#also its an action show so its also filled with violence but its fun violence

[mixingandmelting]

Hello! I was wondering if you'd quite something based on the bat boys (or just Jason) reaction to realizing they liked having a normal life?

Like they go to visit the readers' family for Xmas, but their family left without letting them know, so they had the whole house to themselves, so they got to play house. It was in a whole other state, so no needing to be vigilantes. Just them with their s/o getting ready for Christmas, being shown around and just living a normal life for a few weeks.

A/N: Hope you don't mind me not writing about Duke and Damian since they're both minors so legally speaking they can't really travel out-of-state alone. Plus to be real, I highly doubt Batman would want to leave Damian unsupervised considering what happens when he's alone 😔

Dick:

His whole life he was anything but normal, being raised in a circus and now, fighting crimes 24/7. Excitement, action, danger, and adventures are what defines him and how he had always dreamt of how his life would go on. But here he is, tasting “normal” for the first time in his life by spending the holiday with you in the house you were raised in. Snowball fights and building snowmen delays the process of clearing the snow. Not to forget the snow angels that are made once he playfully tackles you down into the snow after you manage to get more on him than yourself. Putting up the lights and decoration both inside and outside of the house was more fun than the times he helped out at the Wayne manor, while finding out shopping for anything during the holiday season is a battle of its own. Adding that to the daily routine that’s usually gone through on his days off every day,  it’s… quiet and peaceful. He doesn’t wake up to sirens or violence. He’s not worried about another mission, instead figuring out how he’ll get your present under the tree without getting caught. You greeting him at the door, placing a kiss on his cheeks that are slightly bitten from frost when it’s decided he’s moving the snow on his own makes him so fuzzy, he starts calling you honey over babe. The most mind boggling about this? He doesn't mind it. It’s hard to accept that he actually likes “normal”. He’s confused over liking a concept that’s completely foreign to him and with his personality, he won’t last long with living with “normal” forever. The happy couple/marriage vibe though? He’s on board and digs it, one-hundred percent. Especially in a house filled with childhood memories, it’s giving him ideas and changing what he perhaps would want in the future in ways he wouldn’t think of back then.

Jason:

Considering his childhood and how he went through the whole reincarnation cycle of dying and then reviving, it’s a desire he had as a kid but gave up right away. He didn’t even fathom that a day would come where he would experience what it would be like to be normal. Walking around and staying in the typical home most average people live in made him tense the first three days, even more so knowing this was where you lived since a child. Moving snow with you becomes his favorite pastime, where you’d distract from getting the job done and have him chase after you from the snowball that hits his back. Or bringing out steaming hot chocolate so his nose and hands would stop feeling as if they’re ready to fall off from the cold after cleaning up and helping you build a snow fort of all things. His hands are frequently on your waist from holding you up to string the lights and hang the decorations after you frown from his “aesthetic” way of placing them, pushing him to move aside so you could show how a real pro does it. It’s also his first time struggling to find time to get a present behind your back from being with you all the time. Eating meals together, taking walks together around the neighborhood and city, acting as bodyguard during grocery and Christmas shopping, spending time together as a couple in general in a house that’s warm, cozy, and peaceful as Jason Todd is a first. Not as Robin once dead and revived or Red Hood, the violent outlaw.  It’s a wish once buried in his heart on top of another where he’s spending time with you that comes true before the holiday. He’s emotional from being so happy, he doesn’t think of anything else other than wanting to live like this for the rest of his life.

Tim:

Contrary to the stereotypes depicted by the media, rich kids don’t spend time with their family; it's usually spent with their nanny as their parents leave them for long periods of time in a house too large for two people. Sure over the years he has healed with his friends and a new family. But it feels like a dream come true with you. He’s laughing and enjoying the soft fluffiness of white that gets all over him, freezing his nose and hands when he tries to clear the snow. He gets into it with you over how the lights and decorations should be placed inside and outside the house when you mentioned you want to outdo your neighbors, a set of blueprints and sketches drawn while debating that rainbow lights were better than the flickering, white ones. To much of his chagrin, he’s fumbling with all the things you toss at him when he helps you shop, him being in charge of the shopping cart as he stays in-line as you grab and bring back what’s needed in the store. Not that he’s complaining, his face suddenly tinted in red when you come back and slip your hand between his hand and the handle during the wait for the next opened cashier. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t struggle with getting you a Christmas present and placing it under the tree. He had been keeping tabs since the day after Valentine’s Day on the things you’ve been looking at while relying on your habits he memorized to time things perfectly. Similar to Jason, he, too, wanted to live normally like any other person. Him getting to do that by prepping for the holiday with you heals the child in him, making him content and wishing the time the two of you currently have lasts forever.

[myfictionaldreams]

~ Mafia!Stucky Mastlist⍟✪ 📚~

Hello lovely, I hope you’re having a great day. I thought it was about time I made a list dedicated to my favourite boys, so welcome to my Mafia!Stucky masterlit!I love to write in my spare time, and the fiction I create is for 18+ readers ONLY. Also, everything is character x fem!reader, and please, read the tags carefully before continuing.

Masterlists ♥ A03 ♥ Tags  ♥ Question? ♥ latest works ♥

you're mine (smut, angst, dark)

Steve loves showing off what’s his, you. What does eh do when he sees someone staring at what is his?

i need more (fluff, smut)

You’d been off all day and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Steve. He’d do anything to make you feel better so when you started begging him to help you have some release, he didn’t hold back.

ruined orgasm - kinktober (smut)

He had given you one rule: do not interrupt the meeting. So, of course you had to walk straight into the meeting that had all of America’s most noterious gangsters

steve's birthday wish (P.1) (fluff, smut, angst)

It was approaching Steve’s birthday and you had no idea what to get him. Bucky suggests just asking the Mafia boss what he would like, but would you regret your decision when you hear what Steve truly wants.

When Two Become Three (P.2) (fluff, smut)

It has been a few weeks since Steve sat back and watched your be pleasured by his best friend Bucky, and you couldn’t stop thinking about it. Especially, the part where Steve confessed his fantasy to have a threesome, but would you ever agree to it?

one more meeting (fluff, smut, angst, dark)

For all of the years that you had known Steve and Bucky, you had never seen them lose control of their anger. All of the murder and violence always being calculated, calm, and dangerous. But today, that all changed and for the first time in years, you were truly scared of the boys you loved.

repeat after me(fluff, smut, angst)

It wasn’t often that you had to attend a party with your boyfriends but today, you found yourself at one, filling you with anxiety and dread. How will the boys react when they find you close to a panic attack and starting to doubt their love for you?

how many?(fluff, smut)

Steve had finally found time to take you and Bucky on holiday. What he doesn’t tell you however is that today, he wanted to see just how many times he and Bucky could get you to orgasm.

i can’t lose you (fluff, smut, angst, dark)

Being the girlfriend of the Mafia leader and his second in command had its dangers but for years, you'd never had to experience this. Until now. How will the boys react when you're put in danger?

no touching (fluff, smut, angst)

You blatantly ignored their instructions and now you had to suffer the repercussions for your actions.

i don’t care (fluff, smut)  

'The reader having a menstrual cycle, this one just a little worse than others, and Steve and Bucky worrying and helping her through it.'

the one weakness (fluff, smut, angst) 

It wasn't often you were by yourself so when you quickly go to the coffee shop, what happens when the enemy is watching and waiting nearby.

overwhelming (fluff)

It had been your birthday a few days ago and both Steve and Bucky had made it their mission to give you the most lavish party followed by intense, long nighttime activities. However as you lay in bed on Monday morning, something just didn't feel quite right.

the fun game  (fluff, smut)

Steve and Bucky had forgotten about your date, leaving you waiting for two hours in the restaurant. How will they react when you decide to play your own little game as payback and, how far can you go before they finally snap?

harder, please  (fluff, smut, angst)

Your mind was clouded with lust and pleasure, as you begged repeatedly for more from Bucky but, what happens when you get hurt in the process?

protect and forget  (fluff, smut, angst) 

Life as the girlfriend of the Mafia boss and his second-in-command was not always smooth sailing, everything did not always go to plan. Two weeks before your birthday, a threat was made to your life. What happens when Steve and Bucky begin to push you away as they search for the threat?

All Eyes On You  (smut)  

“Do you know what we would have done if we had turned up to that restaurant and seen you all dolled up like that? We would have bent you over the table in front of everyone and shown them exactly who you belonged to". - Steve Rogers

you belong to me  (fluff, smut, angst)

These girls knew you were dating Steve and Bucky, so why is it that they thought it was ok to have their hands all over them?

dont fall asleep  (fluff, smut, angst)

It was supposed to be a normal day, but not in fate's eyes as you and Sam are hit by a drunk driver. How will Steve and Bucky react when they hear their girls been hurt?

rule number one.  (fluff, smut, angst)

It was Bucky's birthday but even a surprise party won't stop Steve and Bucky from punishing you for not looking after yourself.

Last Hope (CH. 1) (CH. 2)  (fluff, smut, angst, dark)

Before dating Steve and Bucky, your life felt like a steel cage that you couldn't escape from because of your family business. There was no happiness or hope but, what happens when the infamously heartless mafia leader, Steve Rogers, finds you alone?

our little bean  (fluff, angst)    

You stared unblinking at the Doctor who had just told you the news you couldn't quite comprehend. You were on birth control, so why is the test in his hands saying that you're pregnant?  Accidents happened but is this a happy one? (Yes it is).

the limit  (fluff, smut, angst)

Everyone has a limit, this includes Steve and Bucky. What happens in different situations where each of you felt compelled to use your safewords?

sick day (fluff)

Bucky had warned you that dancing in that rain without a coat would lead you to be ill, maybe you should have listened more to his warning.

accident’s happen (fluff, smut, angst) 

You were visiting a friend when you were accidentally hit in the face, leaving behind a cut across your cheekbone. How will Steve and Bucky react when they see their girl injured?

everyone is breakable  (fluff, smut, angst)

Steve and Bucky were invincible in your eyes. They'd never been injured or in a situation where you thought they weren't the ones in control. That is until one day Bucky doesn't return from meeting with a client.

winter soup  (fluff, smut, angst)

There was no better feeling than a bowl of hot soup when you're feeling unwell and, what's even better is when it's delivered to your door every day by your new guard. It tasted amazing and you could always trust everyone in the Mafia... right?

something new   (smut)

The mafia leader was known to be possessive and enjoy showing off his girl but what happens when he wants to do this by being intimate in front of his gang?

pegging - kinktober  (smut)

Steve had once instructed bucky how to pleasure you but what happens when you’re the one being given the instructions?

cockwarming - kinktober (smut)

You’re feeling needy and restless so Steve offers you something to suck on, much to Bucky’s amusement.

double penetration in one hole - kinktober  (smut)

You were adament to prove Steve wrong and do something you’ve never done before.

fear play - kinktober (smut, dark)

You woke up to darkness, your phone was missing and, all you could was silence echoing around the house but, you knew you weren’t alone.

role reversal - kinktober  (smut)

For once, you were the one shouting at the enemy, demanding that they leave your office. Steve and Bucky were in awe so you tried to keep up this confidence and burn off some energy with them.

Duke, Duchess and Knights  (fluff, angst)

You get so lost in the fantasy dream that when it turns into a nightmare, you're not sure what reality is when you wake up screaming.

Merry Christmas (fluff, smut)

It was a simple question: Have you been naughty or nice this year?

Safety Measures (Angst, Smut, Fluff)

It was the anniversary of Steve and Bucky saving you from your sadistic brother. Usually, it was a time of celebration for you, but this year, you couldn't help but feel paranoid and unsafe.

edge of glory (Angst, Smut, Fluff)

Defiance is something you are not accustomed to, but when the love of your life is in danger, there is no stopping you. Now, the repercussions of your actions have you contemplating the decisions that you've made.

seven (Angst!, Smut, Fluff)

One week is all it takes for your world to come crashing down. Even though you could have everything you'd ever wanted, for some reason, something isn't right. Will your emotions and the smothering of overprotective Stucky come to an end?

Drabbles

The first to give their jacket when reader is cold

Mad & Sad moments

Saying the wrong thing

TikTok trend: no kissing

Who is more protective?

safe space in your new home

Halloween Costumes

[lurkingshan]

Hi! I love reading your opinions and I have just started The Sign. What are your opinions on the show and what route are you hoping it would take for the second half of the show? Take care and happy new year!

Hello anon! You picked such an interesting moment to send this ask. We’re halfway through the show and I think its strengths and weaknesses have become fairly clear. Let's talk about it!

Strength: The Chemistry

I think this is the thing that had all the girlies losing it right out of the gate: Phaya and Tharn are hot and their interactions are hotter. The pull and chemistry between them is palpable and the set up for their romance is compelling. Kudos to whoever found Babe and decided to pair him with Billy: you, sir or madam, are incredible at your job and deserve a fruit basket. We are all dying for these two to finally fuck.

Weakness: The Pacing

Which is why it's kind of frustrating that the show is dragging its feet on letting their relationship advance. The first four eps were delicious tension-building, but as the show starts to stall and use dream sequence fakeouts to provide smut without actual relationship development, the audience is clearly getting antsy. The show's pacing is all over the place in general, with wildly varied episode lengths and inconsistent action and plot advancement from week to week. And the desire to drag out the romance without a compelling alternative plot to fill the show in its absence is causing some damage to the characters, most notably Tharn, who is just starting to seem unreasonably antagonistic to a person we know he likes, not to mention unperceptive in his continued inability to notice what is going on around him.

