#an all-timer. they got real freaky with it

[palarien]

i'm geasspilled ᵗʷᶦᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵐᶦʳʳᵒʳ

[ciaoteamo]

Easter Sunday 18+

pairings: loki x gn!reader

summary: barely any plot, just easter sunday antics 🥲

warnings: honestly, this is just some real freaky smut, and if you can’t handle it, you might want to scroll😭 read at your own risk tbh

further warning: sub!konïg, dom!reader, anal penetration, begging, crying, degrading, reader is referred to as mistress, torture, vibrator, overstim, cursing, bondage, oral, edging, biting, paddling.

“goodnight, and again, Happy Easter!” You say to the last of the friends and family leaving your home. You wanted to host a party for friends and family and it was definitely super fun.

It was around 1 am when König decided to start acting bratty. He was pressing his hard-on against your back while you sat and played games with your friends.

Making sour faces at the kids that ran up to you, sharing their excitement for the hunt with you. He even blatantly ignored your request for assistance with decorating eggs with the many children.

He even glared at the children who idolized the uniform he wore as he didn’t have time to change before coming.

In the end, you ended up with your favorite dress ruined by edible paint, and a huge mess on the kitchen floor.

You could say you were upset, but that would be an understatement.

You smile and wave outside of your door at the family pulling out of your long driveway. You close the door and take a deep breath before turning around.

“from this moment on, you’re on all fours.” You say sternly. His arms cross and he stands up straight and tall.

You reach up and snatch him down towards you by the collar of his shirt. He grunts in shock and his eyes widen.

“i will not tell you again, König.” You emphasized his nickname. As to say “some king you are”.

He listens and gets down on his hands and knees, not making a sound.

“i like how quiet you are, only words that should come out are the safe word, and yes/no (y/n). got it?”

“…yes (y/n)” He starts to shift in his position.

“i’m going outside, when i come back, i want you naked.”

“yes (y/n)” He says as you walk away, the clicking of your heels growing faint.

You grab a bag of decorative plastic eggs and take them outside, hiding them as you did before. You hid 10, and one golden egg.

And you made sure it was the hardest to find. You dust your hands off with your new dress and set the basket by your back door.

You leave the door open and walk through the kitchen and back into the living room by the front door.

“good boy, now, you have 10 minutes to find 11 eggs. If you find the golden egg, you’ll get your usual punishment, come back without it, and there will be hell to pay. got it?” You smile down at the man.

“yes ma’am” He drops his head.

“your time starts the moment you step onto the grass.” You watch him crawl outside, waiting to start your alarm.

He grabs his basket and you start the timer. You hum and walk up your grand staircase, heading down the long hall and towards your room.

You enter and put on a slim short, slim fitting dress. You accessorized it with a thigh garter and a matching pair of platform heels.

You plan on using the guest room to tease him so that you wontthave to worry about cleaning sheets until 7 am.

You pack the bedpost restraints, a long, red rope, a few toys, some lube, and a bucket. You haul it all to the guest room and get it set up. lowering the temperature so that it doesn’t get overheated.

You grab the pail and take your time walking in your heels down the stairs, wouldn’t want tonight to end with tragedy.

You fill it with ice cubes and take a peek outside. You couldn’t see the man in the grass. You open the door and look around and it was silent, still with no sight of him.

Your alarm went off, making you almost jump out of your skin. Suddenly there was a few clanking noises and König came out of your shed.

“did you find it?” You lean in the doorway and cross your arms. He shakes his head no. You hum, knowing that the egg wasn’t even out there. “we’ll follow me, bring the eggs.”

As you walk through your kitchen for the 80th time today, you stop and look up at the ‘Kiss the Chef’ paddle that hung over your sink window.

“fetch me that paddle as well, you can stand for that of course, i’ll be in the guest room” You say simply before skipping back up the stairs.

You patiently wait for him, sitting in the center of the bed with your legs crossed. Lazily rolling your ankle in circles.

You hear plastic rattling and see your boyfriend crawling into the room. “very good boy”

You take everything from him and place them by the bed. He patiently waits for your next demand.

