😌 🖤witchvamp.com🖤

[strongerthanweak]

lineup . heights aren't rlly accurate I think idfk

each individually + notes

ive.... realized I froogt Archie's chain + the full "x" on his face . Tweaking but im tired so it's too late now uhm

- Archie : sharko from um that silent French cartoon was on my mind whjle doing him + fhe random unreasonably hot cartoon characters they have to redesign for beinf too hot

- Cyrus : Gothic . Grim from grim adventures of Billy & Mandy . slight sasha nein influence from psychonauts shrug

- Lysandre : "him" from Powerpuff girls + Milla nd her dance party section from psychonauts (ignore the connection between sasha n milla ...( . Made him look slightly more like pyroar

- Lusamine : no character inflcuence but I just wanted to bring the jellyfish thing out more & build her silhouette around that while still looking kinda older maybe . Details of her masters outfit was added

[pegglefan69]

my fibro has been making portions of my thigh either feel like the skin is rubbed entirely raw OR that it's deeply bruised...ALL day. would REALLY like for it to STOP IT...

[flyintheworldofbooks]

Sims 4 CC recs

This is my master list with my current cc's

Outfits:

By Aretha - pretty (&) savage collection 💗✨🦋

By aharris00britney - AxA 2020 | 90+ CAS Items | Public Release

By BlueCraving - Sporty Collection

By BlueCraving - Wedding Collection

By Oydis - Smart & Casual 💄 / Also has other packs with hair colors

By Oydis - The Little Black Dress 👠

By RIMINGS - Lazy Sunday / PJs / Also has a lot of good outfits

By Sunberry - Ribbon top long dress & Pearl Heart

By VIKAI X GREENLLAMAS - SOGUE

By Black Lily - Evenings With You Dress

By Caiocc - Lily: A 10 items set

By Caiocc - CxS Love Myself. - The Collection (9 items)

By clumsyalien - «mixtape» cc pack

By clumsyalien - «ambience» cc pack

By Daisy Pixels - 🔔 Antonia & Diana 🔔

By Miiko - Corset crop-top

By Rusty - Autumn City II

By Rusty - Basic VI

By Rusty - Princess of XIII

By Serenity - Hazelnut Set (12 items)

By Serenity - SxC Love Myself. - The Collection (7 items)

By Serenity - Aurora Set (13 items)

By Serenity - Bloom Set (10 items)

By Serenity - Nuage Set (13 items)

By Serenity - Sour Candy, a 6 item set.

By Serenity - Amethyst Set (6 items)

By Trillyke - Skyline Sweater and Jumper

By Trillyke - Silver Light Jeans

By Trillyke - Bad Chemical Jacket

Swimsuits:

By Caiocc - Ipanema: A 9 items set

By Trillyke - 🌞Hello Summer! Collection 🌞

Men:

By Black Lily - Miles Top

By Rusty - Mellow IV

Shoes:

By Jius-Sims - Shoe Collections

By Madlen - Shoe Collection

Accessories:

By clumsyalien - «euphoria» cc pack

By Miiko - High knit socks

By Pralinesims - PARADOX Glasses

By Pralinesims - DUNE Glasses

By Pralinesims - DOMINO Glasses

By Pralinesims - AGONY Ear Piercing Collection

By Pralinesims - THUNDERSTRUCK Ear Piercing Collection

Hair:

By Sheabuttyr - hannah hair

By Simcelebrity00 - Lexi Hairstyle

By sweetaday - Sasa Hair

By clumsyalien - «sweet & sour» hairs

By Marso - lock and lease

By Marso - kauban cc dump

By Miiko - Emma hair version 2

By Miiko - Anya hair (two lengths)

Skin/Makeup:

By Miiko - Rhea skin set

By Miiko - Body-kit No.2

By Pralinesims - BELLINI Makeup Collection

By Pralinesims - WATERDROP Maxis-Match Eyes

By Pralinesims - ESCAPISM Eye Trio

By Serenity - Anise Lipgloss (11 colors)

Kids:

By Sunberry - Cottagecore Collection👗👗

By Daisy Pixels - 💐☀️ Sunny Skies ☀️💐

By Miiko - 3D eyelashes + Makoto hair (children)

Toddlers:

By Daisy Pixels - Tilly and Pua 🌞💐 🌻 🌼 🌹 🌸

By Miiko - 3D eyelashes for toddlers & infants

Stuff:

By Aira - .˚₊┈୨ The Artist in Me🪞୧┈₊˚.

By RusticSims - CAREYES LIV& DIN - AUGUST SET- TIER PRO (15 TEXTURE)

By Felixandre - THE LIVIN' RUM

By Sixam CC - Boho-Bath Botanical Retreat

By Aira - Study in Style Set…………🐻

By Push Pixels - Urban outdoor

By Syboubou - Clarisse office set

By Miiko - Harmony furniture set

Edit: erased one of the kid's CCs as I don't like the textures and how it fits the sims in general - will probably add more CCs to this in the future!

[bandaged-teeth]

Zane my beloved

This sim has caused me unbelievable agony 😭 I wanted to do Zane justice because he is the love of my life and my favorite character to ever exist and has defined me as person since I first discovered him but I still lowkey hate how he turned out so alas

I also debated giving him white hair because I headcanon him as having albinism but I thought he'd be to matchy matchy with his boyfriend *cough* Janus *cough* so now he dyes his hair black. I also couldn't find any good emo hairstyles for him that were maxis match so he gets an eye patch that I also hate 😔

[iconuk01]

Doug's first appearance in New Mutants 13 was, fun what with accidentally blowing up a Sentinel, but his second appearance is also worth mentioning.

X-Men 180 is perhaps better known for A) the scene where Kitty and Storm discuss Kitty's issues with Storm adopting a new appearance and attitude (Her leather jacket and mohawk punk phase) and B) The lead in to the X-Men going to be part of the Secret Wars maxi series, but there's

This scene is before Doug was revealed to be a mutant. He was just the kid from Salem Centre Kitty was spending a LOT of her free time with, and what would these two computer nerds be doing in the mid 80's? Yup, going to the mall!

Specifcially, the arcade!!

That is THE most spaciously laid out arcade I have ever seen, but that's not really the important bit here.

Though I'm pretty sure you can't actually DO that with arcade games just by scoring too high, I can easily believe these two being the bane of anyone trying to crank out a buck from video game addled teenagers with rolls of quarters!

And this is a slightly earlier version of Doug, since he doesn't know he or Kitty are mutants, he's cockier than we would see him once his inferiority complex kicks into high gear as Cypher. Here, he's Doug Ramsey, computer software genius, nerd and video game ace who is out having fun with the most amazing girl he's ever met before.

...but first and foremost, he's a good friend. (He'd have to be to deal with this level of emotional baggage infodumping. Good grief Kitty!)

Awww! These two are so sweet together!

Meanwhile, someone else is brooding, this time over Kitty and Doug... and not in an especially wholesome way

I should point out that at this point in time, Kitty is fourteen (confirmed in the previous issue where Storm specifically notes that Kitty was not yet fifteen), and Piotr is somewhere in that vague are of late teens/early twenties.

I believe, at the time that it was possible for 14 year olds to marry in the USSR, but it was far from the norm.

I should also add, in the interest of fairness, that during the slightly earlier BroodWar arc, thinking they were both going to die, Kitty asked if Piotr would become her first sexual partner, and Piotr gently turned her down (I know that's a very, VERY low bar to clear, but it should be mentioned)

This is setting the scene for Piotr falling for someone else during Secret Wars, an alien woman named Zsaji, who is a sort of walking, healing, plot device rather than a character with any agency, who is regretably fridged to give Piotr some angst, and also to confirm the breaking up of Piotr and Kitty as a possible couple and being anything other than team-mates for a great many years. There's an interesting article on Zsaji's story here, if you're interested.