Strength: Production Values

This show is absolutely gorgeous; you can tell most of the money went into making every frame of it beautiful. The strength of the production values and hard work of the crew to create the look and feel of the world was evident from the first episode with all those beautiful training sequences on the beach. And this is used to particularly strong effect whenever we visit Phaya and Tharn's past lives and see the magical world that exists around them come to life.

Strength: The Supporting Cast

The show also has a great ensemble, with Yai especially a standout character who brings a lot of fun to the show, along with his girlfriend Sand and the police squad bros. This is not surprising, as big, messy, chaotic, endearing queer friend groups are an IdolFactory staple. As of last week, we officially have a lesbian side pairing! Tharn and Phaya also have interesting family histories with sweet grandmas and loved ones who lend depth to their characterization.

Weakness: The Copaganda

It was perhaps too much to expect that this bl about cops would have a more sophisticated perspective on law enforcement, institutional corruption, and the so-called "justice" system, but that does not stop me from groaning out loud every time they pause the story to let these characters wax poetic about the nobility of their jobs.

Strength: Thai Folklore

This show is teaching all of us some things about real Thai folklore about the garuda and nara, including local customs associated with celebrating these tales, and the depiction of these stories in the show is just beautiful. Despite it basically being a tourism advert (complete with couple shirts for no reason??), I really enjoyed the episode that took us to Nong Khai and the Mekong River to see how modern Thai folks interpret and celebrate the myths at the center of this show’s story and ground us in something real.

Weakness: An Underdeveloped Take on Toxic Masculinity

This show uses violence quite a lot in its story, including violence in interpersonal dynamics, and it sometimes seems to want us to be alarmed by uncontrolled male anger, and sometimes impressed by it. At this point, Tharn and Phaya have both struck each other in anger during personal disagreements, and there hasn't been any real reckoning with the fallout of that. On top of that, the show has given us some crime cases that highlight the harm of toxic masculinity while also seeming to glorify and revel in it, most notably in the framing of a man who kidnapped and retraumatized sexual assault victims as a hunky folk hero. It's a confused take, to say the least, and I'm not sure the show has the depth and precision necessary in the writing to take on some of what it's throwing at the wall.

Strength: Villains

All I can say is Heng was born to play an evil snake god. The show has done a good job at making him feel like a real threat and building the antagonism between him and Phaya to the point where Phaya has been isolated from support and made to look crazy in front of Tharn. Dr. Slow Motion is very good at this.

So, what's the TL; DR? This show is a lot of fun, but has some obvious weaknesses in the writing, so do your best not to take it too seriously if you can. I am ready to see Phaya and Tharn get together and finally start working as a team, for the full backstory and epic battle they are waging to come out, and for the motivations of the rest of the cast of characters to become clear (I just know there are some additional past life reincarnations waiting to be revealed). It's a great time if you don't think about it too hard, and I really hope the back half will pick up the pace so that we can all just enjoy the ride.

[lovebirdgames]

Differences between Heartbreaker & Band Camp Boyfriend

We typed up some differences between our two games if you're interested! It will give you a better idea of what's coming. Plus it's just kind of fun for us to compare and contrast! So here are some of the key differences between Heartbreaker and Band Camp Boyfriend...

Common Route: Band Camp Boyfriend had a long, intricate common route that lasted 5-6 days (and took quite a lot of programming whew). Heartbreaker has a short common route that lasts a single day.

Route Number: Band Camp Boyfriend had 7 routes because we wanted to represent as many instruments and personalities as possible! Heartbreaker has 4 routes plus a finale. It may not have as many routes, but they will be longer and diverge in wildly different directions. Each route has a self-contained storyline with its own antagonist, but there's also an overarching narrative with a main big bad.

Route Order: Band Camp Boyfriend routes can be played in any order, barring the locked final route. Heartbreaker is much more linear--Eclipse and Perseverance are locked at the start of the game. The strongly recommended route order will be Hammerhead > The Beast > Eclipse > Perseverance. The routes get darker and more complicated as you progress.

MC: In Band Camp Boyfriend, we embraced a more "self-insert" experience by not showing Cadence on screen or having her voiced. In Heartbreaker, our MC will be on screen at all times so you can easily tell if she's her civilian self or in supervillain form. We also have plans to cast a voice actress this time around! You will still be able to customize our heroine's first name as well as a nickname.

POV Changes: Band Camp Boyfriend was strictly Cadence's POV save for a few special circumstances such as Poptart's final chapter. POV switches will be more common in Heartbreaker so you never miss out on the action.

Cast & Content Warning: Band Camp Boyfriend was rated T-13+ with a younger cast. Heartbreaker centers on an older cast (mid twenties and up) with more mature themes. I'm thinking it will be M-17+ because of alcohol, language, and sexual themes. Nothing explicit, but it happens off-screen or in fade to black style (sorry spice-enjoyers). And of course it's not written by me if there's not plenty of VIOLENCE AND DEATH YEAAAA-

Bad Endings: In Band Camp Boyfriend, you can completely skip the bad endings. In Heartbreaker, you must play bittersweet endings to advance the story. And if you want to completely fill out the CG gallery, you will have to play certain bad endings.

Difficulty: We feel like BCB's difficulty was a bit high and it was hard to get good endings! You needed an 83% to achieve them. In Heartbreaker it will be 75%-80%.

That's all I got! The more you know~

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Death Stranding

I'm a big hideo kojima fan. Metal Gear Solid 3 is my official favorite video game. And I've been really pumped to play a story driven game that's not focused on violence. But I don't know if this game is for me.

Before we get into it:

For me there was a lot of hype building up to this game and so I'd like to reflect on that context. When I first saw the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 1, I wasn't impressed. But then when I actually saw Metal Gear Solid 1 in action I was obsessed. A game focused on stealth was so original and unique and even more than that, the amazing cinematography in the cutscenes blew my mind. I'd never seen a video game. Take it story so seriously and to go into so much depth about its characters and concepts. As a young high schooler this blew me away.

But Even then, Metal Gear Solid games were a little uneven. There was a very bizarre mix, grounded concepts with real soldiers, real technology, real departments of government and just absolutely insane supernatural elements and crazy characters. As the Metal Gear series advanced future games would get even zanier. Until we got to Metal Gear Solid 4 and found out everything was just nano machines.

While I love the Metal Gear games, there's a lot I don't like and a lot that I find off-putting. I feel like hideo kojima painted himself into a corner when he had even wackier boss fights and characters, crazier conspiracy theories and Wilder gameplay mechanics. Even if he wanted to make a more grounded and realistic experience, there was almost this expectation that he had to make something crazy. Also, the rampant sexism quiet's outfit is bullshit.

But there's a lot I love about the series. The games focus on stealth and even non-lethal combat is the best I've ever played. I respected this game puts you in high anxiety situations for fun. You know Wars and battles, but there's a greater theme of anti-war and even pacifism. It's helped shape my view and politics and morality. And when I play video games that force me to shoot and kill everything that moves it reminds me of just how boring and bland most action games are.

So when hideo kojima was going to make death stranding, I was really excited to see what he would come up with no longer bound by the expectations of the Metal Gear Solid series. I was hopeful that it would be something stealthy and pacifist. I was also hoping that the story would be well grounded in reality. Boy, what was I thinking?.

So the early trailers showed that a lot of weird shit was going on. Definitely not something that's more grounded. Honestly it was so weird I wasn't even sure how it was supposed to be a game. Haven't played the game now. It makes a lot more sense. I mean I'm still confused by everything but at least I see how it all fits into gameplay.

I'm about 4 or 5 hours in and up until just very recently I was about ready to quit the game. One of the things I like least about hideo kojima is a self-indulgent cutscenes. He always wanted to be a filmmaker and the closest he gets is making these cutscenes for his video games. Now back in the Metal Gear 1 days cut scenes were really helpful in video games because gameplay and graphics were so limited. You sort of needed the cutscene to help fill in the gaps where the gameplay couldn't. But as gameplay became more advanced especially around the PS3 era, we didn't need cutscenes to tell the story. We could tell it all in gameplay including the action. Just look at the Uncharted series. And speaking of Uncharted, that's a perfect example of how cutscenes become a treat, a reward for making it so far in the game. They're only about 30 seconds to a minute and they're very condensed and focused on telling you the piece of story that you need to know now. But you're almost always have a partner or even an enemy on screen. And there's dialogue going on the whole time you're playing. So it's clear that we don't need cutscenes to tell us everything.

But at the same time that Uncharted was showing us how cutscenes should be done. Metal Gear Solid 4 was for least with some of the longest cutscenes in video game history. Some of them were 45 minutes long. I read an interview with hideo kojima where he conclaimed that long cutscenes aren't popular anymore. It's myself. I have to wonder anymore? Sir, I believe you're the only one that loved really long cutscenes. This led me to hope that Metal Gear Solid 5 would have shorter more succinct cut scenes closer to Uncharted. But nope, the cutscenes were still very long. Still very self-indulgent and told very little story for the time that was spent in them.

I want to touch on what I mean by self-indulgent. Like I said, hideo kojima wanted to be a film director so it's no surprise that his cutscenes are very well produced. Everything from the angles, the lighting, the blocking. These are produced by someone that clearly loves films. It wants to reproduce that vibe. But in general, the cutscenes tend to be very very long. And film school. I had an editing teacher he used to shout cut over and over while watching our edits. He was trying to emphasize that we didn't need to hold shots for So long that we simply needed to tell the story in that was it. One second of screen Time can feel very long to the audience, so it's important not to waste their attention and patience on unnecessary content. And unfortunately that's exactly what hideo does. He spends long stretches showing off the graphic, showing off the scenery, showing off the character showing off everything he can and as a filmmaker I can get the desire to really spend time in a space in a scene. But as a game maker, I know that that time should be gameplay. That's how you spend time in space. That's how you immerse the player. Not in the cutscenes but in the gameplay itself.

I say all this because I hoped freed from the binds of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo could make a game as it should be. But I got something very, very, very Hideo Kojima instead. It's hard to fault the guy since gis cutscenes reign supreme over 99% of all others. But when I sit down for 30 minutes of gaming and get to touch the controller for only 5 minutes, that's a problem.

So the game:

When the fame started, the cut scene was pretty short. I was surprised. I was allowed to play for a few minutes as I made my way to a cave. That's where the game reminded me this was a Hideo Kojima project. We were visited by invisible entities that left hand prints on surfaces they touched. It was a slow, tense cut scene and established early questions for good story telling. But then it went on and on. If I'm not mistaken, we were visited by 3 separate entities, leading to tense hiding. Just one encounter was plenty, but nothing exceeds like excess.

We're allowed to do some walking and get used to some of the walking mechanics (which I hate). And then there was another cutscene. True, during a truck ride the player is allowed to move the camera. But it's still just a cutscenes posing as gameplay. More weird shit happens.

Honestly, the game is front loaded with weird shit. They have us asking too many questions with barely any gameplay. I get they're trying to build stakes but either do it faster or slower.

Faster: have the opening cutscene be the truck drive. We can introduce walking and ghosts later, lets just have the huge disaster out of the way so we know the danger of BTs. And cut that while scene in half, there is tons of wasted time.

Or, create a starting zone with 3 bases. Let the player do 2-3 main missions and 5-10 side quests. Let the player explore and have fun. Then when disaster hits, it's a little more impactful because you see the loss of what you had come to know.

Anyways, we're faced with more long cutscenes. It was throwing these long cutscenes at the beginning of the game that I realized one of the problems with hideo Kojima is there's not a ton of drama or story. He just likes to load you with information that he's created for his fictional world. This is information that I think is better discovered while playing the game and not forced to head and cut scenes. Focus on the drama and character in these moments.

Let's get to the gameplay, which I hate. It's a walking simulator. But much more literal than most games accused of this. Death Stranding has you delivering packages over difficult terrain. Part of the game is balancing the weight, otherwise you have to constantly use L2 and R2 to counter balance. Sometimes the weight over your packages cause you to go careening downhill or be washed away by a deep river. In a sense, every step can be a challenge. It makes walking truly a chore.

On top of that, you have fatigue and shoes that wear out, plus enemies: both physical and... spiritual? Honestly, he could cut back on the balancing bullshit and just made terrain and enemies a challenge. Cause the game as is makes walking miserable. There's lots of games with lots of walking, but they don't make me miserable.

Take Skyrim. You can walk around a lot if you choose. But you get to enjoy looking at the scenery or explore places for loot. Bringing balancing issues and tripping would have ruined the tranquility. And honestly, that's what I wanted from Death Stranding. The game is very beautiful and the environment is very organic. But it's hard to enjoy it when I'm desperate for the walking to end.

Then add in the enemies. Fairly early on we're introduced to bandits that will patrol and area and attempt to mug the player. So far I've successfully evaded or hidden from them. But it's another layer of annoyance when I don't already like walking.

Then we get to the BTs. Certain areas get rain. Time fall they call it. Whatever it touches begins to age, including your packages. But rain also tends to mark BTs. They're ghosts. Thank to a bridge baby, you can detect them with a shoulder mounted pointer. It spins and flaps to warm you of the direction of the closest BT. If you get too close, they can materialize and attack

I get this ks supposed to be tense and scary. But god damnit I'm already playing the most annoying walking simulator ever. Do I need more tension??? No. Fuck no!