“on the bed, all fours” You say, grabbing the eggs and lube.

You tie his hand and feet to keep him in his bent position.

“you weren’t very good today, you know that?”

“yes mistress” He responds with a muffle.

“i’ll let you go off script for this next question…” You cover two fingers in line and slide them into his puckered hole, just to make sure he was loose enough. He flinches at the cold substance.

“why did you behave so poorly… you know only good boys get rewarded..” You work your fingers in and out of him, making him groan.

“i-i don’t know” He answers. You sigh and pick up the paddle, giving him a his cheeks a run for their money. He almost yells out at the pain.

“try again” You command, adding another finger.

“i-ah~… i wanted… wanted you to look at me” He stuttered.

“i did look at you baby boy, you’re quite hard to miss..” You curl your fingers and massage his prostate, making his back arch up.

“not like you look at everyone else…” He admitted, pulling at the restraints.

“oh, i’m sorry, mommy won’t do it again..” You drop the paddle and rub on his back with your hand. a the hairs in the area rose a bit as he shivered under your tender touch.

You pulled your fingers out grabbed a few eggs from the basket. “well, big boys use words… words wouldn’t have got you into this situation..”

You slowly push a pink egg in, watching him suck it in with ease. “unless… this is what you wanted?” You push another in and he winces.

“you just couldn’t wait to be tied up and fucked silly huh? probably thought about it all night” You continue filling him with the eggs, keeping count of how many were inside.

You stop and firmly gripped his balls. “am i right?”

“y-yes! yes mistress” His voice went up an octave.

You let him go and continue your original task. “you’re such a worthless slut… hunting for eggs while naked and being stuffed relentlessly…”

You got to the final egg and forced them to stay using a butt plug.

König’s legs were spread and his arch was excellent. You give him a few more licks with the paddle until words are stuck on his skin in shades of dark purple.

“let’s get you flipped over” You untie him and retie him sitting up, back against the headboard. You grab the newest vibrator of your collection and rest it along the vein of his penis.

“this is specifically for edging. it has a timer set to one minute, and if you cum while it’s still on, you’ll be punished. are were clear?” He nods and you turn the device on, you left it on low, just enough power to not overstimulate him.

His chest rose and fell at an abnormal pace and his eyes were shut tight. This was something g he often did to focus on things.

While looking over his body, you get the itch to touch him. Why wouldn’t you? He’s yours after all.

Your fingers gave a feathery rub that ascended from the arch of his foot to the inside of his thigh.

And oh was he losing it, his skin immediately jumping and groggy moans erupting from his throat.

So basically this was a draft that i’m just gonna post and see if you guys want the rest of it. I have so many things to work on but don’t even know if i should drop lol.

[graycereal]

OK Y'ALL, JUST WENT TO SEE THE NEW GHOSTBUSTERS MOVIE, AND HERE ARE MY HONEST OPINIONS;

(Spoilers ahead!!)