So Piotr does seem to have some resentment towards Doug for taking HIS Katya (Even Wolverine, rarely the world's best agony uncle, tell's him that if that's how he views the situation, he's already lost Kitty and that's definitely for the best)

Later, as Doug has recently been invited to become a student of the Massachussetts Academy, a school the X-Men know is run by Emma Frost of the Hellfire Club, even if she is currently believed to be comatose (long story), the X-Men consider a course of action, and Chuck Xavier once against shows us that to him, "Ethics" is something for other people...

Now look, if Chuck knows that Doug is a mutant, that's one thing, he has a mutant detecting machine in the basement after all. But to casually "out" someone else was a mutant, without having any intent of ever telling the person themselves, that's just... not cool.

And yes, it may be a "quiet" power, but I don't think a Sentinel will give a rats ass about that, Doug has just as large a target on his back as anyone else.

Also, this is some years before the World Wide Web was a thing, though Doug was already established as a superbly skilled hacker on the still new and shiny thing called "The internet", thanks to his powers, so you'd have thought SOMEONE on the X-Men would have considered that a viable talent to develop, even if only as a support operative.

Kitty's comment does reference the precsse situation when Doug actually WAS inducted into the wild and wacky world of mutant-dom... When Warlock crashed on Earth, Xavier was out of town and the New Mutants REALLY needed someone to be able to talk to the confused and desperate alien (and ironically, as it turns out, Xavier would have done no good, as Warlock is telepath-proof)

But it does allow me to post these amazing bits from New Mutants #21, as Sam rockets off to break the news to Doug about, well... his entire life... whilst wearing only a towel.

Whilst allows for Doug's gloriously snarky introduction to X-plots.

He DOES have a point!

Oh, and as for the resentment towards Doug from Piotr I mentioned earlier? You might be asking if that lingers?

Well, one has to wonder, as in a much later story, Uncanny X-Men Annual #10, where the X-Men are de-aged by Mojo, and the New Mutants have to step up as temporary X-Men, the first time they meet in combat, what's the first thing mini-Colossus does?

Yup, punches Doug right in the crotch!

Methinks the Russian lad has some unresolved issues about our little omniglot.... LOTS of issues!

[twixtandshout]

It's a good thing the whole Team Rainbow Rocket thing happened before gen 8 because trying to picture any of the Yell grunts meeting with any of the other evil teams is hilarious. @pidgeonpostal said they'd probably bring snacks to the evil team meetings and I know in my heart it would go something like

Giovanni: [looks at the snacks] [looks at Team Yell with perfect, dripping disdain] [Yell is completely oblivious and eats all the snacks themselves]

Archie: Cool Ranch? Bwahaha! You simps got taste! [cheerfully grabs fistfuls as he talks]

Maxie: [sneering disgust and contempt, mostly at Archie] I believe we have... other matters to attend to. [wincing in agony every time greasy cheese-dust-covered hands touch his files]

Cyrus: [empty stare. Decides to pretend it doesn't exist] [contents himself by imagining the world in which these idiots don't exist, either]

Ghetsis: Bah! [smacks it off the table. One of the Yell grunts goes ":< mah sherbet" and dives to catch it] This is what you're trying to convince me I should ally myself with? Fools! This insolence has no place in Team Plasma! [Grunt: But we're not in Team Plasma.] No. Which is why you need... a firmer hand. [tries to indoctrinate them with cult tactics. Yell is just happy to be included for a bit before they walk away, cartoonishly unaffected as Ghetsis throws a stomping tantrum. N just isn't as cute as Marnie.]

Lysandre: This is what you offer for your companionship? I see. [turns around, folds hands behind back] There are those who deserve their positions, who merit the power they command, and those who do not. Who beg and swindle every meter of it, and then delight in the ill-gotten gains. I see now where you fall in this matter. [Grunt: Yeah, we brought the crisps!] ...Indeed. I believe we're done here.

Lusamine: [waving off their chatter like a disaffected mom] Yes, yes, that's very interesting. Now, I believe we can come to a bargain that should appease both of us. How would you like to do a very important job for me and investigate this Mantine Racing spot? [Yell: Whoa, foreign sport? D'you think Marnie'd like it? (everyone pictures Marnie in a swimsuit and experiences various degrees of nosebleed and/or cute aggression)] [Guzma: Hey, you're cheating on my boys with These idiots??]

Star: [Ugh, sports people. ...The snacks are nice, though.] (Penny probably gets into a surprisingly insightful discussion about idol culture)

[ieatnomnom9823]

Beavis and Butt-Head fanfiction

     Butthead was sitting outside of Maxi-Mart eating a hotdog, waiting for Beavis to come out of the bathroom. What’s taking him so long? “Huh huh huh, he’s probably spanking his monkey, huhuhuhuhuhuhu..” A shady looking woman covered in a cloak comes out from behind the alley. Probably just some homeless lady. She starts approaching Butthead. “Hey, I don’t have any money, huhuh, you’ll have to get your funny powder another time.” She keeps on walking up to him. “Lady, are you deaf?? Huhuhuh, I don’t have any money!” She gets close to him and extends her hand, with a doll in it. “This is for you, Butthead…” Butthead looks at the doll and grabs it, now holding it in his hand and looking at the detail, not watching the creepy woman anymore. “Uhhhh… I don’t play with dolls, huhuhuhuh. Here you go” He tries to hand the doll back to the lady but she is already gone. “Huhuhuhuhuhuhu, creep.” Beavis finally leaves the bathroom and sits down next to Butthead, not even noticing the doll and just eating some nachos he got from inside.

     “Hey, Beavis, huhuhu..While you were in the bathroom beating it, some creepy lady… I think… gave me this doll, huhuhuh. It kinda looks like you, huhuhuhuhu.” Butthead hands Beavis the doll. “Uhh, Butthead, I don’t think you should be messing with this. I’ve seen shows on TV, and they’re dangero-” “Shut up, Beavis, huhhuhuhuh.” Butthead slaps Beavis across the face to shut him up. Beavis screams out in pain and just mutters under his breath, “hmm, sure sure, yeah I- I guess you’re right, hmm..”

     Over a few days, Butthead grew very attached to the toy, not listening to Beavis’ warnings. On a random Tuesday, Butthead decided to steal Mr. Anderson’s riding lawn mower and take the doll out for a ride. “Huhuhuh, hey baby~, huhuh. This is my kewl car, uuuhuhuhuhuhuhuh..” Butthead says to the toy, which he has now named Beaver. (He took it out for a date and saw a beaver and named it that) Beavis was wearing his finest suit, which isn’t very fine, because Butthead had asked him to be the waiter and bring them some food he had taken from Mr. Anderson’s pantry, which was mostly just cheetos and beer. 

     As Butthead is poorly driving the lawn mower with Beaver, Beaver falls out and gets its left arm stuck under the lawn mower and is very easily torn off. Beavis was walking out of Mr. Anderson’s house, carrying the beer in his left hand and the cheetos in his right, he suddenly drops the beer. And his whole arm. Beavis shrivels up in a ball, and sobs in agony. Butthead hears the cries and stops the mower. He gets off and picks up poor, poor Beaver. He sees some glistens of red in the corner of his eye and starts running towards it. He sees Beavis sobbing, as his arm is pulled off and he dropped the beer. Butthead sticks Beaver in his pocket and scoops up Beavis in his arms and carries him to the house. 

     He sets down Beavis and gets some gauze for Beavis’ severed shoulder, clueless on what happened and where his arm is. He starts soaking up the blood, but is also kind of laughing at Beavis’ horrible predicament. A few days later, Beavis and Butthead and Beaver are sitting down in front of Maxi-Mart, when that same shady lady walks up to Butthead again. “Give it to me, boy.” She says. Butthead looks confused as hell and says “What do you want, asswipe?” She says, “give me the one you have named Beaver”. Butthead just looks pissed off now, and shouts “I’ll never give you Beaver! I love it. Go away, dill weed” She starts looking angry now, too, and says softly but angrily, like a mother, “Beaver or Beavis. Take your pick.” Beavis hears his name and starts getting nervous, but also angry. “H-hey, buzz off, bunghole!” He stands up and kicks the lady in the girl balls. The lady just disappears into thin air, but so does Beaver. A note is left behind, probably saying what happened, but we will never know because Beavis and Butthead set fire to it in an alleyway.