I think if I wasn't worried about tripping everywhere I could appreciate the stealth elements. It's all too stressful without being rewarding. Compare that to dredge. Is there fuel in that game? Regardless, traveling isn't frustrating. It's easy. And the fishing mini games are simple. But within the context of monsters and ship durability, a simple fishing game can feel tense. And that's how Death Stranding should have been. Make walking as easy as Metal Gear Solid 5, but have complications that make it tense.

Quick complaints, how they fuck they gonna pretend they can pretend the president is still alive. According to West Wing this basically amounts to a coup. You can't have a non-elected official assume the power of the presidency. We're definitely not in a grounded story.

I'm uncomfortable with the treatment of the bridge baby. Especially since they were just gonna dispose of it. It's fucked to USE babies for dangerous missions, but to just abandon them when done? Fuck that.

We'll see if this game gets better. I don't know why, but I've felt inspired to give it another try. Though I've wanted to quit several times.

[bi-bard-reviews]

Movie Review - Bullet Train [2022]

Bullet Train was released in August of 2022. It was directed by David Leitch and written by Zak Olkewicz.

Full disclosure: I really only watched this because I saw it recommended under The Gentlemen (2019) on IMDb. Now, I loved The Gentlemen, so I was hopeful that this movie would fit into a very particular niche that I have become quite fond of in recent years.

I was correct.

The very first scene was great. I have found that movies like this either need to set up the tone perfectly or prepare you for a complete 180. This movie perfectly captured this.

As more characters were introduced, I found myself loving each character's distinct traits, habits, and wants. It really only took a few seconds for you to get a full image of these characters. It was great on its own, but also really helped people understand the whole story.

Now, I will be honest, my favorites were Lemon and Tangerine. Call me basic all you want, I don't care. They had some of the funniest moments in the whole project and each conversation between them was hilarious. Also, this movie made me understand the whole Aaron Taylor-Johnson craze.

I have previously mentioned the love that I have for single-location movies. I think that they add an interesting hurdle for filmmakers and it's a lot of fun to see how they will overcome it. Bullet Train was really saved by the distinct aesthetic of the different train cars on the train. It allowed for interesting lighting and elements while still remaining true to the concept of the movie.

I also thought that most of the effects looked really good. I wish I knew enough about effects work to explain why this was, but I really don't. Maybe someone else knows.

There were some really great segments throughout the movie. Every flashback sequence was really well shot and was really entertaining. The White Death's backstory and The Wolf's backstory were both really well-shot. It allowed for minimal dialogue to be used without the story being lost. I really enjoyed that. I also thought that the different fight scenes were done well. They were shot well and did a really good job of mixing physical violence with comedy. It helped to maintain the tone of the film while showing quite a bit of blood and death.

I really expected this movie to feel like it was too long. About halfway through, I was convinced that I was going to end up being bored by the end. I am happy to say that I was wrong about that. The story was told very well and filled up the amount of runtime that the movie had.

I have trouble thinking of any flaws that truly stood out to me. That's not me saying that I think Bullet Train is some absolutely perfect movie; there just weren't any flaws that felt like they took away from my enjoyment of the film.

Overall, I found Bullet Train to be a very entertaining watch. I understand why so many people enjoy it and why people thought that I would. If you're a fan of action-comedy spy films, such as the Kingsman films or The Gentlemen, then you will likely have a good time watching this movie.

[unnursvanablog]

Queen Woo / kdrama review.

This is a pretty much a spoiler free review of the kdrama of Queen Woo.

While Queen Woo draws you in with its scope and brutal epicenes in the beginning where it promises some good political intrigue as fierce battle between tribes that make up the ruling class of Goguryeo it never truly becomes anything more than a very paint-by-numbers historical spiel with some interesting characters and fantastic cast that never really lives up to it's potential.

It certainly feels like a historical drama that is meant for the big screen and not necessarily a tv show where it both felt stretched out to fill up its eight episodes runtime but also not deep enough and a bit too rushed with endless number of flashbacks to explain to us how the characters had arrived at this point of the story. If it had twelve episodes with three distinct arcs (the rise to power, the fall and the fight) all told from the perspective of Queen Woo it might have worked out and felt more like a complete, fully fleshed out story.

There is enough action, and you can see that a lot of effort was put into the epic which makes it seem like a very long film and the scenes are well done, but I'm not sure if the drama works too much on the epic for the narrative itself. It's never said anything more than that this team was brutal. Most of the nuances in the story are missing. The drama seems to let the actors, and the action and violence do a lot of the dramas heavy lifting. The narrative is too standard and nothing we haven't necessarily seen before in historical palace politics.

The excessive sex and violence often feel quite perplexing or just straight up oddly presented within the story and really doesn't convey much about the story, the society or the characters. Often it just seems to be forced in there just because they could and it would make the story more daring, but it just feels lazy way of telling us about the characters and some of their ruthlessness. There must be a point with the things you put in your story.

You can't just endlessly give us characters acting unhinged and deranged if it has no value or adds any nuance to the story. It's just there for the shock. The characters must be built up, little by little. You must work for the things that happen within the narrative for it to work properly. While it's fun for a while, and shocking, and can be brainless mayhem that's exciting to witness, it gets tiresome after a while if it leaves nothing more. No nuance or reason.

Queen Woo certainly was one of those interesting characters on paper, but she feels a bit too much like a puppet in this whole game at times, and I am sure that angle could be compelling as we see her slowly come into her own, but the drama spends a whole of time getting there and I am unsure if the payoff was worth it. She is clever, she is calm under pressure and has a lot of prospects as a character. But she also comes off as somewhat of a girlboss female character that was too much written for modern audience to really become more than a standard female character in a historical drama.

The drama seems aware of its own flaws, as it's so intent on covering up its lack of proper narrative with shocking scenes, flashbacks and battles, but the story itself is something that's been told so many times before in costume dramas like this, aside from the violence and the nudity when it comes to kdramas, so it never becomes anything grand or special. It forgets that it is supposed to tell you an interesting story. This drama certainly had an idea, but an idea is not a narrative. Impressive in scope and quite entertaining once you turn your brain off and just enjoy the cast, the battles and costumes but if you peel back any of the layers of the actually storytelling you see that there isn't too much there.

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm gonna play: Tales of Arise

I'm not too familiar with the Tales series. I've heard of Tales of Symphonia and I've played the demo of Tales of Vesperia, but I had a friend suggest this title to me, so I'm giving this a go.

I've reached near the end of the game so far, and I have to say what a blast it's been! From story to gameplay, Arise as a lot to offer.

A lot of the JRPGs I've seen tend to be very tropey, and this one shows it too, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how they subverted it. A young boy that's high spirited would usually be just that, but in this he has to deal with loss of a struggling relationship; a tsundere would typically constantly put their love interest on edge by assaulting them with violence and love, but here we have a woman from a ''superior'' race being the way she is because of a side effect and her people. The entire game revolves around the whole theme of discrimination between races and within races, and I think they've definitely pulled it off well. Everytime I thought "They didn't bring x topic up, is that a plothole? " they actually do, and I really appreciate an rpg that goes in depth to explain everything with their world and characters through gameplay. The last time I experienced this sort of depth was with Final Fantasy X, which is another game that also deals with racism as a subplot. And even with its depth, I felt it was done rather tastefully and not because there simply should be a conflict in the story. I really wonder who wrote the game because I could find no such info online.. Maybe I'll try again once I'm done with the game. However, I do find the villains so far to be somewhat weak, there are 3 that I can think of in the first half of the game that were interesting and gave a feeling of genuine intimidation, but the rest haven't hit as well as them.

Next up is the gameplay. I'm more of a fan of quick, responsive and flashy combat these days when it comes to action. My gold standard is the Kingdom Hearts series because of this. Initial impressions for Arise were just okay, but as the game progressed and you unlock more features, it definitely checks all boxes. I also appreciate that the game respects my time, (as RPGs do require a good level of commitment) where I never had to grind in excess and always stayed in par with my leveling pace. It also helps that there are items you can cook to increase your exp rate. Exploration is fun and rewarding as you find tons of items, and it's not too linear either! However I must say that the second half of the game has been falling off in regards to that. Including fighting the same bosses and backtracking all the way to the beginning for lore purposes, but this also thins out exploration of the few levels that are new near endgame, making them barren and plain. I can understand for budgetary reasons they probably couldn't add more, but a change to the plot could fix this while still maintaining what's been shown, as the game's lore focuses on the relationship between two races and two worlds. One cool addition for the narrative are the skits and overworld/combat dialogue that plays amongst characters. Seeing their chemistry and filling in bits of the plot is a huge plus. It feels like there's actual chemistry within the cast rather than just people that happen to band together because the share similar goals.

Character designs are a hit or miss. The main stars Alphen and Shionne do get lucky and have various wardrobe changes as the game progresses that represent their journey, but the same cannot be said with every character. Dohalim, a party member is one example of a character that gets the short stick. He is the only dark skinned character of the main cast, and is dressed up in what looks to be Egyptian inspired clothing. This looks fine and dandy until I have realized I've seen 0 connection between his attire and his origins and setting, so this leaves me confused. The same goes for Law, another party member who has clothing that resembles what video game characters wear for martial arts. But I've not seen anything that explains why it should look that way, other than because he fights with his fists. For a game that's been subverting tropes in terms of characterization, it hasn't done too well in terms of design. But on the plus side, I do appreciate Kisara's design (another party member) for dressing like an actual knight and not having to skimp out on armor for the sake of fanservice. The game does have outfit and accessory options however, which helps improve their appearances, but depending on the character you can either get great outfits, or very average ones. However I do appreciate the choices of colours and the use of contrast depicting themes and relationships for the characters. Alphen and Shionne contrast each other in way that complements them as the hero and heroine, for instance. And regardless of how they look, I still love them as characters (especially Dohalim and Alphen!) Music goes pretty grand, with orchestral feats all around, so it always sounds epic. You also get vocals for special moments such as openings and credits in Japanese, which are nice enough to hang around in your head. I couldn't hear much variety with it though, with the different landscapes the game offers, making it sound a bit too similar. Sound effect choices are good enough to let the player know if they're low on CP (Cure Points) or they can do a special attack. One big thing I like about the game is the overall navigation. Inputs are quick, shortcuts are (mostly) easy to access with some neat features like switching party members or leaders, and the menu tends to change based on where you are in the game which is a nice touch. Cutscenes can also be progressed through with a button which is probably for those who want to rush the game for any reason, or just want combat.

For a game that has a lot stuffed in but still have some minor gripes with, I think I can safely say that this is a great JRPG, and possibly my favourite fantasy-based anime JRPG. (specific I know, I tend to group my favourites like that). I'm looking forward to finishing it off!

Terms exclusive to the game: Skits - Optional voice cutscenes that the tales games have that revolve around the characters and/or their world Cure Points (CP) - The mana system in this game used for healing and buffs.

[scottguy]

Right-wing men are the ones making fun of a 17-year-old boy for crying tears of joy. The men doing so are the same men who are always afraid to cry themselves.

If right-wing men are so damn "strong", why are they AFRAID to cry? Because they FEAR being judged! They FEAR others thinking they're not tough enough.

How "strong" is it to live in fear of the judgement of other men? It makes you sound like a bit of a dick-whipped pussy.

If you just FEAR what another person thinks, you have very little inner strength. Inner strength is the only kind male strength that really matters.

Foolish men confuse strength with power. This is why they go and buy the biggest truck they can afford and collect excessive amounts of weapons. They see those things as symbols of power and think, "These prove how 'strong' I am."

It's so utterly transparent. It's why women and other guys like to make dick-size jokes about men 'compensating' by buying big trucks. If it's not your dick size, it's quite possibly something else like a small mind or a tiny heart. (It's surprising how often that small minds and small hearts are found together in one person.)

Sure, trucks and guns have their merits. You aren't a jerk just for having one. But they don't make you a better partner. They don't make you a better father. They don't make you a better community member.

In fact big trucks and guns make you worse of a partner, father, or neighbor. Your big truck takes up space and is far more dangerous to little kids on your block with its giant blind spots. That big scary gun is exactly that, scary. Your kids could get ahold of it. You might shoot your neighbors inadvertently when you're startled or confused at night. You aren't making anyone feel "safe" with a gun because we all know that bullets don't care who they hit.

Real men are kind and polite. They never resort to violence. That actually takes real strength. Because we HAVE that ability, we could be bullies but we control our emotions and our muscles. That takes inner strength. Any cavemen can use brute force and always get their way. But, it makes a man small and utterly unworthy of respect.

Strength means you know who you are and what values you support. A "real" man's values are: supporting his partner, his family, his friends and his community. It means not being selfish. Real men do not live in constant fear of others. (You see this in bad police officers all the time.) You trust kindness, civility, and decency. If you are walking around ready for violence it means you live in fear.

The men who don't cry, because they think it's too embarrassing. These are the men who also think they are entitled to everything like women and success merely by existing. (Strength means making the effort to know women and to treat them well. It means having the strength and perseverance to be productive to succeed at it.)