Ok, so to be completely honest I don't really remember the start of the movie. I think the girl -Phoebe- from the last movie broke a building, the mayor from the classic movies got mad and she was put on the ghostbusting bench?? Also it's been 2 years or something because that Finn Wolfhard dude keeps saying he's 18?? But whatever, it starts getting really good when Finn finds Slimer in the attic. (Did I mention they live in the old fire station? Well they do, and Phoebe is getting them evicted, because of course she is.) They don't expand on Slimer being in the attic by the way. He's just.... There now, I guess. Also, Ray is in this movie. And he's running this shop with that podcast kid from the last movie (He's really just living in his basement.) And this awesome dude comes in, and he's a fire master but no one knows it yet. Anyway, he tries to sell Ray this orb that he thinks is haunted for $50, and Ray is all like "Ohh, let me do that wing thingy that tells me if it's haunted" and it's SUPER haunted. So Finn and his lesbian girlfriend hear about it from this British dude -(I HATE HIM HE CONTRIBUTED NOTHING BUT BEING ANNOYING.)- and Ray bought it of course. So that PENIS SUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT with a British accent starts OPENING HIS MOUTH and gets too cocky. Back to Phoebe, she discovered some emo blonde chick who's really good at chess. Butttttt, in Ghostbusters fashion, the one with glasses starts to get a little fruity. With a ghost. She's dead. And I guess Phoebe really liked her because she turns herself into a ghost for like 2 minutes. And, of course, she turns herself into a ghost RIGHT in front of the haunted orb. And wouldn't you know it, that wasn't a good idea. The millisecond she walks towards chess-emo, her eyes start glowing and shit. Just to be clear, not her human eyes, her ghost eyes, but her human body starts speaking in tongues. And then this grotesque, ugly, slimy, scare crow, SCP, bald piece of chalk looking demon walks out of some black smoke like Darth Vader. Like get back to the death star. And some timer goes off, and Finns lesbian girlfriend busts open the door with a backpack thing and my brother freezes it??? Like he freezes the distortion of particles??? But however, I didn't make the movie. But he gets bored or something and goes away. I would too to be honest. (NOTE: I just fell asleep writing this, it's like 11 for me and I gotta wake up at 4 😭) Back to the AWESOME fire master finds out from Ray that he's probably the fire master because British, Finn, and the lebanese girl go to his grandma's old sex dungeon (they say it's a container for the ball and that demon dude, but I know Grandma was getting freaky.) Anyway, the firemaster is bending some AWESOME fire when, conveniently, everyone is in the same place and the sky starts going dark with Darth Vaders edgy smoke. Also, there's some odd sub plot with the demon needing horns to be powerful, but they don't expand on that. So yada yada yada, they fight, bad guy=dead, good guy=living. But you came here for my opinions, didn't you? Well, here you go.

First off, Phoebes character. She had so many chances to grow, and the movie blew it. In many circumstances, she does something bad, like for example; cussing out the mayor, WHILE IN JAIL. They seemed to brush it off, while everyone in the movie forgot that she was 15 now. She needs real consequences, or she will grow to be undisciplined like her grandfather. I would honestly like to see that taken into account if there is ever another movie. She clearly already values and looks up to her grandfather even though he neglected his family, so maybe in the future she will start to grow more distant with her mother? Just a thought.

Second, this is kind of a short thought, but chess-emo reminds me of that girl from Wednesday. I think her name was Echidna?

Third, it seemed like all of the new characters, (and even some old ones), felt like MAJOR side characters. Even the main character felt insagnificant! We saw no bonding, no expanding on any characters, and no thinking about how the characters would live their lives outside of the main points of the movie, just purely thinking about how this character should react when this happens.

Fourth, the "Main Villain" felt inconsequential. We really saw nothing of what he could do, and that made him SO much less of a threat. In the last movie, that dog bitch at least TRIED world domination, but the ugly skinny demon from the new movie went straight for the firemaster.

Fifth, there were a lot of unnecessary characters, just there to give you enough nostalgia to give it a good rating in your Facebook circle. Slimer? Funny, but unnecessary, unlike how it ACTUALLY did something in the last movie. The baby marshmallow men? Also not needed, cute, but contributing nothing. This is not to mention the new people *Cough* British guy *Cough*.

Anywho, I don't know how to end this, so I leave you with a handful of confetti! Have fun, throw it on someone (or me) in the comments, or even another post!

[the-sympathetic-villain]

To Make A Prince Smile

Life's been stressful and Remus is my comfort character, so enjoy some mostly comfort Remus hurt/comfort <3

Prompt: Remus + Arranged Marriage Prompt from @the-snake-god (+More Baking because I get a fair amount of Remus/Baking Prompts)

Characters: Remus, Patton Pairings: Platonic Intruality, Background eventual Logicality and Dukexiety

Word Count: 2836

Warnings: Remus-type content (Sexual Innuendo/references), Arranged Marriage, Casual disregard of one's own life, Brief Beheading mention, Some swearing (Let me know if you'd like anything tagged!)

---

    Nights like this were the only time you'd find Remus quiet. He stretched his arm, fishing into the depths of the kitchen of his crappy cupboard. He continued his search in earnest as he leaned forward on his toes, cringing as the cupboard door creaked loudly in the near deafening silence.