[orivaa-kun]

BAD ATTITUDE | Chapter 1: About That Life

chapter word count: 8k warnings: mature (18+), violence, drinking, drug use, smut, fluff, angst, feels, rough s*x pairings: Gojo Satoru x Fem OC, Geto Suguru x Fem OC, Nanami Kento x Fem OC, Fushiguro Toji x Fem OC series summary: Jujutsu Kaisen Yakuza AU where Riku Ozaki (OC) is really good at getting herself into trouble. Though the Ozaki family is ranked #10 out of the 15 clans of the Tokyo Yakuza syndicate in terms of power & strength; and the Gojo, Geto, and Zenin families fall at #1, #2, and #3 respectively; that doesn't keep her from getting in the mix with these highly ranked, highly dangerous men. Her clan's bodyguard, Nanami, can hardly keep up with all the compromising positions she constantly finds herself in. Will she ever learn her lesson? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ba- fic playlist: Spotify YouTube

Riku groans when she hears her phone alarm chime for the fourth time tonight but begins to stir beneath the covers of her futon. All she wanted to do was rest after a long day of work – but it was that time of year again, the night of the annual gala for all Tokyo Yakuza clans.

Riku hears footsteps in the hall outside of her room, “You better be getting ready in there,” her cousin Umika warns, before swiftly sliding the screen door open and flicking on the lights. Umika sighs at the sight of Riku still in bed and shakes her head, “Typical.” Umika is already wearing her fitted, black maxi dress with lace sleeves that’s rose pattern beautifully curled around the deep tan skin of her arms. Her hair is blown out into big ringlet curls that fell around her face and reached her shoulders.

“The fuck are we celebrating, anyways… another year of crime?” Riku grumbles and throws the covers over her own head.

Umika sighs, crossing her arms as she stood in the doorway, “Riku, you know this is about showing respect to the top clans. Not going would be disrespectful in itself. Also, that crime paid for this house, so show a little appreciation, yeah?”

Riku doesn’t know why she tries to reason with Umika of all people, but continues to anyways, “But shouldn’t Uncle Jin be enough? He’s the leader of the clan, and you’re his heir!” She pulls the covers down to look at Umika.

“Look, I don’t make the rules. You get invited to the gala, you go. If you don’t, bad shit happens, and our whole family takes the hit. That’s it. Now get off your ass!”

Riku moans in feigned agony, “Fine.” She slips out of her futon, beginning to fold it up on the tatami covered floor.

“And you better hurry, too; my dad is already on the way there.” Umika begins to slide the screen door back, leaving Riku’s room, “We’re leaving in 15!”

“You hate me!” Riku shouts, dramatically.

“Yeah, yeah…” Umika waves the comment away, already down the hall once more.

When Riku appears in the main room, she’s wearing a champagne-colored, silk, and sleeveless mini dress that shimmered under the light. Without time to flat iron or do much of anything to her hair, she’d decided to wear her jet black curls in a neat, high bun, and dedicated the bulk of her 15 minutes to doing a quick ‘no-makeup’ makeup look. She fumbles her hand around in her white and black leather-lined clutch, making sure she has the essentials, “Umika, do you know where my black hee-”

Umika raises the pair of black, red-bottoms up in the air, already approaching the front door, “Let’s go.”

“Thank you, Umika~!” Riku smiles over at her cousin lovingly, which is promptly ignored.

Nanami glances up from his phone at Umika’s announcement, eyes widening briefly when he sees Riku. He stands and whistles, taking a moment to admire her long legs and the glow of her café au lait skin, “Wow, you look nice-”

Riku smiles, about to thank him but is cut off by his next words.

“-was beginning to think you only wore sweatpants and t-shirts.” The blonde teases, smirking. Nanami wore an all-black suit tonight, different from his usual tan and blue shirt combination. He’s only 4 years older than Riku (25) and 2 years older than Umika (27), but he’s always far more serious about his work, that is, unless he’s having a drink with friends or cracking jokes at Riku’s expense.

She frowns, “You know, Kento, a clan bodyguard should be a lot nicer than you are.” Riku heads to the door and retrieves her heels from Umika before slipping into them.

Nanami follows behind her to activate the automatic lock on the door, “A clan bodyguard protects the clan,” he shrugs, “sorry sweetheart, not obligated to do anything else.” He begins to set up the home security system from his phone app as they make their way outside.

“Isn’t our family still ranked 11th out of the 15 clans in Tokyo?” Riku asks, genuinely, “Why do we have to go to this thing after all these damn years?” She briefly looks over the massive, combined traditional and modern style Japanese property that she and the whole Ozaki clan call home – though, it had been a bit empty with Uncle Jin and others out on business. As always, Umika and Riku were left to handle the day-to day tasks of their family’s businesses while their elders have other issues to attend to.

The trio approaches the black Chevy SUV parked in the center of the driveway circle, and Nanami opens the back door for the two women, “Your family is ranked 10th now, and though the rankings are based on each clan’s strength and annual generated revenue, we all still work together…”

“…to contribute to the Tokyo syndicate.” Riku choruses the last part with Nanami as she slips into the car behind Umika, having heard this sentence uttered at least a hundred times by Tokyo clan leaders. She rolls her eyes, “I know. Just seems useless for us to be traveling an hour into and out of the city to play dress up and drink expensive champagne... when we could, you know, be resting so we can actually have the energy to run all our damn studios, museums, and concert venues, ya know?”

Nanami closes the door once Riku is inside then slips into the driver’s seat before starting the car, “Ri, I’m already working overtime protecting you two today – you don’t have to convince me.” He begins to steer the SUV out of the circle and onto the main stretch of driveway that led to a large glossy black and bronze gate that slowly began to open at Nanami’s press of a button beside the rear-view mirror.

“You’re mistaken, Riku,” Umika speaks up, in the midst of typing up an email for something that was most likely business related, “this is part of the job.”

Riku lets her cousin’s words sink in. Well, Umika isn’t wrong about that. For a minute, Riku wonders how many other members of the Tokyo Yakuza would rather not be at the gala tonight.

“Ken, can you turn the music up?” Riku asks; it would be a long ride, after all.

“Sure thing, Ms. Ozaki.” Nanami nearly coos with a bit of extra formality, mostly because he knows how much Riku hates being addressed by her clan and family name.

*

When they arrive at the Gojo clan’s estate – well, one of the Gojo clan’s many estates in Tokyo – Nanami exits the driver’s seat and opens the back door for Umika and Riku before offering his hand to help each of them step down from the SUV. He meets eyes with Riku when she takes his hand, “Ma’am.”

“Shut up, Kento.”

He smirks just barely, then closes the door and tosses the keys to the valet.

There are two guards in all black suits and shades who nod at each other after sizing the three of them up, then move to open the main door to the conglomerate of mansion-like buildings. If the Ozaki home is massive, this is… simply otherworldly. It would take hours just to walk through the entire estate once. While one of the guards taps the com in his ear and mumbles something about the rest of the Ozaki family invitees entering, Riku glances over the expansive acres of property that she had only seen a few times before in years past. She takes in and notes the obvious Roman and British influences on the structure of the main building’s pillars, marble work, courtyard, and ivory shading. As visually overwhelming as the estate is, she can’t deny it is the perfect place to host hundreds of wealthy yakuza assholes.

The main door opens and the talkative noise of gangsters chatting and live musicians playing in the great ballroom immediately hits their ears. Two women in uniform check them for weapons then greet and welcome them in the entryway. The artist in Riku can’t help but hate the elaborate combination of white marble and gold all over the floors and walls; it was too stuffy and there was hardly any real sense of artistic intention driving the floor plan nor décor of this mansion, other than money, “Ugh… they call this a home?” Riku says beneath her breath, mostly to Umika who walked beside her, “Gross. How could anyone seriously live here?”

“Shh!” Umika quickly retorts, “Not the time!!” She whisper yells between closed teeth.