The men who don't cry are the men who bottle up their resentment (at life not falling in their lap without effort) their anger and their pain up inside, often for years, until it finally comes out, often violently. Then they let it out. They don't care who they kill because they have to, for at least a short while, show how POWERFUL they can be with a weapon and killing indiscriminately. It's really just a horribly tragic temper tantrum of an adult, by age who has the emotional range of a toddler. Then, of course, they commit suicide because they are too cowardly to face the consequences of their own actions.

So, right-wing guys who are clueless about what a "real man" is these days, know this, "POWER" is not inner strength.

Inner strength is what makes a man worthy to have around. He's a bedrock of support. Yes, he can get sad too sometimes, because strong men know it's okay to be HUMAN once in a while. Life can be really painful and tragic. Or it can be, like Tim Walz's son and be filled with joy. He wasn't afraid to cry. That makes him far more of a man than some jerk who needs to criticize a boy to, what? Prove how "strong" you are?

We all know that bullies are really cowards. So that's all you right-wingers criticizing a boy who cried. You are all cowards who live in constant fear of not being "strong" enough. How trite. How truly small of you.

We, the actual "real men" of the world, we who are loved by our partners, our families, our friends, and our communities...

We are not impressed with cowards like you.

Tim Walz talked football, fatherhood and fertility at the convention, where a number of men took the stage to embrace empathy and emotion.

Originally published by Amanda Becker for The 19th

Your trusted source for contextualizing Election 2024 news. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Tim Walz was an admired high school football coach who also advised a nascent gay-straight alliance. The Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee wears outdoorsy flannel shirts but also sews his own buttons onto them. He is governor who made menstrual products available at public schools and, when conservative critics later dubbed him “tampon Tim,” didn’t balk as his supporters quickly reclaimed the moniker as a badge of honor.

The portrayal of manhood on stage in Chicago this week was a marked departure from the one conveyed when Republicans met last month for their convention. Walz on Wednesday both gave a football metaphor when talking about the state of the race and spoke emotionally about the formation of his family and his pride in them. His son, Gus, stood in the audience, tearing up and pointing at the stage while saying, “That’s my dad.”

In Milwaukee last month, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump walked out to James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan ripped off a muscle shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance tank top, and Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White spoke about the candidates as fighters. The RNC was about demonstrations of physical strength and masculine prowess. The speakers who softened the images of the men on stage were the women in their families or those who worked alongside them.

[mbat]

i think the thing is that people want mature stories but most peoples idea of mature is just gore and sex or whatever. i blame adult swim for that skgjsnf theres probably a better thing to blame but still.

plenty of kids/family media prove you dont need those things to be mature. you just need to care. granted, theres restrictions on kids media that hold them back. thats the biggest issue fr.

when it comes to adult shows they dont put enough of those restraints on. they restrain other things though. like when morel orel created and aired an episode that was a major reason it got cancelled. the episode was fucked up.... but it cared. at least a little bit.

steven universe is mature. bluey is mature. id even consider multiple disney animated movies as mature.

the thing is... theyre also made for families of all ages.

they arent mature because of organs falling out of bodies on screen, or people having explicit sex for every viewer to see, or people foaming at the mouth from overdoses. theyre mature because they show humanity in a way that you can feel cares. they show people experiencing real feelings and getting through them in a way that feels real.

of course, its not all black and white. everything has its mature moments, and just because something doesnt do what ive said doesnt make it immature, its just different. inside out was mature for showing a girl running away and experiencing deep emotional pain until she decided to go back home to her parents and talk it out.

i wouldnt say moana was immature for not doing deep dives on the human experience in favor of having a fantastical story that had human moments more as a side dish. it has some amazing moments that are just as human, but theyre not the primary focus.

when i think of writing stories as mature, i think of having a dive into the human experience. i wrote a whole fic that was that and its still unfinished. the only part that could be considered adult is the way i added people cursing and vague references to sex.

when i think of a mature story i want on screen, i want one thats real, that tells human stories whether the characters are human or not, i want one that acknowledges the things we consider adult like violence/gore, sex, and sure, even drugs if it matters so much, but they arent some focal point for drama or shock. i dont want something that overtakes a story that couldve been good.

ive thought of many shows while writing this. many movies, just media in general. ones i love, ones i hate, ones ive experienced through other peoples words alone. maybe you have too.

hear me out here, a good example of what i consider a mature story i like on screen is stranger things. however, its also a horror franchise alongside its other genres, so of course it leans into gross things and gore a little bit, but never just because. it uses those elements to paint a world and further the story.

i also like the good place, too. a show that, from episode one, points at philosophy and ethics and runs with it. one that questions and attempts to answer things about humanity itself. its a comedy show so it can have its weird moments, but i honestly consider it a near perfect show personally. it also acknowledges sexual things without being in your face with them.

many shows do try to be mature but just go too far with some things. i mean, i think euphoria was trying to be mature? but when i watched it all i saw was oversexualized teenagers and so much talk about drugs that it got on my nerves from minute one. maybe its realistic to some people but it was a pain to get through for me.

and sigh. yes. i will acknowledge Velma. it shows close ups of brains falling out of heads. it opens on a shot of nude women in highschool only covered by conveniently placed bubbles and constantly talks about another students privates. it has a whole storyline about selling drugs. all of this is shock, all of this is immature 'adult' stuff. we been knew. its the type of stuff you see on family guy.

family guy is some of the worst about it all, only brought down the rankings of worst because its restrained from showing everything possible. also. admittedly. theres moments where family guy had, well, moments. its been years since ive watched the show but there were moments it got genuine and serious and you could feel they were trying, at least a little. but then the rest of the show is just... bad.

i dont know if ive gotten a point across or if my wording makes sense, but i just wanted to say all that considering conversations people have been having for a little while now.

[smemento]

Dvd request here! Can I request survivor reader who can actually kill the killers but decided to play along with the game?? Like one time the reader decided to kill the killers just for fun? Thankyou!

Killing The Killers

Content Tag(s) : basic game violence, k!lling, mentions of gore, some sexual tension, reader discretion advised

Paring(s) : the trapper x reader || the ghostface x reader || the shape x reader || (separate)

A/N : So sorry for taking so long, life has been busy and hurtful but— I'm here (somewhat) now! // have to feed my dbd followers, also I’ve always found it easy to write Myers so forgive me for his longer part.

TRAPPER | Evan MacMillan the foolish wolf.

“You’re the predator right up until you're prey.” - James Sa Corey

When he was free from the entity and released into the realm of the trial, his attention was captured by unfamiliar footprints nearby. They were a pair of two planted and smudged in a dense mud puddle nearby. By a normal gaze, it’d just be mistaken for an accident, a simple walk through in fear. However, when he chose to follow its direction, the truth unfolded with a shoeprint pressed too hard not to be unintentional near one of his traps.

The simple action told him this trial would probably either be the most exciting he's had recently or the most frustrating.

As he knows you are the one behind this.

Since your first arrival, you've shown that you're not meant to be hunted, nonetheless be prey. You showed that you are the peak of a human, having a high intelligence and awareness of yourself and your surroundings. With that being said, Evan is envious of your skills at adapting and conquering instead of being obedient. It’s something that even most Killers wouldn’t dare to try against the entity.

But, that also meant you’re the demise of him and the rest of the killers.

It felt as if you were the entity itself, doing what you wish without the consequences of death, knowing you can always escape.

It frustrated everyone and everything, specifically your ‘dumb luck.’ You didn't use or bring tools into trials often for the sole person of not needing them as you like to take chase. But do say if the killers are intentionally ignoring you, (something Evan does) you run off to open chests with some amazing tools or meds before finally ‘playing.’

If Evan was to find you on gen he’d try to be as quick as possible to snatch you. Of course that never happens with the way you weasel past him, a piece of your clothes or hair straying in the wind from his whiff.

Your giggle following.

Evans’ breathing was heavier than seconds before, his chest rising and easing with this familiar urgency as he stomps after his prey. He managed to get into a chase with Dwight and land hits on Bill and Feng nearby, their distant cries of pain pounding against his eardrums. But, he had tunnel vision on Dwight, wanting him out now so he didn't have to deal with everyone together.

He raised his Cleaver, eyes bloodshot as the wind slices at his swing. He would have hit that damn man to the ground now if it wasn't for you taking the hit. The smell of your blood intoxicating the air and painting both your clothes and his. This was new but a shame for him it didn't last long, you blame it on him for his tunnel vision.

“Clumsy clusmy~”

You smile, as his right foot touches the ground. The snarl of a trap snapping closed filling the air. His hunched-over form gives you the disadvantage and shoves him off of his feet, a series of snaps following, and the killer groaning in agony.

Dwight was long gone, on his way to the gate that Bill and Feng were opening. That left only you, looming over the man with this look that Evan could only say was of bloodlust. The cries of the sirens match your ragged breathing as you step a heel onto him, his disowned weapon now firm in your grasp. The same hand that poured with your blood from the gash on your back, a sloppy one that surely hurt. Yet, you couldn't feel it and he felt as if he understood why as you brought the cleaver over your head.

It was adrenaline, possibly even something else. As you successfully played rabbit long enough to fool the dumb wolf. This whole game he's forgotten his traps because of you. Because of you, he couldn't get them to stop. Because of you, he couldn't get Dwight. And because of you, he's dead.

The death was quick and as painless as possible. As if you were ending the suffering of an animal. His hand only reached out when he returned to his realm, hovering over where you once stood. Evan could've done something. But, he didn't. His body was bitten by traps, littered like poison ivy and fear(?)— no. Impossible. Was it? It made him growl as he presses his hand against his chest.

A mere human, smaller than him and what he believed, weaker than him, tired and caught its prey. Him.

He then realized as he stood that the print from the beginning was a warning. Your warning, maybe even clue or advice that he needs to be smarter. He needs to be the better hunter so he can catch the most sacred creature of all. You.

GHOSTFACE | Danny Johnson

Smile for me.

“When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness” - ANDREW VACHSS

Mr. Ghostface has always been captivated by you. He knows that you aren't just some attractive face willing to fall over for a straddle, that teasing smile and laugh is what tells him exactly that.

Like him, you're playing the game by its rules. You're obeying in your own way and just adding some fun into his life. He thanks you for that, he’ll even thank you personally if he can just manage to get his hands on your quick body. But, he can't, you know him awfully too well for his liking.

And something familiar itched him in the back of his head every time he swiveled around from a bird's call, only being welcomed by well- nothing and looking like an idiot as he walks about to make sure no one is around the corner.

Through the whole trial, you were a mere shadow in the corner of his eye. His head turned to connect and finally get in a chase with you, only for his blood to run cold. The tugging triggering in his brain as the hands trample over his cloak, tightening around him. It felt as if the fangs of a cobra latched onto his neck, its body tightening around him until he fell with a strangled gasp.

He could feel your hands going along his body before taking his beloved knife and camera.

“What do you think you're doing?” He huffed, an obvious annoyance dripping off his voice. This- was not it. At least it was something he wasn't enjoying due to the sole purpose of him not being in on the ‘plan.’ (If you know what I mean).

“I know you aren't that dumb, Ghosty “ A tone of joy kissed his ears as he was pulled back, the flash of a camera temporarily blinding him. One before the death, one after. Something that pissed Danny off to the moon was the way you handled him- after all HE’s supposed to be the one doing this! Not the other way around!

“Smile for me!”

-Were the last words he heard before the fuzz of death overtook him. Since being brought here, he knows what death feels and looks like. And he knows very well that he was dying, one attack after the other being fueled with this shot of adrenaline before his eventual death.

The layered voices of the entity show their obvious disappointment of this trial's performance. Danny grumbled to himself as he rips his mask off, running his grimy hands down his face to get rid of the remaining sweat. By the feel of it, the entity only mended him to the point he would survive, leaving him with the ache of his stabs.

He growled as he snatched up his camera, using an unneeded force while he looks through it. The photo of Meg welcoming before the next did. Where the mere sight made his body freeze, his eyes slightly widening under his mask.

Danny was unsure why he was feeling this exact way. It was a horrendous mix of attraction and competitiveness that stirred in his chest with the sight of you straddling his back; imitating his pose to the exact hold of his knife to the lean, the only real difference being the look you had. A look of a killer he thought.

A look of a challenger. Or maybe simply someone that he had to put in their place.

THE SHAPE || Michael Myers

The other boogeyman.

“Black widows may be powerful predators, but every predator is somebody else's prey.” - Lionel

Michael is very conflicted about his emotions toward you. The only thing he knows for sure is he hates how aware you are. You don’t allow yourself to have tunnel vision when doing tasks and that means you’re always on alert. That being said, the smallest noise, whether it be by the wind or a light step, your attention is already over your shoulder.

Your hands still working with familiarity, your keen hearing focusing on both your surroundings and the task at hand. To him, it’s annoying. To others, it's applaudable. This is why he always tries to play smart if you’re in a trial.

He knows you have Spine Chill, an ability you quickly learned so you can always have a head start on something. You also don’t utilize lockers, not because you don’t know how to you’re just playing smart. After all, if you’re able to get out of his line of sight and out of the area faster, he doesn’t have a chance of catching up to you. (Also because you nearly died during a trial with Bubba and that forever stuck with you).

Long story short, you are the victim that every killer wants to kill for ‘bragging’ rights. Or at least some small validation they want from themselves.