    He froze for a moment as an unconscious grunt escaped his lips as his hand closed around the familiar mixing bowl. He let out a slow breath, keeping his arm rigid as he quietly navigated the piece of glassware out of the cluttered space.

    Remus breathed a sigh of relief as the bowl pulled out silently. He paused in a squat,  running a finger over the chipped rim as a wave of nostalgia washed over him. The last time he'd seen this particular bowl he'd been hours away from being paraded around his first in front of a bunch of old farts with too much power and a kink for making their kids miserable.

    He let out a sigh as he wiped the dust from the old green bowl and stood up to set it on the counter. Strictly speaking, Remus shouldn’t be here. Hell, if he was spotted anywhere besides his quarters tonight, he was sure the courts would be in an immediate uproar. The mere thought was enough to send his mind spiraling a whole new direction as he turned to pull the ingredients from the shelves. He shouldn’t even remember this recipe. It had been years since he had broken in to the kitchen.

    Because my shit brain is broke.

    Remus growled as he dropped the flour on the wooden countertop. He took a step back to take inventory of his progress, chewing his lip to keep his darker thoughts at bay. After a brief pause, he got back to work. His movements were quick as he gathered the little, chocolate candies, put his hands on the oats and counted the eggs he'd snatched from the chicken coops early that morning. The steps jumped to his mind and he lost himself into his focus so much he didn't notice a small man appear in the doorway behind him.

    “You’re not supposed to be—”

    Remus' head jerked up to meet te eyes of the man with reddish brown hair, dressed in a kitchen staff uniform staring at him from the entryway to the kitchen. As their eyes met, he saw a nervous look flashed across the man's eyes and the man's statement suddenly jumped in pitch as he continued.

    “Your highness! Sorry, I —"

    Remus didn't hesitate. He jumped and slid across the countertop and lunging forward to press a hand over the man’s lips. Smirking, he flashed a playful smile down at the wide eyes of the adorable kitchen servant staring back at him.

     ���Now, I know you weren’t just about to ruin my fun.”

     The vehement shake of the man's head pulled a chuckle out of Remus and he smirked. The shock in the man's bright, blue eyes glimmered as his eyes flitted between Remus and the kitchen.

    Goddamn, of course he'd be fucking pretty.

    Remus eased his grip and allowed the man to stand up straight up off the wall. He smiled at the man's confusion and held a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture. “Just pretend I'm not here and go about your business as usual. Got it?”

    The man nodded as he averted his gaze. His hesitance gave Remus pause and the prince softened his voice, still smirking at the shocked baked.”

    “Thanks for not tattling on me.” Remus cooed as he dropped his head to meet the man’s eyes with a playful giggle. “Let’s be real. Those lips are too damn pretty to be used for evil anyway.”

     The red tint in the man's cheeks deepened as he dropped his eyes and bowed his head even deeper to his chest. “Of course not, my prince.”

    Remus chewed his lip at the mention of his title, but he backed off as he picked up on the man's discomfort. He eyed the up and down at the man's uniform with a sigh. “You got a name, baker boy?”

    “Patton, sir.”

    “Alrighty then, Pattycake. Do me a favor and drop the titles.” Remus muttered, turning back to the kitchen as Patton’s mouth dropped open uncertainly.

    “I’m not sure I can—"

    “You won’t get in trouble or nothing.” Remus huffed with a bitter smile as he rounded back to his ingredients and pointed back to the kitchen doors. “If you want me gone, all you gotta do is holler for one of the guards and they'll drag me kicking and screaming back to my tower where I belong.”

   He could feel the man's eyes on the back of his head as he turned and sorted his pile of ingredients.

    “I won't—” Patton hesitated as Remus raised an eyebrow at him, but he quickly steeled his resolve and started his own work. “I won't tell anything. Is there something you'd prefer for me to call you?”

    “My name would be a great start.” Remus muttered a bit more bitterly than he intended.

    “Certainly, sir—I mean, Remus.”

    Remus nodded, appreciating that the man seemed willing to let his suspicious behavior slide. He ignored the man, firing up the oven before turning to the cupboard.