A uniformed man with a tray of champagne flutes strides over, and Riku takes a glass while Umika waves her hand at the man to decline. If Riku has to be here, she at least wants something to bear it a little easier. She takes a long sip from the glass as Umika scans the ballroom for her father, finally catching sight of Jin Ozaki who just happens to be at one of the bars shaking hands with Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto – the youngest and strongest clan leaders of the Tokyo syndicate. That said, they are still about Nanami’s age. There’s an overwhelming presence from that side of the room in general, and Riku doesn’t want to be anywhere near it.

“Oh great, it’s your friends.” Riku remembered Nanami sharing that he’d gone to the same private school with Gojo and Geto. She takes another, much longer sip from her glass, nearly finishing it.

“I’m gonna say hi to dad and some folks. You coming?” Umika asks, with zero excitement in her voice.

“Over there? Absolutely not.” Riku shakes her head. Gojo and Geto are the strongest for a reason and isn’t just because of their clans’ combined manpower and money. It’s because of their dangerously powerful business skills and practices. They are ruthless when it comes to advancing their goals and clan business ventures and aren’t afraid to use violence to get what they want – or so Riku hears, “I’ll catch up with Uncle Jin at our table.”

Riku strides over to the seated area where a gala waitress directs her to her table. Riku thanks her when they arrive at a table with a card in the center that reads ‘10’… 10th place out of the 15 families… of course, she thinks, “Thank you, I don’t know you all remember all these names to be able to direct us so easily…” Riku says in an apologetic tone, sitting in the seat that had her name card in front of it. Of course, her seat faces the back of the room instead of the stage and she would have to twist her neck just to look at the front. She isn’t from a top ranked clan and isn’t even the heir of the family. It all makes sense, but that doesn’t make this petty seating bullshit any less annoying.

The waitress rubs the back of her neck with a shy laugh, “Hah, it’s just part of the job, ma’am. Can I get you anything to drink while you wait for the rest of the Ozaki family?” The dining area is practically empty as most are socializing over near the open bars and live music.

“Uh, yes. Can I get a really strong old fashioned, and another glass of champagne?” Riku tucks her clutch next to her in the seat and neatly folds her hands over her lap.

“Of course, Ms. Ozaki!” As soon as the words leave the waitress’s mouth, a man in uniform appears behind her and is already refilling her flute, “Just a moment for the old fashioned.” She smiles in a practiced yet kind way.

Riku nods and the woman disappears. Riku releases a soft sigh as her eyes trail over the whole ballroom, squinting a bit as she she now sees Nanami and Geto laughing and clinking glasses of whiskey, while Umika chats with some friends of hers on the opposite side of the room. Part of her wonders where Gojo and Uncle Jin had gone but she doesn’t try to think much about it. For all she knows they could be in a back room talking business or something.

Riku opens the clutch at her side to check her phone for the time. 21:40. It would be 20 minutes until the gala starts, “20 minutes closer to getting the fuck out of here…” She mutters under her breath.

“I haven’t seen you here before.”

Riku turns in her seat to find two men standing behind her, one with his hand on her chair, “Hi,” she manages in a voice that is more customer-service sounding than authentic. The man with his hand on her chair seems to be in his late 30s and wears a flashy burgundy suit, while the other looks to be in his 40s and has on a gold-colored tux. Both are fashion choices that make Riku want to throw up in her mouth a little bit.

“What’s your name, sexy?” The one in the burgundy suit questions with a crooked smirk; both men look like they’ve undoubtedly been in countless fights with the many tiny scars littered around their hands and faces.

“Reina, nice to meet you,” she lied instinctively, offering her hand to shake with the man in burgundy then the one in the gold suit. She did not want her real first name floating around with whoever these guys were friends with. “You two are…?” She waits for the men to share their names.

“Reina? That’s pretty,” the man in burgundy replies, “I’m Akio, and he’s Kaito. We’re Zenin clan muscle.” Of course. Even with all their internal and external issues, the Zenin clan deals in weapons and has continued to rank 3rd for over 20 years now. Their sheer brutality is undoubtedly a big reason behind it.

Kaito lifts Riku’s hand to his mouth to kiss, instead of shaking it.

Literally kill me right now. Riku thinks to herself, continuing to feign a smile, “Haha, thank you…”

“What’s a pretty lady like you doing all by herself?” Kaito steps closer, both men towering over Riku as she’s still sitting and they’re pretty tall, themselves.

“Just waiting on my family, and bodyguard to sit down.” Riku emphasizes the last part, but the men pay no mind. They were far too busy raking their all-too-conspicuous eyes over every inch of her body. This is what Riku dreads about these kinds of functions. She glances over to where she last saw Nanami, but he’s still drinking with Geto. What do we even pay him for?

“Right,” Akio dismisses Riku’s words with his tone, breaking his gaze with her to glance over at the table; he spots the big number ’10,’ “Ten… that’s the Ozaki family this year – right, Kai?’

“Mhm.” Kaito nods affirmatively, “Who knew they had girls like this in the Ozaki family?”

“Hard to tell when they’ve never ranked under 10 before.” Akio says, and the two man laugh. “Can’t even see if they’re ugly or not, since they’re so damn far from our tables at the front of the ballroom!” He adds and their laughter turns into an all-out guffaw.

Riku’s fake smile quickly falters into a glare, “Well at least I’m not in the same family as you incestuous, murder-loving motherfuckers with dicks for brains. What’s wrong? Got tired of keeping it in the family and wanna hit on me? What will your sister-wives think?” Riku mocks, boldly. The whole ‘keeping it in the bloodline’ thing is more of a yakuza rumor, but Riku knows how much Zenin folks hate hearing it.

The men’s laughter comes to an immediate halt. Kaito bends over so his face is hardly a few centimeters from Riku’s, and Akio’s knuckles turn white at the tightness of his grasp on Riku’s chair, the wood creaking beneath his strong grip, “The fuck did you say, bitch?” Kaito questions, nearly spitting the words at her.

“Yeah, I’m definitely not afraid to teach a low rank cunt a lesson, even if she is yakuza.” Akio says, still standing up straight but glaring down at Riku, “Might even be fun, too.” He grins, sickly.

And the danger of the situation doesn’t hit Riku until this very moment. She tries to remain calm and keep her facial expression cool, but it’s more than obvious that she’s completely pissed these Zenin guys off, and she can’t help but fear how they might react.

Once again, her mouth had gotten her into trouble. Oops.

“Hey gentlemen, why don’t we keep things respectful and give the lady some space, hm?” A new voice enters their conversation, one Riku had only heard at a distance. It’s an unmistakable one.

Satoru Gojo placed his hands on the backs of the two Zenin men, and they’re ripped out of their anger-ridden trance at the sight of the white-haired man. He wears a royal blue, fitted 3-piece suit that is perfectly tailored to his tall and toned body. Small black spectacles sit low on the bridge of his nose so his cerulean eyes peek through.

The Zenin men back away, “Whatever,” Kaito mutters, shaking his head. Nobody wanted to fight Satoru Gojo. And now was not the time nor place.

Akio starts to walk away from the table with his friend by his side, “Better pray we don’t catch you alone again…” he taunts.

“Or what?” Gojo asks honestly with a dangerous glint in his eye. Riku’s pulse thumps loudly in her head when she feels the light pressure of his large hand on her shoulder.

Akio shakes his head, “Nothin’.” And the men depart to another section of the ballroom.

Gojo waits until the men are at a distance before focusing his attention to Riku.

“You good?” He takes his hand off her shoulder.

“Yeah.” Riku quickly collects herself, regaining her composure. She clears her throat, “I mean I had that covered, but thanks.”

Gojo blinks down at Riku a few times in complete silence, then suddenly bursts into laughter.

Riku feels her cheeks redden. It was that obvious she was in trouble?

When Gojo recovers from his fit of laughter, he taps Riku’s shoulder, “But seriously, beautiful, you should be more careful about what you say to these guys – sick as most of ‘em are.” Gojo suddenly drops into a squat so that he and Riku are nearly at eye level, his gaze just below hers, “What’s your name?”