To Michael, you're a stand-in obsession. As the entity quickly took notice of how much he truly wishes to capture you. His intents are similar to his original obsession, but maybe a bit more— possessive. As when you became Bubba’s star obsession for a bit, Myers became a bit, disobedient. The tension between the two killers abnormal and leaving the rest with a disturbance between the realms.

Since the first incident, (him brutally slaughtering Bubba) you became his new obsession if Laurie wasn’t in trial. Even if she was sometimes it’d switch between the two of you, as offerings became more prominent by the Killer when he found out you’d be in a trial.

The Offering was one that was only obtainable by the entity by his performances (sacrificing the whole trial), or lucky run-ins during them. Nothing in between due to him actually being able to get his hands on you. If he was he’d probably cut off a lock of your hair for good luck or something along those lines. After all, not everyone can have the chance to get their hands on a creature like you.

A shame that when he did, he couldn’t cherish it.

You’ve been thinking about this plan for a while, mostly because you had mutual respect and interest in the masked killer. He was the only one that truly made your nerves go haywire and goosebumps erupt on your body. That enough was respectable. To the other survivors, it felt as if you had made him an obsession. (Which isn’t entirely wrong).

However, by the end of the day, it didn’t matter. Especially when you were dragged into a trial with the wisps of the the entity, the fog thick this time around. That itself gives your fellow survivors that you were in the trial, as you’re able to utilize the fog. When stealth you can see those near you, similar to one of Dwight's skills but it only lasts for a couple of seconds with five-second break intervals. Unless the killer is near then it's 10-25 seconds. You can see them up to 10 before the timer starts. ‘See Evil’ is what it began to be called.

Michael mentally scowled for a second at the thick fog. It used to be no problem for him due to it sometimes being a level too short, meaning he’d see over it. But, the entity seemed to have changed her mind over time and returned equality between survivors and killers.

[pearl484-blog]

Allow me to show absolutely no wisdom and poke the hornet's nest.

@fille-de-skroa Out of respect for the fact that English is not your first language, I will be avoiding academic vocabulary as best as I can. Please note that I do not know your native culture nor your native language.

Sidenote: I am assuming your language is French or French related from your username, so I'll try to stick to words that are similar to French if I have two words to pick from.

Those terms can be confusing to English laypeople, so I doubt it would be fun for a non-native speaker.

Also, please note that unlike generalluxun, I will not be approaching this from a child-development angle, but from an angle one would use when trying to find if a crime has been committed.

~*~

Before we start, I will lay my biases on the table. I believe that Audrey is abusive. In particular, emotionally abusive. In this case, I mean that she hurts Chloe's emotions in a way that is far beyond that of the normal culture she is from, and does so in a way that is either intentional or is done with such little concern for the consequences that it would be considered ridiculous in the eyes of a reasonable person.

For starters, Audrey regularly gets Chloe’s name wrong, despite being told the actual name again and again. This action gives the impression that to Audrey, Chloe is too unimportant to even have her name remembered.

The idea is repeated in Audrey consistently forgetting Chloe's birthday, although this is more excusable as a memory lapse than not remembering our own child's name despite many reminders.

Audrey also does not show any sign of wanting to be near Chloe despite Chloe's efforts to reach Audrey. At several points, Chloe will attempt to interact with Audrey, and Audrey will either show no interest in Chloe, tell Chloe that she has no talent in an interest that Chloe is sharing, or verbally harms Chloe with insults.

Audrey only gives Chloe any affection when Chloe is acting how Audrey wants her to act, by harming people. Audrey is quick to withdraw her affection when Chloe is no longer doing this.

However, for me, the moment that seals the deal, is when Audrey tells Chloe on live television that the only thing exceptional about her is her Mother. This behavoir, especially with the air that Audrey gives off, like this is normal for her, is an inescapable sign of emotional abuse.

~*~

Now, to be honest, I do understand your definition of abuse. It is a definition found in the minds of English speaking lay-people as well, especially ones who have not been in environments where they are not exposed to the many cruelties that can be done to others and the hurt that can come from that, both for a small amount of time and a long amount of time.

Physical abuse is, of course, the easiest to acknowledge. As the violence gets worse -and it always gets worse- the evidence for it is easy to find and easy to understand. You cannot deny a broken bone or a stab wound. One of my first courses in investigating child abuse covered how to identify cigratte burns, burns from scalding water, rope burns, and patterns of overlapping healing bruises.

You can take pictures of it. You can show patterns with these pictures, and you can take it to court. An expert can point at an x-ray and say this x-ray shows a badly healed fracture 3 months old here, and a clean break 2 weeks old here.

Physical abuse is easy to see and easy to recognize, which is why it's the most common abuse to be depicted in media. Even well-wrotten abuse stories struggle with avoiding it because of their own biases. How will anyone know its abuse with bruises? Writers asks themselves? How can I make it terrifying without blood?

Then, of course, there is sexual abuse. We will not be going into details, but safe to say, juries will believe a 5 year old describing a trusted adult having sex with them than a 25 year old rape victim because of their own societal biases. After all, how would a 5 year old understand sex if they aren't normally suppossed to be exposed to it?

Then, there is neglect. Now, we're starting to get into the harder to prove cases. Once again, these cases are easier the more physical evidence on the body you can show.

You refuse to treat a child who is very sick or very ill? That's easy medical neglect. Especially if they die. You do not feed a child, give them water, change their diaper? Once again, that's easy physical neglect. Especially if they die.

Then comes the financial abuses. Yes. You can hurt people with money. Stealing from someone, having them work for no reward or a tiny amount compared to what is accepted in this society, or forcing them to need your money and have no financial independence can be classified as financial abuse.

It is a bit harder to get people to understand that is abuse, so it needs to be much worse than the culture expects before you can arrest someone, but there is often a lot of proof in the money.

The HARDEST ones to go after are emotional abuse and neglect. This ALMOST ALWAYS happens with any kind of abuse. If you want your victim to allow these injustices to happen, without leaving you or getting help, and your victim is not completely physically dependent on you and/or financially dependent on you, you must hurt them emotionally. Either hurt them enough that they believe this is normal behavoir or hurt them enough to believe they deserve it.

The goal, even if the abuser doesn't consciously realize it, is to stop their victim from getting help or leaving.

Perhaps the abuser thinks hurting people is normal because they were raised this way. Perhaps they want power. But it stops the victim from feeling safe and secure with others. It makes them expect aggression or pain from others. It makes them behave strangely, follow unusual rules because that's what prevents hurt. Or it makes the victim act like the abuser so they feel strong. So they feel like the person who isn't the victim.

~*~

Okay, so now we've gone through a rundown of abuse. Let's figure out a better way to determine if Audrey would qualify as abusive by a professional. For this, we will use the Kid's helpline descriptions of abuse. I'd prefer to use the National Domestic Abuse Hotline, but that is geared towards violence between partners.

Items on the checklist will be in bold. Analysis will be in normal text. You may follow along with the link if you wish.

Continually ignoring or rejecting a child: As stated earlier, Audrey does this to a disturbing degree.

Physically or socially isolating a child: Arguable. Audrey never discourages Chloe from making friends or being with friends, but she encouages toxic behavoir and stops being affectionate if Chloe does not show toxic behavoir. Audrey also discourages 'normal' relationships in favor of very unhealthy and unequal working relationships.

Forcing a child to do things by scaring them: Audrey is not afraid to demand or intimidate Chloe into following her instructions. She treats her in the same way she treats her employees. Demanding, harsh, and strict.

Exposing a child to domestic violence: Audrey is not physically abusive to Andre but is very emotionally abusive. She also regularly hurts staff with her words and often threatens them.

Constantly criticising, humiliating or blaming a child: Audrey does this very frequently, especially in her introductary arc. Once again, she said the only thing exceptional about Chloe is her mother.

Constantly swearing, yelling or screaming at a child: Actually, no. Audrey's a bully, but she doesn't often yell at Chloe. André? Yes. Chloe? No.

Making a child feel different from other family members: Again, not really. Audrey treats everyone poorly

Telling a child that they’re worthless, unloved or not enough: Not directly, but refusing to remember their name is a very clear message.

Withholding love, support, praise or attention from a child: Audrey does this unless Chloe is targeting an object of her ridicule.

Bullying, teasing, insulting or belittling a child: I think calling your daughter unexceptional on live tv counts.

Having unrealistic expectations or unreasonable demands of a child: Audrey made it clear with her comment that she thinks Chloe is unexceptional and will never be anything more. Considering that Chloe is her own daughter, this is harsh.

Not allowing a child to explore, express themselves, learn or make friends: Audrey hasn't forbidden any of this, but once again, Audrey withdraws affection if Chloe does not hurt people with her.

Treating a child badly because of things they can’t change (eg. disability, gender, sexuality): Audrey treats everyone badly, so no.

Threatening abuse or threats to harm loved ones or pets: Chloe has no pets, and Audrey abuses André frequently, but never threatens it.

~*~

Please note that Audrey's behavoir seems very abusive. Chloe also has clearly toxic and abusive behavior as well. But I hope I was able to show emotional abuse in a clearer light.

Kids understood Miraculous better than most of the adults MLB fans out there. This says something about the mentality of the fandom.

[sparkbeast20]

You’re my Treasure (Mammon X MC) Pt8

The Blue Lotus petals (series)

As a fan of Beauty X Beast pairing, Showing your “true self” to Lover or (Monster Love) Tropes. I figure to make a (More Demonic Forms AU/head canon) story for each brothers. Heads up each brother’s Story is long as fuck. So, I’ll be posting them as parts and finishing one brother before moving on to the rest of them.

(spoiler for lesson 1-60)

Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 Pt4 Pt5 Pt6 Pt7

Warning: Swearing, Demonic nature, mention of Pain, Blood, Violence, Attempted Murder, Torture, Using Someone as Baited

Previously

Terrified you took a step; he sees that you’re moving he face his entire body towards you, he shrieks as his feathers stand upright and he pounces forward, see it made you trip and fall on your back, before you can get Mammon was on top of you pinning you down on the ground as he stares into your eyes. Scare of was going to happen, the only thing you can muster in this moment of fear is.

“Mammon”

“Their finally Back!” Asmo shot out from the couch, once he heard the main doors open and when to the kitchen.

He with Levi, Satan, and Belphie are in the common waiting for Lucifer and Beel to come back from their search efforts.

The doors open revealing the two demons speaking off. With Beel hunch over still in his demon form dragging himself to the couch the three other demons quickly stood up from the couch making room for Beel, who just collapse on the couch immediately drifted to sleep due to exhaustion. While Lucifer walks over to the nearest arm chair, sat, lean back on the chair and place a hand over his eyes and let out an exhausted sigh. And try to go a couple of moments to rest.

Asmo came back with a cup of coffee and a plate fill with food, which he hands over to Belphie who take it from his brother, and start heading towards Beel. While Asmo walks over to Lucifer with the cup of coffee.

“Any sign of them” Lucifer sigh and shook his head for a no. Asmo tighten his grab at the mug before setting it down on the table next to them. Then he took a deep breathed ready to say it.

“I’ll do it”

“What?” not even look up to Asmo with a tired tone.

“I’ll be the one to change back!” Lucifer eyes widen and finally look up to the fifth born with a deadpan stare. “No!”

“Look is been a week since Mammon took off with y/n. and there’s no sight of them since, you’re and Beel are tired from flying all over Devildom looking for them. And since I’m not as good of flying like you two, making me grounded with the tails” Asmo points at the three brothers two of which heard him and glared at Asmo who just chuckle at his brothers attempt of scaring him.

“But if I change, and yes I know that I’m ugly in that form. I can actually help finding Mammon and y/n…...that way I can actually can make it up to Mammon” he mutters the last part of that sentence.

“Asmo, I know you feel guilty about what been happening to Mammon and you’re trying to help” Asmo smile but Lucifer wasn’t finish. “However, I will not risk anymore brother to their demonic” He stood up and took a deep breath. “If anyone is going to change, it will be me”

“What!!!” all the brothers scream in unison waking Beel from his slumber.

“Let me guess, you made this decision by yourself again” Satan calls him out.

“Its not a decision, need to debating on”

“It kinda does, Lucifer if you change~” Asmo answer Lucifer only to be cut off.

“Out of the six of us, I have a better chance of keeping myself in control long enough for all you to help and save Mammon and y/n”

“And what happens to you after we save Mammon and y/n” Satan asks getting more piss off by the second.

“Then I’ll lead myself away from the rest of you~” without warning Satan punch Lucifer square in the jaw. And quickly grab Lucifer by the collar, which the eldest is unfazed to the fourth action.

“Why are you doing this, to show all of us that we’re not willing to go through this for Mammon”

“It’s not like that”

“Then what is it!”

“Out of the six of us, I did the most damage to Mammon self of esteem” Satan let go of Lucifer and took a step back.

Before anyone can say anything the door of the common room open revealing Barbatos.

“Sorry to interrupt a private conversation, But Lord Diavolo summon all of you to the castle. There someone you want to see”

“Right this way” Barbatos lead the brothers through the under labyrinth under the demon lord’s castle.

“Is this about Mammon?” Belphie asks while looking around to see the ceilers and cages on each side of the wall of halls, were they’re walking through.

They manage to get at the end of the hall where there is a door wait for them. Barbatos push the doors revealing a torture chamber with only the torches light up the room.

In the middle of the chamber shock the brothers.