    “Do you need help finding—”

     “Nope.” Remus popped as he spun around and set the scale on the countertop to begin weighing his ingredients.

    “How do you—”

    “Used to sneak in here a lot back in the day.” Remus muttered and q nostalgic smile spread across his face as he mixed his dry ingredients. He could feel his hand starting to shake as he threw himself into his comfort recipe. “Until the new bitch of a head chef reported me and got me tossed out for ‘inappropriate princely behavior’, I was in here every other week makin' something.”

    The man behind him snorted quietly, quickly dropping his head with amusement at the prince’s nonchalance. “Your language seems less becoming than I would expect of someone in your position.”

     “You calling me out for saying bitch, pretty boy?”

      “I would never question one of our fearless leaders.” The man looked up at Remus with a coy smile as he tossed his own dough on the countertop.

   “Then, you’re an idiot.” Remus muttered under his breath as he watched the man begin to prepare his proofed dough.

   Patton's smile faltered as he watched Remus carefully. “That kind of talk is treason.”

    “What are they going to do to me? Arrest me?” Remus purred as he pulled out a stack of baking sheets. He leaned onto his elbows and stared at Patton across the island between them. He smiled seductively, wiggling his eyebrows at the baker. “I mean, I'd let you put me in handcuffs any night.”

   The man's brow furrowed and, for the first time, Remus felt disgust in the man's expression. “You should not say such things when you are to be married mere hours from now.”

   Remus sucked in a breath as though he received a quick jab to his stomach. “I hate to shatter the big illusion, but I didn’t exactly get a choice in the matter.”

    The man winced as Remus let out a long sigh, dipping his head away from Remus' exasperation. “I'm sorry, sir. It was not my place to say—"

    “Do I look like I give a shit what you say?”

     Patton looked up, surprised as the prince started making little balls to lay out on the baking sheet. “What?”

    “I'd appreciate if you’d stop looking like I might have you beheaded for looking at me wrong.”

    “Sir—"

    “Just stop. No one hates my position more than me.” Remus couldn’t help but growl as he turned to slip his cookies into the oven. He pulled the timer off the top of the oven and twisted it to the right time, nearly breaking it with his rough movements. “Please, just treat me like a person for the few hours of freedom I have left.”

    “Forgive me. I—” Patton paused as he stared at the back of the prince's tense shoulders. “You’re not what I expected—um, Remus.”

    “What are you even doing here anyway?”

    Patton blinked uncertainly at the abrupt shift in conversation. “What?”

    “The kitchen always used to be empty at this time.” Remus muttered, losing his steam as leaned against the countertop. “It's fucking three in the morning. No one was actually supposed to be here to witness my mental breakdown.”

    “I, uh—had to come in early to start preparing ing the dough for the wedding.” Patton whispered, voice softening as he watched the prince wilted. “You really don’t want to get married. Do you?”

    “I'm not opposed to gettin' hitched or nothing,” Remus muttered, trying to play off his discomfort with a rough laugh. “but I never thought I'd be expected to give it up on the first date.”

    Patton’s heart dropped sympathetically. “You haven’t met him yet?”

    “Once, but we were being supervised so we couldn’t exactly speak our minds.” Remus whispered, turning back to Patton as he leaned back into the wall. “He didn’t even seem that bad. Gloomy, sour and he had circles beneath his eyes so dark it makes me think someone in his family tree got freaky with a damn raccoon but—”

    “Remus—”

    “I know I’m being irrational, but my mind's running so fast and I can't stop chasing the thoughts —”

    “You’re not being irrational, Remus.” Patton stated firmly as he took a step closer.

    “I am—”

    “You’re not. You’re just scared for the future.” Patton whispered, coming around the island to put a gentle hand on Remus’ shoulder. He hesitated, unsure of how the young royal would react to his touch, but one look at the glistening in the prince’s dark eyes sent Patton flying forward. His arms wrapped around the man's waist, melting into the contact as Remus returned the hug.

    “Thanks, Pattycake.” Remus whispered into his shoulder. “It's been a long time since I got a proper hug.”