The sudden proximity to Gojo makes her stagger over her words, “Reina.” Riku isn’t sure why she lies this time, perhaps out of nervous instinct?

“Reina, right.” Gojo briefly furrows his brows, “Ozaki family so you help handle the arts businesses in our city, right?”

“Yep. And you are…?” Riku asks, stretching her arm in Gojo’s direction and obviously acting as a sort of jab at Gojo. Everyone here knew who Gojo was, regardless if they’d met him personally or not. But something about his cool and confident nature makes Riku want to take him down a few notches.

“Satoru Gojo,” he chuckles out before lightly squeezing her hand, “well, if you need anything tonight, come find me, alright?” He continues to hold eye contact with Riku while he lightly flicks the name card in front of her that clearly displays her real name, “Nice to meet you, Riku Ozaki.” He winks at her, then stands before striding off towards the opposite side of the room and continuing to greet yakuza.

Riku puts her face into her hands, “I’m a fucking idiot.”

Just then the waitress reappears with Riku’s old fashioned and sets it down on the table, “Everything alright, ma’am?”

“Just perfect.”

*

Riku uses her fork to gently fiddle with the shrimp pasta she’d selected from the three gala menu options; it was okay, just not very flavorful. She sits beside her Aunt Risako - who’s Uncle Jin’s wife and cousin Umika’s mom. Nanami sat on the other side of her.

“You’re not going to eat?” Aunt Risako asks, cutting into her ribeye steak, “It’s good!” She smiled over at her niece, her short brown bob framing her face.

The room had finally quieted down as countless members from the 15 Tokyo families sat around their respective tables, talking, eating, and drinking between various gala speeches. Riku mirrors her aunts smile in return, “I will in a bit, just not that hungry now.”

Uncle Jin had already presented his talk about the recent venues our family had acquired and how it continues to increase our family’s income and contribution in an exponential way, but most of the families chatted through; they were far more interested in the Zenin’s talk about weapons or the Geto family’s speech about their drugs. No one cared about the arts much until it came time for entertainment.

A trio of spinning poles had been set up on the stage and Riku watches as three women pole dancers in elaborately lacy, tight costumes stroll out to dance their practiced routine. Riku recalls two of the girls’ faces, remembering that she’s she stood in to teach a handful of classes at their family’s dance studio a couple of times. Regardless, many of the men flock towards the stage to get a closer look, gawk at, and throw bills at the girls. It makes Riku want to step out for a moment. They’re not strippers, they’re pole dancers. There’s a big difference.

She pushes her chair a bit away from the table before standing and retrieving her clutch.

“Where you going?” Nanami asked, currently taking a bite of salmon.

“Bathroom.” Riku says, already waking back towards the ballroom entrance where the powder rooms and restrooms were. Riku is about to enter one but spots a more secluded bar that appears to be in a side room. She slides through the half open door’s small opening, which reveals a small yet extravagant lounge room and spread of countertop, a collection of old and expensive bottles on display behind the bar. There are only five yakuza inside and one single staff behind the bar, and this puts Riku’s mind at ease as she was happy to be away from the noise. She sits down on one of the leather bar stools, surprised by how comfy it was.

“Anything for you, ma’am?” The man behind the counter asks, wiping a class with a white rag.

Riku is already five drinks in, having had three glasses of champagne and two old fashioneds… She decides to tone it down a bit as her face was already beginning to feel warm, “Do you have a… sparkling chenin blanc by chance?”

“We do.” He smiles, “Loire Valley and all. Want to give it a try?”

“Yes, please.”

The man nods and starts to retrieve a bottle from a refrigerated shelf that’s still somehow covered in a thin sheet of dust; Riku doesn’t want to think about how expensive it is.

“Rare grape.”

Riku only notices the man behind her when he speaks up, her heart jumping in surprise when she turns to see the other half of the duo she did not want to be around tonight.

“Rare, yes, but amazing when you find a good bottle.” Riku is glad she has a few drinks in her, as her reply definitely wouldn’t have been as calm without them.

Suguru Geto plops down on the seat beside Riku, eyes holding hers as he does so. He wears a deep red shirt and a gray suit that was nearly black, his suit jacket tossed on the bar stool on the opposite side of him to reveal the red dress shirt that’s fabric is rolled up to reveal his sleeves of colorful dragon tattoos beneath which stretch all the way up to his neck. His hands were clothed in black leather gloves, “You’re right about that.” He agrees, lips curing in a small smirk as his small black eyes seemed to smile at her, “What are you doing in here?” He questions. Geto quickly diverts his attention to the bartender and taps his glass for a refill of whatever whiskey he’s drinking.

“Just needed a breather.”

Geto eyes quickly dart around around the room before refocusing on Riku, “You got a bodyguard?”

Riku rubs her fingers over the stem of her wine glass when it’s placed in front of her, “Yes.” She sighs out, “But I can handle myself.”

Geto chuckles at Riku’s response, not expecting her to be so offended by the question, “Just looking out for you, sweetheart. This is a dangerous place.” He takes a closer look at her, before raising a brow, “Ozaki family, right?”

Riku’s eyes widen in genuine surprise by the fact that he knows, sure they hadn’t personally met before, “Yeah… how’d you know?”

He lifts a finger from his glass to poke in her direction as the bartender refills it, “Your posture. I know a dancer’s body when I see one.” He takes a swig after his glass is topped off.

Riku isn’t sure why Geto’s words make her blush, but they do. She takes a sip of wine to hide it.

“What’s your name?”

She doesn’t dare lie again, “Riku.”

“What characters do you use?”

“Dignity, or awe-inspiring for the ‘Ri’ and sky for the ‘ku.’”

“That’s fitting. You’re gorgeous.” Geto’s smirk grows, but only for a moment. His smile softens as he leans over, closing a lot of the space between them. Riku is sort of startled by how intimate the other is able to make something as trivial as a greeting. Geto pokes his hand in her direction, the words spilling so soft and kindly from his mouth that they truly feel like a compliment, “Very nice to meet you, Riku. Call me Suguru.” Geto’s long black hair falls over his shoulder and Riku gets a whiff of his cologne. Of course, he smells great.

“Nice to meet you, Suguru.” Riku slowly shakes Geto’s hand, internally screaming. She could not take being so close to the drug clan’s leader for this long. Though it was just a greeting, her heart was doing backflips out of surprise, attraction, fear…? She’s unsure of which one; perhaps all three. First Gojo, now him?

“Tell me about yours-” Geto starts, but both of their thoughts are silenced by the sound of an automatic gun shooting into the air of the main ballroom.

Their eyes widen, and Riku is frozen in her seat with fear. Through the small opening of the door, she’s able to spot suited men with rifles enter the ballroom en masse, the whole room beginning to stir with yells and screams. The thunder of a hundred footsteps sounds as yakuza leaders, wives, and their adult children trample towards the main doors.

Before she realizes it, Geto is already at the side of the door in a safe position. He retrieves his handgun from his waistband and holds it expertly between his hands, ready to shoot anything or anyone that may enter the side room they were in.

The bartender and few other folks in the room had already fled, leaving just the two of them.

“You need to get out of here gorgeous.” Geto says, nodding towards the exit opposite to the door he currently stands by – that leads to the great ballroom where gunshots continuously sound. Riku is still frozen.

“Riku? Riku!” When she snaps out of her daze, Geto is at her side, her arm in his tight grasp, “I said you need to get out of here!” He shouts over the screams and shots in the ballroom. Wasn’t this supposed to be a weaponless event?!

“B-But my family!!”

“You better hope your bodyguard is protecting them,” He begins, but is cut off when two men notably from the Zenin clan appear, guns raised in Geto’s direction.

Geto doesn’t hesitate, using one hand to move Riku behind his back to shield her and the other to quickly shoot down the two men, hitting one in the hand and the other in his abdomen.

Riku watches in horror as their blood begins to spread over the marble floor, the color draining from her face.

“Zenin clan? What the fuck…?” Geto trails off in thought, not scared like Riku but equally astonished by this recent turn of events.