It was Basto bound in the chair slump over. Barbatos walk over to the bruised-up demon and stand behind him.

“Wake-wake you have visitors” Barbatos grab the demon by the hair forcing him to look up. He slowly opens his eyes to the brothers piss off and raging just seeing him.

“Fuck…... why did you bring them here?” he asks but Barbatos smile at him. A smile masking his true attention, then Barbatos spoke with cold and chilling voice.

“I’m helping them to find the second born and the human student. You’re are the only survivor from his massacre”

All the brother were shock to what they just heard.

“Mammon…... you know where Mammon is!”

“No. No. No. No…... that thing ain’t that scumbag. Is one of the original sins finally came back to kill us all.”

Levi, Asmo and Beel knows what he’s was talking about, causing them to tear up. Lucifer being a protective brother knows why their holding their tears, he looks to Barbatos and nod signaling him to leave them alone with Basto.

The butler bows and proceed to exiting the chamber, closing the doors behind him. The echo of the door closing fill the chamber until it died down, then a moment of silent fills the room.

The six brother looks at the bruited-up demon bounded in the chair right Infront of them. Belphie just want to kill him right there were he sits; Satan wants to slowly torture him for information about Mammon and you and also making him suffer for being the root of the problem in the first place.

But Levi, Asmo, and Beel have the same though running through their mind right now. Mammon transformed into his demonic form and his on the loose. And what did he do to you once he changed. Just thinking about it just makes Asmo more guilty and angry.

Lucifer can only blame himself, for not telling Mammon about the demon right Infront of him. He should’ve more faith in Mammon’s protective instinct and capabilities. But this time he can’t afford to lose the only lead they have in finding you and Mammon.

However, before Lucifer making the first step, Asmo lunging his body at the bounded demon causing both to fall backwards. He dug his claws at the demon’s chest causing him to scream in pain.

Asmo just look at the demon with craze look in his eyes with chilling grin on his face. Until Beel grab him by the torso, which Asmo none too pleased.

“Fuck! Let me go Beel.” Only to Beel humming no as he drags Asmo back. “Beel!! He’s the reason why Mammon left us. If he hadn’t tried to kill y/n, NONE of this wouldn’t happened in the first place. Mammon wouldn’t haven’t felt useless and we wouldn’t have made fun …... of him…...” Asmo couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, he drops down on his knees finally breaking down in tears. “I-I-I miss him so much…...it’s all my fault…...” Asmo sobs each time spoke. And Beel hug him tighter comforting his big brother as tears start felling from his eyes too.

During the attack, Basto’s chair broke freeing the demon for a moment. As he crawls away, he felt something wrap around his neck and quickly hoist him up to Levi’s eye level. The third stare at the demon with coldness and rage as he slowly tightens his tail around Basto’s neck.

“Leviathan!” Levi looks over the demon’s shoulder to see Lucifer who gesture him to face Basto to him. With no hesitation Levi turns Basto to face to the eldest with the fourth and seventh standing behind him in their demon form.

“Don’t worry” Lucifer lean closer to the demon making sure he can hear every word utter by the eldest. “You are going to help us find my brother and his mate if the last thing you do. And once its all over we’ll make sure to reward you with the proper torture”

“You think he’ll show”

“Honestly I hope it does, otherwise this is all for nothing” Satan answer Belphie’s question directly. As they wait for their trap to spring.

“Usually smelling is Beel’s thing, you think that Mammon actually follow the blood trail we made.”

“Is not the scent we’re using, is the fact it’s Basto’s blood. Since he the main reason for Mammon anger the awaking his beast, it’s in are nature to find and kill the thing that cause our anger. Even only a drop of blood can really help, we can tell if our prey is alive or dead”

“Are you just pulling all of that out of your ass, just make me feel better about this whole thing” Belphie raise a brow to his big brother, to meet with a chuckle from Satan.

“Remember my dear brother, I’m the only pure demon among us. And beside” Satan looks up to Belphie with his iris glowing emerald green with a grin on his face. “I want to see with my own two eyes how dangerous Mammon have become”

“Satan are you alright you’re starting to scare me” Belphie voice his worry, hearing that Satan shake his head and groan in confusion. “Yes…. I’m fine”

Across the open field where Basto is stand, Levi and Beel are waiting as well in silent, Beel standing in the shadows behind a rock, while Levi sitting on the ground leaning on said rock until Levi start talking.

“You think he’ll still recognize us……wh-what if he does! Then he’ll remember all the time I call him stupid o-or money grabbing asshole……Or what if he doesn’t then we’re too late a-and we’re never going to see Mammon again a-and never get a chance to tell him we’re sorry……”

But Beel pat his big brother’s head snapping him out from his rambling.

“We’re not losing him…... not this time” Beel said it with a serious tone as he keeps his eyes on Basto.

Meanwhile hidden under a cloaking spell on top of the trees. Lucifer and Asmo wait patiently keep their eyes open for anything coming to spring the trap they set.

“What if…...” Lucifer tilt his head slightly to Asmo “The cages spell can’t hold him…... its too late for one of us to~”

“When it comes to that, we have this” Lucifer brough up an old dusty book that he grabs out of the bag “This is the book of the original sins. They made this book to awaking one’s demonic form, if anything goes wrong, I’ll use this book on myself~”

“Lucifer please they need you, you’re the only one keeps us in line and~”

“You can’t change my mind about this. End of discussion”

Asmo just stay silent for a moment. Wanting to change the topic “So we aren’t the original sins?” Lucifer shook his head in responds. “Our demonic forms are call that is because that only thing evidents of any demons after the demon king when to his deep slumber. However, the original sins are the king’s own Seven avatars who went to sleep with the king himself.”

“Are they that powerful?”

“Diavolo haven’t met them, even Barbatos have not memory. So, I can’t be certain but I can imagine they’re more powerful than me and Diavolo”

But before Asmo asks another question, A thunderous shrike can be heard.

“Was that…...”

“Mammon” Lucifer mutters, as he looks for the source of the sound in the sky.

Basto start scream behind the gag covering his mouth, and try to run, but a chain spell that Satan place on the leg is preventing him from leaving the middle of the field. As a silhouette of crow-like monster circles around him.

“His here!” as Levi said that he and Beel change into their demon forms and get ready. They look up to see Mammon slowly swoop down, and one flop of his wings lands himself Infront of Basto too far from the trap.

“Does-does he knows about the trap?” Satan mumble to himself seeing the Mammon landed right outside of the trap spell.

All the brothers watch in anticipate Mammon next move.

As Basto try to escape, Mammon watches tilting his left and right, then he starts walking in a circle around Basto.

“Shit his right outside of the spell” Satan quietly say as he clenches his hands into fists. “He knows that that there’s a trap for him”

Back at Lucifer and Asmo who are also watching, annoyed that Mammon figures out that there’s a trap. Well Lucifer is, but Asmo is tearing up right now. After a week of searching, Mammon is right Infront of them, in his demonic form but still his big brother here.

As Lucifer pull out his D.D.D out of his coat to call Satan, Asmo quickly shifted to his demon form and flew down to the field.

“Asmodeus!?!” Lucifer yell at his brother but he made it down on the field and slowly makes his way to Mammon.

“Mammon!” He turns his head toward Asmo and tilt it slightly to the right. “You recognize my beautiful voice, and look at you scary and terrify…… we miss you, come home”

“Damn it Asmo- Lucifer!” Satan was startle by Lucifer come up behind him and Belphie. “This is bad, this plan is falling apart”

“Not quite, Mammon is calm right now but if we trigger his instinct, we might lead him to the trap”

“How?”

“Let Basto run. He won’t make it out of the spell circle, Mammon will see it him running, instinct will kick in causing him to enter the spell trapping them both in inside. Sure, we won’t able to torture Basto but at least we have Mammon”

“But what about Asmo- wait Beel is down there!”

“What!!!” Belphie leans forward to see, Levi and Beel standing behind Asmo back in their human forms “Those Idiots…... without Mammon those three are competing to take his spot of being the idiot of the family!!”

“I’ll activated the spell while you and Satan grab our troublesome brothers” the two nod and move in. leaving Lucifer to get ready.

“When it all fail, I still have the book. Mammon what ever happens I know you’re ready to take my place. It better me then you”

[kuroos-moon]

Mistaken Kisses pt. 2 

☾ pairings: atsumu x reader, sakusa x reader, kenma x reader

☾ part one | oikawa, tsukishima, sugawara, kuroo

☾ scenario: they see you kissing someone else (not intentionally though)

☾ warning/s: v tiny bit of angst for atsumu’s

Miya Atsumu 

Growing up as a twin, he’s used to people mistaking him for Osamu and the other way around. Now that they have different hair colors though, those occasions came down to rare if not none. 

You’re innocent, you swear. Briefly calling out his name as you enter their gym, his back to you with his hood on— and you grab him slightly by his arm, shifting him a quarter so that you could stand on your toes and plant your lips on his. 

He smells a bit different, tasted quite different too, but who cares? This was your boyfriend— or so you thought. Pulling away as his hood falls off his head, your eyes widen and your heart skips a beat. Is that gray hair? Is he seriously not blonde? 

Realization hits you the same time you hear him. “Ya treacherous pathetic excuse of a brother!” You blink once and they’re already on the ground after Atsumu lunged at Osamu, fists, kicks and swearing thrown here and there. 

“Stop it!” You hiss, about to grab Atsumu but Aran stops you, afraid you’ll accidentally get hit in the process. 

“Y/n is the only thing I can’t and will not share but ya sneak in a kiss on her when I’m not around!” Another fist lands on Samu’s cheek, and that had to hurt. Atsumu was genuinely enraged. This wasn’t their usual brawl. 

“Ya have eyes, Sumu,” Osamu knees his back before turning to his side, throwing Atsumu to the ground. “Y/n kissed me!”  

“It’s true Tsum, I was the one who kissed him.” That halts their actions in an instant, tension suddenly thick in the air as he remains lain down on the floor, recovering his breaths as he struggles to process what you had just said. 

“It was an accident, I thought he was you,” you say in a small voice, dreading what was going to happen next at the way he scoffs at your words. “Get off me,” he shoves his brother off him, standing up and brushing off his clothes. 

He coldly looks at you and you squirm inside. Profoundly intimidated by his stare, you look away, eyes landing on whoever or whatever else that wasn’t your boyfriend who looked so spiteful and disgusted. “One of me ain’t enough, is that it?” He bitterly says, glaring at you. 

You immediately look back at him, surprised at his words. “I told you it was an accident, Tsumu, I’m sorry.” 

“Well, ya kissed for quite a while, was there no tellin they weren’t my lips?”

“He was wearing your hoodie,” you try to say, but he looks away, disinterested.

“Atsumu,” you sigh as you step closer to him but he turns on his heel, walking away from you.

“Don’t want ya nymore, have fun with my brother,” he clicks his tongue, unable to erase the image from a while ago. It was painful—both what he saw and what he said to you after. He knows it wasn’t your fault, but that didn’t really do much to change how he felt. 

It was his typical defense mechanism, masking his hurt by hurting you back and putting up a show of indifference. His sharp tongue, the hostile words he had said to you were filling him with self-resentment the second he let them go— never does he want to hurt you but he did so anyway; simply because he got hurt first.

“He’ll come around,” Osamu places a hand on your back reassuringly, “though I doubt he’ll make the first move to fix things.” 

Sakusa Kiyoomi

Oh, what a lovely day to be standing outside the restroom, waiting for your boyfriend to finish washing his hands; especially when out of nowhere, you’re yanked and kissed. Oh, for your boyfriend to have such lovely timing of walking out the restroom the moment the stranger’s lips touch yours. 

You push the guy off immediately, eyes meeting Sakusa’s in a panic, fearing he might misinterpret. However, your worries should come to an ease, he saw the whole thing and he trusts you completely anyway. But his eyes aren’t on you, they’re sharp and glaring at the guy who had kissed you. All he sees is dirt. Pure filthy garbage, worthless and far too shameless—having the audacity to taint you. 

Clasping your hand in his, he securely pulls you to his side. “You okay?” He asks, looking at you and you nod. He’s possessive and territorial, that’s a surprise to none. What he had just done equated to a life-ending treason, but he’s never really one for violence. 

“Call the cops.” 

“Wait, no, dude, I’m sorry it was an accident. I thought she was my girlfriend.” He frantically says, bowing repeatedly before the two of you. “I’m really sorry,” he says again, looking at you, making Sakusa glare at him as a warning to not even breathe the same air as you. 

A girl walks up to him, clinging to his arm as she asks him what was going on and now, he has fallen at your mercy; his girlfriend didn’t look anything like you at all—hair and height especially. You’re not even mad, you’re much too preoccupied worrying about what Sakusa might do next. 

“Do you have any colds?” He asks the guy, who like you, was shocked at his sudden question. 

“What?” 

“Are you blind and deaf too?” Oomi narrows his eyes, making him gulp. “Uh, no, I’m perfectly well.”

“Any infectious disease? Tell me even if its minor.” 

“None.” 

“Y/n I thought I told you to call the cops,” Sakusa timidly looks at you and you flinch, a nervous chuckle escaping your throat. “Do we really have to?” 

“His excuse was pathetic, he’s clearly some pervert, a cheating one at that.” 