    Patton leaned back at the melancholy in Remus' words and his heart ached at the prince’s reluctance to let go. “You don’t get a lot of hugs?”

    “Nah, my parents aren’t the touchy-feely types—” Remus sighed as he let his hands his hands dropped to his sides. “—and everyone else can't wait to get out of the room away from me.”

    Patton’s eyes fixed on Remus for a long moment before Remus' timer startled him from his thoughts. He reluctantly released the prince as he moved to pull his cookies out of the oven.  Without a second thought, the prince absently popped one of the steaming, hot treats in his mouth, and Patton flinched at the thought, but the prince seemed completely unbothered.

    “And with that, I'm not going to be a dick to the only person willing to treat me like a person today.” Remus muttered with a vacant expression. He shoveled half a dozen cookies into his pockets and strutted to the door with a two-finger salute back to the cute baker. “See ya later, sweet cheeks. Keep those buns nice and toasty—"

    “Wait, Remus.” Patton raised a hand to stop him from going. “You don’t have to go.”

    “Yeah, I do.” Remus muttered, lingering in the doorway. “If I don't scale back up to my tower, my babysitters might think I'm trying to play hookie on the new ball and chain.”

    Patton’s face suddenly paled. “Scale the—You climbed down the tower to get here?"

   Remus grinned at Patton’s expression. “Yep.”

    “That’s four stories!” Patton’s mouth dropped open in bewilderment. “You could have died!”

    Remus shrugged, unconcerned. “What a beautiful wedding.”

    “Remus,” Patton whispered as empathy. “Please, stay. You could hurt yourself.”

    “Listen, I appreciate you letting me indulge in my old habits.” Remus grinned as he tipped a cookie towards Patton. “but I ain’t your problem. You don't have to fix me.”

     Patton's eyes flashed with desperation as Remus turned to go. “What if—what if I want it to be my problem?”

     Remus blinked, furrowing his brow. “What?”

     ��We could be friends.” Patton whispered, suddenly nervous. “What?”

    “I, um—” Remus couldn’t help but stare as the baker's face turned red enough to match his hair. For the first time in their conversation, he fell silent as his own shock took over.

     “If you want to, I mean.” Patton stumbled on his words and he started to ramble as Remus remained quiet. “I know you’ve got a lot going on today, but—”

    “But why?”

    Patton paused, staring at the confusion in at the prince’s vacant stare. “Y-you seem like you need a friend, Remus.”

   “And the nerdy baker wants to be my friend?”  

    “Kinda.” Patton muttered, feeling shy for the first time in years. “I could probably even get the head baker to lift your ban in the kitchens if you wanted. He's usually willing to do what I ask.”

    “Oh?” Remus whispered.  He could still feel his shock as Patton continued, failing to think to censor his own words as they fell from his lips. “And who'd you have to sleep with to make that happen?”

    “My fiancé.” Patton whispered, holding his hand up to show off a shiny, golden band.

     “Well, no shit.” Remus laughed as he took Patton’s hand and examined the ring. “Pattonpop's got a boyfriend.”

     “Fiancé.” Patton corrected with a bright smile as Remus held his hand and smiled at the ring.

    “Sounds like you like him.” Remus smiled as he let Patton take back his hand. He leaned against the countertop, feeling a moment of peace as he watched Patton start to glow.

    “I do.” Patton whispered with a fond smile. “He's smart and kind. Even though he's not very good at showing his emotions, he still makes a effort to know mine.”

    “And he's good to you?” Remus stretched across the counter between them, grinning at the warm flush on Patton’s face thinking of his fiancé.

    “Yeah, he’s really good to me.” Patton whispered as he spun the ring on his finger and smiled to himself.

    “Congratulations, baker boy.” Remus grinned, taking a bite of his warm cookie as he watched Patton. “You’re really out there living the dream.”

    Patton tipped his he up to Remus and guilt flashed in his eyes. “Oh, I'm sorry. I should have—”

    “For what, short stack?” Remus whispered with a smirk, leaning on his elbows.