The two of them are both alarmed when Gojo barges through a third door Riku didn’t notice before, the white-haired man’s black spectacles now gone and his suit a bit disheveled – most likely from fighting.

His piercing blue eyes dart to Riku in confusion, “You…?” He shakes the distraction from his head before looking over at his friend, breathing heavily from previously running.

“The fuck is going on, Satoru??!”

“It’s Toji. Toji and a bunch of muscle from the Zenin clan are staring an uprising.” He walks closer to his friend and Riku, who’s still tucked behind his Geto’s back.

“Fuck.” Geto releases Riku to roughly run a hand through his hair.

“The hell are you doing here?!” Gojo peers down at Riku in confusion, anger, and concern, but mostly anger, “Your family’s already outside!”

Riku was relieved to at least hear that and opens her mouth, about to explain herself; Geto cuts her off, “We need to get her the fuck out of here.” He says, surprisingly calm.

Gojo releases an exasperated sigh, shaking his head and looking at Riku in a pissed sort of way that explains everything he isn’t saying: that she would slow them down, “Jesus Christ, beautiful, you sure are fucking good at getting your ass into trouble.” He grabs her arm, pulling her into his side before starting to make his way towards the 3rd door he’d just entered through that leads to a connecting meeting space.

Gojo and Geto are on high alert as they maneuver though the space, stopping behind tables and desks to occasionally scan the room for any hidden intruders. When a bald man in a bright orange suit enters, Gojo tosses Riku into Geto, and she yelps. Geto’s thick tattooed arm locks around her waist and pulls her into him as his friend handles the bald man with a few powerful punches and a harsh kick to his side. The man falls to the floor, immediately falling unconscious.

This continues through a series of connecting rooms, Riku practically being thrown between Gojo and Geto as they punched and shot their way through the mansion, most likely aiming for the building’s back exit. Geto feels Riku’s body tremble with fear one of the times he’s holding her and can’t help but feel for her. It’s obvious she isn’t used to this kind of violence and if this is what it means to be a member of one of the higher ranked families, then Riku wants no parts of it.

“Don’t worry, babe. We got you.” He tries to reassure her, briefly squeezing the arm he had wrapped around her waist while Gojo took out a duo of men in black suits.

Riku vaguely feels her phone vibrate from inside her clutch but it’s the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. She looks up at Geto, who’s eyes were still scanning the room. Riku could tell the soft smile on his lips was directed to her and nodded.

Suddenly, a side door busts open with a loud bang and five men pour in with guns drawn.

“Shit, beautiful, maybe not…” Suguru says so only Riku can hear.

“Everyone, hands up!” One of the armed men shout, pointing his gun in the direction of Gojo, who pushes his arms into the air in mock surrender.

“Hey, now, why don’t we settle this the old-fashioned way?” He asks with a smirk, as he was currently unarmed.

“Fuck you, Gojo.” The main man says, ignoring Satoru’s offer as fighting the strongest yakuza in Tokyo hand-to-hand was basically the same thing as letting him win, “Keep your hands up.”

Three of the men point their guns in Geto and Riku’s direction, “You two, too! Drop the gun, Geto!”

Geto does as the men say, allowing the silver handgun to thump to the floor before pushing his hands in the air. Riku follows suit, swiftly hiding her phone between her breasts before discarding her clutch altogether and raising her hands in the air.

“Out!” The fifth man commands, motioning with his gun for the three of them to exit the room and return to the main banquet hall.

The three of them slowly trail out and are led through the now completely abandoned ballroom - except for the five Zenin muscle that brought them here and one other man. Riku can tell the man is ripped just from his broad back alone. He turns and Riku sees the man she’d only heard rumors about prior to this moment.

A wicked grin spreads across his face at the sight of Gojo and Geto, and he starts to laugh, smile curving the large gash-like scar at the corner of his mouth. Toji. The undoubtedly powerful man wore a black suit like the bulk of his men, but it was visibly far more expensive than the rest. The tailored clothing just barely contained the thickness of his muscled form.

“Ah, just the people I’ve been meaning to see.”

“Awful to see you too, asshole.” Gojo replies with a smirk.

“What the fuck do you want now, Toji?” Geto asks, a look of disgust on his face. Guns still pointed at them so the three kept their hands raised.

“Well money of course, for one, but before that,” his eyes move to Riku. He walks over to her, a lustful, downright disgusting look in his eyes, “who do we have here?” He smooths his calloused, scar-littered fingers under Riku’s chin, trailing them down to her chest. She tries to push the man away, but he quickly grabs both her wrists in one of his hands, smirk only growing as Riku scowled up at the tall, bulky man.

“She’s no one,” Satoru starts, trying to protect her, “just a low rank clan family member. This isn’t about her.”

“Hey, fuck you, I’m not no one…” Riku starts, only realizing what Gojo was trying to do after the words slip from her lips. Her eyes widen.

Toji laughs again, closing the space between the two of them, “I like this one… She’s got some spunk to her.” Toji glances to Gojo and Geto with an evil look, “Would be fun to break her.”

“Toji you-” Gojo begins to move but freezes to the click of a handgun being loaded beside his ear.

“Whoa there, careful! Wouldn’t want to lose your brains now, would you?” Toji shouts, tone both overdramatic and disgusting, “Now, back to you, pretty…” He returns his gaze to Riku. Even if she’s no one to Gojo and Geto, Toji likes fucking with the duo’s sense of justice and knows they’d try to protect her regardless, “What’s your name?”

Riku spits in his face before responding, “None of your fucking business, prick.” She grumbles in anger, attitude as bad as ever. A small, satisfied smirk finds her lips as she watches her spit roll down Toji’s scarred face.

Geto exchanges looks with his friend, his exasperated expression saying everything words didn’t need to: Is this bitch crazy? Spitting at Toji??!

Toji’s grin turns into an unsatisfied look, clicking his tongue at Riku’s actions, “Now that’s not the answer I was looking for…” He shakes his head, removing his trailing fingers from Riku’s body before brutally smacking his palm over Riku’s cheek with a hard thump.

Riku’s head twists to the side, and she immediately begins to taste blood in her mouth as it is, without question, the strongest slap she’s ever received in her life. Pain jolts in the bones of her neck and she already begins to feel the skin of her face bruise and swell.

Toji grabs Riku’s face, and she feels like he could crush her skull in his hand if he wanted to. A tear streams down her swollen check at the intense pain. The man with spiky black hair repeats himself, an angered look in his eyes in response to Riku’s disrespectful action, “Your name.” He demands.

“Ymvr…” Riku mutters, barely able to speak with Toji’s grip on her jaw.

“What was that?” He leans in closer to the girl with a smirk as she writhes in pain, ear pushing closer to her lips.

“Your mother.” She finally manages, using Toji’s grip on her hands to steady herself as she quickly raises her legs, the bulky man now unintentionally holding her weight in the air as she swiftly sends the strongest kick she can manage to his balls.

“Agh!!” Toji’s face twists and he yells in agony, both him and Riku collapsing to the floor.

Gojo and Geto exchange looks again, both using the surprise of this situation as an opportunity to take out the two men directly behind each of them, first twisting and jabbing their arms to steal their guns away. They quickly make work of the rest of the five men, shooting some in non-vital places and kicking others.

All the while, Toji is groaning from the floor, “You bitch…!” He spits between clenched teeth, hands cupping his crotch.

Riku stumbles to her feet, abandoning her one remaining high heel before making a dash for the back door, “Coming?” She questions as she quickly breezes past Gojo and Geto, who had just finished kicking the last of the Zenin muscle.

“Yeah, let’s get the fuck outta here.” Gojo says with a final kick, and the two run out the door behind Riku.

“Uhh, car?!” Riku half asks, half yells once they’re outside, praying one of the two men had one nearby.

“Mhm, this way,” The dark of the night sky temporarily camouflages the men outside of Geto’s red shirt and Gojo’s white hair, that is, until Riku’s eyes adjust. Gojo reaches forward, “Matter of fact…” he grabs Riku’s waist and throws her over his shoulder, already beginning to move in an all-out sprint.