“Please, I won’t do it ag-

“If not the cops, would you rather I destroy you right now? I’m not one to be forgiving when it comes to my lover.” That wasn’t even directed at you but you feel your body shiver, he was scary and domineering; his narrowed eyes and heartless expression screamed that no one should take his threats lightly. 

Other than the intensity of his words though, you felt your heart melt at the way he called you his lover. You’re practically looking at him with heart eyes, touched by his sentiment, butterflies going wild in your stomach as you admired him. 

It took a lot of your nagging and attempts at pulling him away for the both of you to actually be alone in his car—now on your merry way home. Contrary to the butterflies earlier on, you’re now silent in your seat, stealing glances at him warily. 

If you’re mad, say something, you try to tell him with your eyes but they remain set on the road.

“Yoomi?” 

“What?” 

“I’m sorr-

“Save the apologies for when you’ve done something wrong.” He coldly cuts you off and you close your mouth immediately. 

After a few seconds, you try again, “are you mad?” 

He finally looks at you, and though it was subtle, you did notice how he glanced down at your lips a second too long. “I’m not.” 

“You could at least try to be convincing; your face says it all,” you pout, “you’re mad and disgusted.”

“I’m neither of the two.” 

“Prove it.” 

He looks at you incredulously, like ‘tf am I supposed to do??’

Sighing, he slightly nods, “fine.” 

“I’ll kiss you until you drop after you brush your teeth.” 

Kozume Kenma     

Kenma is multiple cats in one easily-exhausted human body. He could be a soft domestic cat, allowing you to love the hell out of him while you cuddle—or he could also be one with sharp claws if he’s aggravated, not really one with specialized attacks but still terrifying. 

Right now though, he’s debating whether he should be a dejected cat who’s ready to leave its owner (which is you) or a level-headed laid-back one. The latter was easier said than done, how could he remain calm when you’re being kissed by someone else? It’s a heavy pang on his chest and an excessive blow on his insecurities—but oh, wait, you pushed him off. 

“What the hell?!” You shout at the guy. It all clicks, of course you’ll never do that to him. Okay, he starts seeing red and no it’s not his Nekoma jacket. He could almost imagine his legs sprinting disgracefully towards the guy and attacking him in any form. Biting, punching, scratching, he doesn’t care, he’s going to unleash the sharp-clawed cat within him—the same one that quarreled with Yamamoto. 

But before he could, you’ve marched away, and he catches a glimpse of your teary eyes. He follows you shortly, glaring daggers at the guy who was totally creeped out. Kenma could be terrifying. 

He’s mad and frustrated, but that could wait. You are far more important than his anger and he’ll always put you first. He patiently waits outside the girls’ restroom, sending you a quick text to let you know he was waiting to walk you home like he always did. 

As you head out of school, you remain silent beside him. Your irritation was gone but he could easily tell you were worried about him and about how he felt. “Y/n?” He meekly says. You look at him. This time, you note, he wasn’t on his phone which he would normally be using right now. 

“Wanna hang out in my room?” He offers you a rare soft smile, and you smile back at him. 

You both laze off on his bed, his head on your stomach and your fingers running through his hair while he plays with his switch. He looks unbothered, but you’re just struggling to find the right words and time to talk to him about what he saw earlier. 

He may have looked unaware of your silent distress, but he was just waiting for you to be comfortable enough to talk to him about it. He’s ready to assure you it was fine though he was actually really embittered—of course he would be after seeing someone else kiss his beloved kitten. 

“Ken… about earlier in the classroom, aren’t you mad?” You softly glide your fingers across his cheek. 

“I don’t care much for it, y/n,” he sincerely says. “See, you’re lying,” you pinch his cheek causing him to look away from his game. 

“I’m only concerned about you, you must’ve been mad,” he says, tossing his console to the side and turning to face you, his cheek pressed to your stomach. “I’m fine, Ken, I was only worried you’d be mad.” 

“Then rest easy now that you know I’m not,” he smiles before taking your hand to cover his face. You look at him in surprise as he groans, and you didn’t have to take your hand away to know that his face right now was rather expressive. 

“I’m still super ticked about it though,” he huffs and you chuckle at how adorable he was as he alternately kicks his feet up and down his mattress in a mock tantrum.

General Taglist [Open]: @noyasbitchh @dinablossom @haru-the-secret @strayczennies @lalisbitch @tinymidgetsstuff @animebs @astrealia @kittykitkatstrawberry @hajimesbbygrl @kellesvt @24hr7dysdizzy @arnxldss @elianetsantana @vicassa @floraraine @beanst0ck @leinnah @kageyamasgirl @deafeningart @minibobabottle   @franko-pop @moonlightaangel @throughtheinterstices @micasaessakusa @dixonsbugaboo

[sarcastically-defensive17]

Hello lovelyyy! Could i request a Billy imagine? He makes fun of the reader after hooking up with her at a party and she just playa along for the sake of his reputation but it hurts her a lot. He finds her and apologizes and its all really angsty with a happy ending??✨

Facades - B. Hargrove

I love this req so so so so so so much and I am so sorry I took so long to complete it! If you hate it then I am so so sorry and I hope you let me know so i can send you pictures of baby otters to apologise!

I really hope you like it!!

TW: THIS STORY CONTAINS MENTIONS OF BULLYING, SEXUAL REFERENCES, SWEARING, BRIEF ALLUSIONS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE / PARENTAL ABUSE, BILLY BEING A BIT OF A MYSOGINISTIC PRAT, Y/N STANDING UP FOR THE LITTLE PEEPS AND BEING A QUEEN AND MENTIONS OF NON-CONSENSUAL STARING AT INTIMATE BODY PARTS.

IF THIS CONTENT CAN POTENTIALLY TRIGGER YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ. YOUR OWN MENBTAL AND PHSYICAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT, SO PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. MY INBOX IS ALWAYS OPEN.

Original Story by defensive_sarcasm17.

Please do not copy, reproduce or repost without credit or in a manner that removes my username, and/or ownership from the work. Stealing is not cool, my loves.

Billy Hargrove was an asshole.

Not just your regular asshole, but the kind that knew he was an asshole and allowed his severe longing for attention to control his every action. Whether positive or negative attention, he craved it; he reveled in it.

He knew it was wrong, but simply knowing he was on somebody’s mind in any way filled him with a sense of pride. It disgusted him but the thrill was far too addictive.

And there was sweet Y/N. Anybody could tell that she didn’t fit in. She walked - no, she strut - to the beat of her own drum. The minute he arrived she caught his attention. He had never before witnessed how somebody could be so unique and beautiful, yet remain on the outside. She was a fascinating creature and he hadn’t before felt such an intense desire to get to know somebody.

She was so different to so many people, both in personality and appearance, yet she took care to avoid bringing others down. Her first interaction with him was her reprimanding him for speaking ill of another girl in their grade with his friends. She had overheard the conversation that occurred near to her locker and made sure to discuss it with him away from his friends.

The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass him and herself, but she also needed to tell him that his behaviour was unacceptable. He made more of an effort to watch his tongue after that, but old habits die hard and he quickly resorted back to being an ill-mannered asshole.

Just... never to her.

Nevertheless, he was still drawn to her. Their relationship evolved, a few sneaky kisses, hanging out outside of the arcade, or the cinema, or even the one time that Billy was eating at the diner and Y/N took a seat across from him just to babble about some new thing she was doing. If she was anybody else, Billy would have told her to take a hike, but instead, he clung to every word she told.

What Y/N didn’t know, though, was that she had become a butt of some jokes amongst Billy’s friends. Her kind, bubbly personality, her eyes that were often wide in energetic glee, the way she held a cheesy smile on her lips whenever she passed Billy in the hall.

To her it was normal. Never in her the lengths of her imagination would she conclude that the way she behaved would spur other people - people that she has grown alongside - to ridicule and tease her behind her back.

So she continued on in blissful nativity, even going as far as spending a night with the brutish boy - cuddled together, fumbling blindly amongst the rumpled sheets of her double bed. What started as a meaningless conversation at one of the many parties ended in one of the best nights that either had experienced.

She was entirely enamored by him, forming an intense and strong connection with the way he would present himself to her. She quite enjoyed the Jekyll within him.

The euphoria that he felt in her presence wouldn’t fade away like it normally did, even as he took his leave from her.

But when Billy was seen by Y/N’s neighbour, Angela, leaving her house early in the morn, the news circulated with the intensity of a swarm of angry locusts amongst the school.

And when Billy turned up to school late the next day, after a long and enjoyable farewell with Y/N and a quick stop at his own abode to change and freshen up, he was hounded the minute he approached his friends in the cafeteria.

“Please for the love of all that is cool in this world, tell me you didn’t hook up with freaky Y/N,” Tommy blurted in front of almost the entire cafeteria. The frown on Billy’s face did nothing to deter the boy, and from the corner of his eye he could see Y/N still as a statue as she felt most eyes turn towards her. Her tray was clasped between her fingers and she struggled to shift her features away from shock. “I mean, look at her,” he raised a hand as if he intended to whisper, yet the silence of the room ensured everybody heard, “You’d get more satisfaction out of a bean bag chair. She’s a dork.”

In that moment, he had two options: stick up for Y/N and confess to the growing admiration he harbored for her in front of everybody, and remove the cloud of admiration he received from many women and men alike; or do what billy does best-

“Please, I won’t put my dick just anywhere, willingly,” he scoffed, avoiding the burning gaze from the girl. His stormy blue eyes hid the flurry of his neurons, all of them working overtime to one up with an excuse, an answer, anything to avoid judgement from his peers. “She ended up with my jacket at the end of the night and there was no way I was letting her keep it.”

Tommy had an evil smirk on his face, turning his gaze towards Y/N and eyeing her in a grotesque way. His eyes linger on her chest for longer than she deemed comfortable before he snapped back to Billy. “Figured as much, but, we’ve all seen the way the freak looks at you. Even now, she can’t keep her eyes off of you.”

More sniggers erupted throughout the room. Y/N placed her tray down carefully, planning to leave the room as fast as she could, but she stopped when she saw Tommy crook a finger at her. He beckoned her closer, and she wanted nothing more than to shrink down to the size of a mouse.

“Is she dumb?” Tommy grunted as he nudged Billy’s shoulder with his own. “Come here, freaky!” Some chatter resumed in the room, but all eyes were still on her. She slowly stepped towards their table, crossing the few meters difference as slow as she could.

A chuckle left Billy, but he had forced it from his chest. His mind was going through many scenarios in which he could hurt Tommy, his favourite settling on stabbing him in the hand with one of the cafeteria forks followed by a severe pummeling to the face, but the eyes on him sent his adrenaline spiking. He felt horrible about speaking so badly of Y/N, but everybody had their attention focused on him. He was making people laugh, gasp, grumble even. He saw the girls at the table next to them get closer, winking at him and whispering along themselves about Y/N.

It was intoxicating.

“Tell us, freaky,” Tommy drawled, a sinister smirk forming in his thin and cracked lips. “You’re just obsessed with my man, Billy, here. Aren’t you?” Billy didn’t meet her eyes, and she knew - she just knew - that he didn’t enjoy what was happening, but she figured he would have the decency to stop it from continuing.

She had seen many sides of Billy, including the menacing, careless, boarding-on-sociopathic side, but she had managed to convince herself that she was immune to the abuse that tumbled from his lips. Y/N was already scolding herself inside her mind for thinking such discrepancies.

“Look at her, Billy. She can’t even speak!” Billy felt Tommy shove his shoulder with the palm of his hand, dropping the appendage quickly when he noticed the glare Billy shot him. His face paled slightly before the arrogance returned and the smirk resurfaced when his gaze shifted back to Y/N.

She hadn’t moved, her eyes locked on Billy. In those situations, Y/N knew her tear ducts were far to close to her eyelids, often spilling over at the any confrontation. She shied away from it, knowing that it often resulted in heartache and misfortune - but this time she felt anger. She just wasn’t quite sure if the anger was directed at herself or Billy.

Maybe both.

To add fuel to the flame, Billy turned his steely cerulean eyes towards her, raking them along the length of her body before he decided to open his mouth once again.

“Do i make you speechless?” his voice was sultry, warm, juxtaposing with the chill that ran down her spine at the audition.

It took her back to the previous night when he whispered sweet nothings against her skin. But she knew this was not the same Billy. This was the Billy that he would show to everyone. Everyone but her.

This was his Hyde, and she despised it. This was far from her Billy, but she knew how much his reputation meant to him.

He held her gaze strongly, but she could see something else in his expression. He was hoping that she would stay quiet, retreat from any chance of spilling his secret to the entire cafeteria, but part of his mind was telling him that he deserved her to speak the truth.

“I can’t help it, Billy,” she mumbled, hoping that a confession would make everything end. Her face was stoic, jaw set in a tight clench, only relenting to let the words slip out. To the rest of the cafeteria, it would portray as nerves and embarrassment, but to Billy - he knew that something had definitely changed in the usual mild-mannered, kind-hearted woman. Shame was running through her head at an alarming rate, mixed with embarrassment and cut with a growing anger. “I’ve had a crush on you for so long. It’s hard to deny how i feel about you.”

The words hit him like a speeding truck. Despite their activities, she had never once given him an indication for the depth of her feelings, nor had he for her. He had came to the conclusion that she simply knew of his emotions without the audition of them - he treated her so differently, he thought.