Riku yelps at suddenly being manhandled, now only able to see the white of Geto’s smirk as he ran behind Gojo. He thought this was funny?!

“What are you doing?!” She whisper-yells.

“Sorry, babe, easier to move this way.” Gojo gives the back of Riku’s thigh a small smack, that makes her face turn bright red with embarrassment.

Geto tries to hold back a laugh but fails after seeing the look on Riku’s face.

Finally they arrive at a large garage and Gojo hits a code into a keypad at the side of the building, Riku still over his shoulder. The door slowly rises off the ground and they slip in, Gojo grabbing the keys to his Lamborghini Urus before unlocking the doors.

Riku is thrown into the back seat and before she can get her bearings together, the engine is starting and the SUV wheels screech forward from a halt and out of the driveway.

Geto looks back at Riku from the passenger seat, “Buckle up, Riku, this guy’s a shit driver.” He smirks.

“That’s not true, I’m a great driver. Especially in these conditions—“ Gojo says with a sharp turn of the wheel and suddenly they’re speeding through the grass of the courtyard. Riku hears a few gunshots sound in the distance and buckles up before putting her head down. There's the yelling of a few Zenin clan men and the gunshots continue, a few bullets even piercing the back of the window, but none pass through.

Gojo chuckles when he quickly glances at Riku in the rear-view window, “It’s bulletproof, babe.” He explains, then takes another sharp turn to a roughly 400-meter-long driveway that leads to the main road.

Riku slowly sits up, worriedly looking out each of the windows before seeing that they were finally at a good enough distance from the Gojo estate. She takes a shaky, deep breath to calm herself down, almost wanting to cry at everything that had just transpired.

“Hey,” Geto’s tattooed arm reaches back, and he brushes his leather-covered thumb over Riku’s swollen red cheek, “You alright, beautiful?”

She looks up at him, the fear finally beginning to fade from her eyes. She’s safe with them. Riku nods, shakily.

“What a night!” Gojo laughs, “I mean who the fuck was expecting that?”

“Right?” Geto grins at his friend.

Riku furrows her bows, “You both think it’s funny? All those people hurt and in danger?!”

Gojo’s smile fades, “Oh no, that? That was absolutely fucked up… Also you don’t think I’m upset they pulled that shit in my house?” He switches from anger to charm so quick it’s almost scary, “But come on, Riku, that ‘your mother’ line was fucking priceless and you know it.” Gojo smirks again.

Geto laughs, still looking back at her from the front passenger seat, “You’re a legend, Riku. I don’t know how many people living can say they kicked Toji in the balls.”

Gojo laughs but his hand grips the gearshift so hard that his knuckles are white. He isn’t kidding; Riku understands that Gojo is probably the angriest yakuza in Tokyo tonight.

Riku joins in on their laughter with a small giggle, trying to ease the mood.

Geto turns back around to face the front but squeezes Riku’s thigh before looking to his friend, “Satoru, let’s get her some ice and take her home.”

“Yeah,” Gojo agrees and adjusts his mirror to get a better look at Riku, “fucked to see a pretty face bruised up like that.” He pauses, thinking for a moment, “You hungry at all, beautiful?”

“Starving.” Riku admits, regretting not having eaten her meal at the gala.

“Good, ‘cause I know a place and got a few calls to make.”

Geto looks at his friend knowingly, “You need some of my men?”

Gojo shakes his head and lowers his tone, giving Geto a hard look, “Not in front of her. She’s already in the mix of things enough as it is.”

Geto nods.

Gojo raises his voice again, “We’ll take you to one of our favorite spo-"

He’s cut off by Riku’s phone that loudly vibrates in her chest. She’d forgotten it was there. Riku retrieves the iPhone from inside her bra and sees ‘NANAMI’ flash across the screen. She quickly slides her finger across to talk. Before she can say anything—

“Riku! Fuck, finally!! Where are you?!!” He yells through the line.

“Nanami, I’m good, I’m fine… I’m in the car with Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo.”

“You’re what!?”

“It’s fine! They’re going to take me home, okay?”

“Is that Nanamin? Tell him I say hi!” Gojo happily beams, shouting from the driver’s seat.

Apparently Nanami hears that because he groans, “Jeez, Ri, what the hell happened?!”

Riku sighs, “A lot. But the gist is… Toji slapped me in the face, I kicked him in the balls, and we got away.”

“You WHAT??!?!!”

Riku laughs awkwardly, “But we got away and things are fine for now. They’re gonna take me home after we stop and get some ice for my face.”

Nanami is silent for a moment, and Riku can sense his anger through the phone, “Put Satoru on the phone, right fucking now.”

Riku hands her iPhone to Gojo, who quickly takes it and answers with a bright, bubbly tone, “Nanamin! How are you?”

“Look. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, or what business you have to do to clean this shit up, but if Riku comes back here tonight with anything more than a bruised cheek, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Gojo smiles at the seriousness in Nanami’s tone, “Wow, Kento, I didn’t know you cared about your job so much… What are you in love with her or something?” Gojo grins over at Geto in the passenger seat, “Yeah, yeah, Riku delivery service is on the way.” He glances back at her for a moment before refocusing on the road, “We won’t let anything happen to her. But you know, it’s the fault of her smart-ass mouth that made Toji slap her, anyways.” He shrugs.

“…That unfortunately sounds about right.”

“Well, okay, Nanamin! You’re kind of breaking up,” Gojo shouts, turning up the music from the car stereo as he held the phone between his head and shoulder, “so, talk to ya later!” Once he’s finished increasing the volume to near-max levels, Gojo retrieves the phone once more and hits ‘end’ on the call before tossing it back to Riku, who swiftly clasps it between her two hands.

Riku rolls her eyes and sits back into her seat, knowing she was in for a wild ride in more ways than one.

[morvantmortuary]

Ahem.

Trick or treat!! I hope you have an amazing Halloween!! 🖤

(sorry for the delay, today has been! a day!!)

The ancient door opens slowly, creaking ominously as it goes -- you're kind of surprised they haven't oiled it, actually, given this is a working funeral home and all.

But Maxi steps out from behind it, beaming in his Masquerade finery - the storm gray suit with the skeletal black brocade on the arms and legs, the bones stitched corresponding to the limbs the fabric covers; the blood red dress shirt beneath. Makeup that same shade of red is smeared around his eyes, but he has his glasses on over it this time, clearly having not bothered with contacts.

"Well hi there, sugar!" He looks delighted, genuinely. "You're our first of the evening." He extends the pumpkin-shaped plate in his left hand, upon which rests lots of smaller pumpkin-shaped cookies (with some napkins off to the side - coordinating motif, of course). The jack-o-lantern faces are iced on, and you can guess who did which ones based on the shades of red, green, and purple that outline their features.

"It's just a pumpkin spice recipe," he goes on, shrugging shyly. "But they are a favorite, this time of year. Take a couple, why don't you, we've got plenty."

"The purple ones are better!" Hector's voice calls from somewhere further in the House.

"Aren't you still gettin' dressed?" Maxi frowns over his shoulder.

"Someone's hogging the eyeliner!" Hector hollers back.

"Get your own, you baby," you hear Rora echoing from somewhere deeper still.

Maxi looks back to you with a confiding eyeroll. "Anyway. They all taste the same," he whispers to you. "Hex's just prone to a very... avant garde decorating style."

It's true, the purple jack o lanterns are more likely to have odd rhombuses and swirls for eyes and noses, rather than the more traditional, cheerful shapes of the red faces. The green ones rather look like they've been overgrown with moss, or are all howling in agony.

"It's not mold, I promise," Maxi laughs a touch nervously. "Rora's just, uh. Very naturalistic." He frowns again, looking over his other shoulder. "Speakin' of her... just, uh, keep an eye out for trip-wires and stuff. But anyway!" He looks to you again, grinning. "Thanks for stoppin' by! I love trick or treaters, we almost never get any."