Nevertheless, he wanted to believe that her words were the truth, but the fire blazing in her beautiful eyes set his skin alight and had his heart pounding against his ribcage with guilt. She was Y/N. She was kind, she knew him. She knew how much he craved the satisfaction of being on somebody’s mind as if he could sense that he held somebody’s attention.

He knew she did it to help him, and he was somewhat grateful underneath the growing guilt.

“Wow,” Tommy breathed. His face held a look of astonishment, but once again he returned to his stock standard expression. “What an absolute spaz!”

Billy found himself nodding along to avoid the heat-filled stare, swallowing the lump of bile rising in his throat, “Why is it that all the dorks think they have a chance with me? I must have a wannabe-magnet that makes them all hot for me,” his cackle was filled with faux-malice, but the students were none the wiser. His thoughts were roaming around his head, moving faster than he was sure his brainwaves could manage.

He barely noticed when a feminine voice hit his ears and said something about Y/N needing to cool off before pouring a drink over her head. The red liquid was already beginning to stain her shirt and her hair was pushed to the front of her face.

“There you go,” Carol - the girl that had Tommy wrapped so tightly around her little finger that she has a circulation issue - had been the one to spill the liquid over her head. The smile on Carol’s face was dripping with sugar, but Billy knew that it was actually salt.“The red makes you look less like an ugly cow.”

A gasp left her lips, her eyes closing quickly. Y/N knew that the tip of the iceberg was approaching. Everybody has the point in their anger when they hit a point of hypersensitivity. Their body struggling to find a way to release the pent up friction in anyway, and it chooses to take the route of tears.

When she opened her eyes they had already began to blur with tears, yet she could still make out Billy’s figure, but she didn’t stay long enough to hear their taunts any longer. Her feet carried her to her car at a steady pace, where she finally allowed the emotion to escape in any way it pleased.

<><><><><>

He had expected to see her in their next class. Her presence was the only think that kept him from flipping out during their history class. Mr Daniels, the balding, narcissistic, middle-aged douche bag, had it out for him. Billy had often joked that it was because of the hair - pure jealousy, he said. The mere sight of Y/N’s profile managed to keep him occupied, his mind running wild with thoughts of the woman.

But when he had noticed she wasn’t there, all resolve had fled his body as his body fled the school. He had been trying to reach her since he had left, the pay phone on the corner of the block had his attention for nearly an hour, all of his change spent dialing her number over and over again with the same result.

The guilt was eating away at him, shame creeping up his spine.

He was an asshole. Plain and simple.

He had spent nearly his entire wallet on the pay phone, growing more frustrated by the minute. If she were home, she would answer. She always did. She was too kind to ignore a call. Hell, she even stayed on the line with telemarketers until they stopped talking for long enough for her to apologise and bid them goodbye.

The mere thought had him slumping his forehead against the receiver of the phone. His patience had worn thin and he cursed under his breath as he reefed his keys from his pocket and set off towards his blue camaro.

He needed to see her. The image of tears running down her cheek was burned into his mind, occupying all of his thoughts as his subconscious mapped out the route to her house. He had only been there once, maybe twice after dropping her home one afternoon, but he had the way etched into his hippocampus alongside many things about Y/N.

He had barely pulled in to the curb before he shut down the engine and stomped to her door.

His knuckles were rapping on the door before he knew it.

He knocked again, and once more. But no answer. Her car was parked in the drive way, he knew she was home. He picked up on the faint sound of music playing, some indie band that she was fond of. Not Billy’s taste.

“Y/N?” He called, fighting the lump that had swollen in his throat. “Y/N, please, I need to talk to you!”

The door opened slightly, just enough for Y/N to stare at him with innocent eyes full of shame before the chain stopped it from advancing further.

“I think you’ve said enough, Billy,” her voice sounded broken. Shattered even.

Her hair was still saturated, the T-Shirt she wore was stained, and he faintly recognized it as one of her favourite articles. A from was deeply carved into her features and he had to restrain his mind from thinking about how she adorable she looks with a crease between her brows and a dimple forming on her chin with growing anger.

“Darling, please let me in. I need to talk to you about something,” he flashed a charming smile. His pink lips contrasted perfectly against his sun-kissed skin. He was a delectable sight and he knew so; he made sure to dress to impress on the daily. He craved the looks of lust and jealousy. Like neon straight into his awaiting veins, it was his drug. Even the way Y/N glared up at him made his ego hum, but his heart ached with the disappointment she showed. “What happened in the cafeteria... it’ll never happen again. I just, I couldn’t-“

The door abruptly slammed in his face silencing his words in an instant. He froze, the sound shaking his spine and clearing his train of thought, only for the sound of a chain clicking and the door reopening capture his attention back.

There she stood. Hair drenched beyond all hope, clothes stained a bright red, throwing off the aesthetic of her outfit for the day. Her makeup was smudged more than he originally thought, as if she had been furiously scrubbing at her eyes with her hands. His heart ached, but he couldn’t deny the excitement in his nerves when she gave him her full attention.

Her hand reached out to grab his shirt, pulling him inside faster than he thought possible.

“Couldn’t what?” She snapped at him, venom coating her words in a way that made him recoil. “Couldn’t resist making fun of me? Couldn’t resist having every single pair of eyes on you? Couldn’t resist taking the piss out of me, just like you have done for months?”

She wasn’t meant to know about that, he thought. She was meant to be none the wiser. His face paled, eliciting a dry laugh from her chest. She felt the pressure of the forced omission in her stomach, the muscles aching from the furious sobs that racked her frame moments before.

“All of this time, I was trying to be your friend, Billy! And you!” She waved her hand at him, pointing at him in a manner dripping with unbridled anger. “You were playing me for the fool! I’ve been the butt of all jokes between you and your asshole friends since the minute I opened my big mouth to talk to you, haven’t I?”

He knew he was in the wrong. He knew that he should have punched Tommy in the face for even bringing anything up in front of her. His friend had noticed that he had abruptly halted the jokes surrounding the girl in question, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit the real reason why. He was falling head over heels, but he just didn’t know it yet.

Now he felt like his heart was ripping in two at the sight of her blotchy cheeks and red rimmed eyes, and he was the reason.

“It started as a joke, Y/N. I never meant to hurt you,” His voice was full of pain. Self-loathing. “Yeah, Tommy and I used to make fun of you for a while, but...” his words faded away.

The chuckle that left her lips this time was a hearty one, more like she was laughing at an actual joke than their humourless situation.

He didn’t realise how intently he was staring at her sock covered feet until he brought his eyes up to her face. She was genuinely laughing, but the tears that he didn’t realise were falling down her cheeks made his arms twitch from the need to hug her.

“My god,” she huffed, bringing her palms to her eyes and pressing hard, almost as if trying to hold her tears back. Her voice deceived her, and she sobbed for - what felt like - the millionth time that day. “I’m such an idiot.”

His hands connected with her shoulders and he brought her in against his chest. The hug was all he could do to comfort her, for he knew so little about his own emotions to even begin to understand another’s pain.

“Every time we spoke, every time we hung out together...” she pulled herself back from his chest. She couldn’t stand the contact that she craved so much, for she knew that it was unrequited. “Every time I kissed you.. last night. It was all bullshit!”

“Princess,” his own voice began to shake, feeling overwhelmed and anxious, “Every moment I have ever spent with you has been because I want to.”

She worked her hands into her now half-damp hair, pulling it back from her face in a tight grip, “Why? You and your friends needed some new material?” She released a heavy breath, her lips trembling. “Nancy told me about all of the jokes last week, yet I still went home with you last night. I still played along while the entire cafeteria stared me down because I know how much your reputation means to you. I know that I am at the very bottom of your priority list, Billy. Everything you do is for a purpose, and your purpose with me was just to make me feel worse than literally everybody in that school already does.”

He reached for her hand slowly, as if he were afraid she would pull away from him forever. He was never sure of his emotions, but this time, he knew that he would watch the world burn just to make her happy. He hated himself. He hated Tommy, and the girls that embarrassed her further. He hated Neil, and he hated his own narcissism. He hated the world for making such a beautiful soul so miserable, but he especially hated how he knew right from wrong and still chose the latter.

His fingers laced with hers, but her hand remained slack in his grip. It was better than nothing, he thought.

He cleared his throat, the organ feeling as stiff as a piece of cardboard, his mouth dry. The next words would be difficult, but they were honest. She deserved honesty.

“When I first met you, I didn’t know who you were, and I didn’t really want to. You were kind and thoughtful and you pulled me aside to chew me out for talking shit about some girl, but you did it where you knew my friends wouldn’t hear, just so you could spare my reputation. For the first little while, yeah, we made jokes. I made fun of the weird way you dress and the horrible music you listen to, and how you are the nicest person I have ever met, but the it stopped. The things you did stopped being funny to me, and the way I felt when I was around you changed completely.”

“Billy, what are you talking about?” Her tear-filled eyes wrinkles, her brows furrowing deeply.

“Tommy and the rest of the assholes, they noticed that I didn’t want to talk shit about you, or that I didn’t like when they would talk about you in the way - in the way we talk about other girls. Its hypocritical, but they dropped it. Until today. All because Angela couldn’t keep her big mouth shut.” He caught the look that she sent him, frowning slightly. “Sorry. Because Angela told them that I left here this morning, and they wouldn’t shut their stupid mouths the minute they saw me. I told them that I had nothing to say about you, but they wanted answers and I said shit that I never wanted to say.”

She watched him intently. Tommy had made a lot of comments about her over the years she had known him. The other guys had too, but she did notice that they started backing off lately. She hadn’t paid much attention to the fact, secretly hoping that they had begun to mature, but to think that Billy made them stop - well she didn’t know what to think.

“Why did you make them stop?” her mind was running faster than her mouth, but she still couldn’t put it together. If Billy was anybody else, she would maybe think that he reciprocated the feelings she expressed for him in the cafeteria but he isn’t - he is Billy Hargrove, and he doesn’t have feelings for anybody.

He laughed for a second. A soft, disbelief fueled cough. His eyes seemed to shine bright in the dull lighting of her house. Neither of them had realised the time that has passed, it was now nearing the afternoon. He looked down at her, his stomach full to the brim with an odd sensation.

“You really don’t know?” he seemed to have stepped closer to her, only slightly. His shoulders were slightly shrunken in. She shook her head softly, the crease returning to between her eyebrows as she thought. “I’m in love with you, Y/N.”

Never in his teenage life, had Billy feared rejection from a woman. His mother had given him all of the rejection he needed for a lifetime, but now, as he stared into Y/N’s eyes, his lungs seemed to constrict.

It was as if her world froze for a moment. Not only did Billy Hargrove, possibly her best and only friend, confess that he has feelings for her, but he said that he loved her. To say she was at a loss for words would be an understatement, but she stood in front of him gaping like a fish, mouth opening and closing every time she wanted to say something.

“I don’t mind if you don’t feel the same,” He spoke, slightly lower than when he confessed to her. He turned away from her slightly, releasing her hand and using it to rub the back of his neck. His skin felt like it was aflame and he started to sweat. “I just wanted to let you know, especially after what happened today. I-I’m sorry for the shit I said, and I am gonna kick Tommy’s ass for this. And I’m sorry that you had to say that stuff today. I know that you just said it to help me, and I appreciate it but you didn’t have to -”

His words fell short when he felt arms wrap around his waist. It was a soft, slow gesture, new, but not entirely uncomfortable. If he had to put money on it, he would say that she could feel exactly how fast his heart is beating.

“Those things I said today, about my feelings for you...” she began, head pressed against his chest.

“Yeah, princess?”

“They were all true.” He pulled her back slightly to look at her. It was his turn to look confused. “Last night was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time, Billy. Being around you just makes my heart swell and everything better.”

His heart started to beat impossibly faster, but there was still hesitance in her voice. “I feel like there is a ‘but’ coming.”

“But I can’t deal with this split-personality bullshit, Billy.” He had never heard her curse before. It was music to his ears, exciting, entrancing, but he also knew that she meant business. She was incredibly serious. “The person you are when you are around me, that is the guy I am obsessed with. Who you are when everybody else is around... I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that now, and I hated it.”

“I know, darling. I’m so sorry for that, I promise, I will be better. Even if you won’t have me, I will be better. For you.” His eyes held an honest strength. It was as if he were selling his soul to her, right there in her entry way, where they had stood since she wrenched the door open in a fury. “But, if you will have me, how about I take you out tomorrow night? If you don’t want to, then I understand.”

“I would love that,” she smiled up at him, the expression growing wider as a matching one took over his face.

He couldn’t help but lean forward slowly, giving her an opportunity to pull away. When their lips connected, he melted into the touch, moving with such intensity it was as if he were repeating his apology and his promise into the kiss.

She had never felt more wanted before, and he had never felt more safe.

When their lips parted she rested her forehead on his for a moment, basking in the silence and the ambiance that surrounded them.

But of course, Billy had to ruin it.

“So, you are obsessed with me, huh?” She could feel the smirk against her cheek as he nuzzled his nose into her temple.

She turned away from him so fast that the wet ends of her hair slapped his face.

“Where are you going, princess?” He followed after her, long strides catching up with her faster than she wanted.

“I’m going to have a shower. If you want to join me, you can leave that bad attitude at the door along with your shoes,” She sent him a sly wink, a smirk on the lips that Billy wanted to taste once again.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, and his shoes went flying into the hallway.

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