(The cookies, when you try them, are obviously oven fresh, tasting deliciously of pumpkin and weirdly reminiscent of warm autumn sunbeams.)

thanks so much, babe! :3c

[shopwitchvamp]

Update: Added just a few more things to the lineup, including FINALLY making Agony Maxis happen !!!

Everything goes live tomorrow, 2/22, at 11am CT!

February Preorder previews are up now! Come take a look if you wanna get an idea of what will be available this round~

Preorders will open at 11am CT on 2/22 and run until 2/27 at 11:59pm CT! Fulfillment is expected to happen around mid-late May. Also we will be doing Crystal Oracle order bonuses again!! This time to the first 100 orders.

See ya there on Thursday! 🖤witchvamp.com🖤

[ennayr-ccfinds]

Emi Kimura + CC List💗

hair - eylen set [x]

eyebrows - 67 [x]

eyes - garcia eyes 32 [x]

head shape preset - N2 [x]

eyes preset - no2 [x]

lips preset - control lips 2 [x]

ears preset - ear presets [x]

body preset - serena [x]

skintone - bare olive [x]

skin overlay - sigrún [x]

skin overlay - msblue skinblend v3 overlay [x]

nose mask - overlay N2 [x]

eye mask - eye shape overlays no2 [x]

highlighter - soft quartz [x]

contour - face-kit no1 [x]

teeth - imperfection set suzuka [x]

eyelashes - maxis match v4 [x]

eyeshadow - sour fruit eyeshadow [x]

eyeliner - slayer eyeliner v2 [x]

blush - petals blush [x]

lipstick - prism lipstick [x]

outfit - milena outfit [x]

shoes - platform mid calf boots 01 [x]

nails - mona lisa nails [x]

bridge piercing - DIY kit [x]

septum piercing - circular ball #11 [x]

earrings - agony v7 [x]

ripped stockings - rebel stockings [x]

[sailorofcosmos]

Complaints about being AFAB

Part One

I was tricked into believing that pain (and even agony) were "normal" and I just had to power through it. Ladies and trans friends, your period should not put you out of commission. You should not be able to feel your ovaries. You should not be doubled over in pain. You should not have to double up with a tampon and a pad. If you are using a maxi/overnight pad during the day, your flow is heavy. And if your ob's solution is to slap BC on everything, please verbally abuse them.

If you have a condition like endometriosis, you have excess estrogen in your body. The main ingredients in BC are estrogen and progesterone. How does giving you more estrogen help to regulate your estrogen levels? It doesn't.

And let's talk about all the negative side affects, utmost being the mental. BC can make you suicidal. There. If you're already struggling with depression, anxiety, a mood disorder, emotional distrgulation, etc., please be aware. BC sent me to the hospital and my OB denied anything was wrong.

Forms of BC do work for some people. They can really help. But please inform yourself.

I asked my OB a lot of questions. I wanted to know what I was putting in my body. I wanted to know what ingredients there were and how it would affect my systems. I do this with all my medicine. My OB didn't like that and dismissed me as hysterical. Needless to say, I filed a complaint with their practice and told them they were lucky I wasn't suing for medical malpractice.

It's sad that this is common. It's sad that no one tells you this. It's sad that this society has made women's health all hush hush and shame those who communicate, laughing at them for "over sharing". AFABs, share this with your friends. It's only stigmatized because of patriarchy.

(Picture is © to whomever made it)

[limpfisted]

me: the whole point of this blog is that wyll would have killed karlach and—

maxi: (actually sends me a question about it.)

me: literally dies of the agonies.

[burned-lariat]

Hello, I've come to cheer you up. (and myself lol)

Jex: The bane of my existance

The day Dex decides he doesn't need Joss' her whining ass anymore and as the kids would say, slide into Kristina's DMs, is the day I will compliment Chris and Dan on a job well done. That would be a hoot. lol

I'm not going to lose out on the potentiality of Dextina for more Benson propping that goes absolutely nowhere. The math is not mathing.

ChayLynn: The light at the end of the tunnel

I've got to muster up this one cause the writers are giving me scraps to work with. The last ep they were on, looks like we're turning a corner finally. There were some callbacks from a year ago that I'm not sure anyone caught.

March '22: It was this time last year that ChayLynn had just wrapped up the Bailey Louise fake family situation. BLQ left town soon after giving Bailey back, leaving Chase to wonder what was going to happen next between them. A few days past and radio silence. Chase was worried about the status quo of their situationship. The word "lost" is what Michael and Maxie used to describe how Chase felt at the time. He finally reached out to her, texting "How are u? " He'd felt the distance she put between them. Days later Chase runs into Willow. He was surprised to find out BLQ was back in town. He catches up with BLQ, catching her off guard. He was worried about her, he missed her and he wanted to make sure she was okay. The friend she never knew she needed in her life. The point is, he didn't give up on her considering she kept him in the friend zone. He fought for her because was worth fighting for.

Fast forward to now and we have this unexpected visit. Chase didn't plan on running into her due to his initial intention to visit Willow and the baby at the gate house. No one was home so he stops by the main house. Boom, surprise BLQ answers the door. She's so happy to see him, a welcome surprise. A stark difference from last year this time. She was so eager to talk to him about anything really. It happened to be about babies and reminiscing about bath time with Bailey. She needed to buy as much time as possible, anything to keep him around a little longer. Maxie's interruption was warranted, their convo was cut short. Keeping with the theme that BLQ misses her best friend, a boost she never knew she needed. After visiting with Willow and the baby, Chase comes back out ready to leave again. Another theme is where Chase is waiting for that day when BLQ expresses how she really feels. But alas, a fleeting moment between the two. He's good at hiding how he feels for the most part but that doesn't make him the world's best detective lol. At the end when he's leaving, Chase asks BLQ of she was okay? She gives him a broad answer, "Yeah, you?". He doesn't give her an answer, leaving a lot for interpretation. She'd hoped she could get inside his head, his heart. Anything to keep her going as she feels like the time she has being around him is dwindling. The moments she took for granted before, she's now scared of what will happen when there will be no more. Chase left her watching him walk out of her life once again. Her bright light, the true shining star of her life. Denial is not just some river in Egypt. This moment was meant to tell BLQ to not give up on herself because that would mean she'd be giving up on Chase in the end. He's still rooting for her, hoping she can still be that brave person her fell for a year ago.

I got misty-eyed writing that lol. 😭 I hope I've given you with enough to get you through these next few weeks. The NB should be interesting in the least. Hold on, ok.

P.S. I'm editing my ChayLynn one shot still. They are worth the agony. Hopefully over the next few days, I need to get this story out of my system or else. 🙂

Until next time...

Your presence is always welcomed!

Honestly!!! Like give us the whiplash plot twist of Destina fucking and Joss walking in on them! That's mess, that's soap! And I genuinely ship them - like I think Destina has "it." It's not me pulling an agenda like w Dexsha...ish 😂

That was a whole year ago?? It feels like three years ago! 😭 So much crap has happened, holy shit. And I always love your ChaLynn analysis because you're on the nose about everything while simultaneously giving everyone the hope they need. This was so insightful - deep down he wants her back, the person she grew to be, and whenever he's around her, she just lights up as much as she shuts down over how she hurt him. They're just...🤧

And oh boy I hope we get good content for the NB - I'm nervous about that whole shindig 😅 and YES!!! I wish you luck in your editing endeavors, and I can't wait to read it when it's out and published!

[benecare-hospital]

5 Tips for Recovering from a Vaginal Delivery

Do you have a “down there” ache? It’s typical to experience pain after delivery, especially if you tore during delivery. Soak a maxi-pad in witch hazel to relieve the agony. Additionally, you can place gauze pads atop a maxi-pad after soaking them in witch hazel. Witch hazel has anti-inflammatory properties and can help you feel better. For even quicker relief, freeze the witch hazel. If your pain continues beyond the first few weeks or worsens, call your doctor.

Read more blog to visit or site:https://benecarehospital.wordpress.com/2022/11/03/5-tips-for-recovering-from-a-vaginal-delivery/