    Patton's lip twitched sympathetically. “I'm—I’m talking about my own relationship when you’re clearly upset about yours.”

    “Oh, don't worry ‘bout that. What's the worst thing that can happen today?” Remus shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “The guy might end up a bore, but at least my parents will be off my back. I'll be someone’s perfect trophy like they always wanted.”

    “He could be nice—”

    “Maybe.”

    “Remus—”

    “Unfortunately, my time's up.” Remus muttered, reluctantly staggering to the door. “If I don't get back, they'll start raising alarms."

    “Okay, but—” Patton hesitated, taking Remus arm.  “—you're going to take the stairs, right?”

    “Since you asked nicely, I’ll think about it.” Remus purred as he stood up and stepped to the door. He let out a small grunt as Patton rushed forward and wrapped his hands around his waist. His muscles tensed for a moment before relaxing into Patton’s hug.

    “Whatever happens today, you can always come visit me here, okay?”

    “Sure thing, Pattycake.” Remus whispered as he returned the hug. “Thank for putting up with me for a little bit. I hope you enjoy the rest of the cookies.”

    “I will,” Patton beamed, looking back at the baked goods. “What kind are they?”

    “I don't know if they got a proper name.” Remus shrugged. “I always called ‘em monster cookies, ‘cause they’re a concoction of all my favorite shit. They taste alright though. I promise.”

    “I’m sure they’re delicious.” Patton whispered as he beamed up at him.

    Remus shrugged, standing up and wandering to the door. “Anyway, it was nice to meet you.”

    “It was nice to meet you too. I—I know you’re going to be busy for a while, but if you want to visit, I’m here most days.” Patton smiled as Remus lingered in the doorway. “Promise you’ll come back?”

    “I will. Once the chaos calms down and bit, I’ll come by.” Remus whispered with a sad wave back at him. “This'll—This'll make today a little easier, so thanks. See ya later, baker boy.”

    “You’re going to be okay, Remus.”

    Remus smirked at Patton’s genuine smile. “I hope so, Pattycake.”

    “Good-bye.” Patton whispered as he watched his new friend nodded and reluctantly turned to stagger out the door. The corner of his lips curled into a sad smile as he watched the prince go, hoping that the prince was dreading his day a little bit less now.

--

General Taglist

@justanotherhumanstuff @im-an-anxious-wreck

[sinkix]

~ Haikyuu!! Boys baking with reader - Ft. Ushijima, Tendou, Oikawa, Hinata & Nishinoya ~

YO! SO UHHHH... I’M BACK??? I GUESS?? MAYBE??? After a little break I had this in my drafts for a while and realllyyy wanted to complete it since it’s such a cute concept. Honestly at this point my posting frequencies are so sporadic and random pls forgive me lmao.

@deathcab4daddy​ gave me the inspo to include Ushi and it was so funny coming up with ideas for him, he is no.1 country boi chef 

Dude I’m listening to the Mario Kart soundtrack ‘Coconut Mall’ while I continue writing this someone save me. Like u think I’m joking. UR WRONG.

Ushijima:

The most straightforward yet idiotic baker you will ever come across.

Before you even THINK about performing step 1, he will read the entire fucking leaflet like it’s a Shakesperean monologue.

INGREDIENTS INCLUDED.

LIKE SIS I DIDN’T NEED TO KNOW IT CONTAINS  MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE THANK YOU.

I’m surprised he doesn’t count every single particle in the brownie mix.

You bought him a frilly cupcake-printed apron stating ‘best wife’ not expecting him to actually wear it

But since he’s secretly a big softie and treasures anything you buy he wears it proudly.

His stoic and dignified disposition is a comical contrast to the words printed on the front lmao.

Ushi best wifey bro.

The tight fit of the apron is pretty hot since it outlines every ridge of his pecs and tightly toned torso.

Gotta resist groping your mans while stirring the brownie batter.

tbh he’s more likely to grope you, he can’t resist that a$$.

And let’s face it he’s def an ass/thigh kinda guy.

Can and will try to casually initiate some form of unholy activities by lifting you up onto the kitchen counter, goading you to slowly lick the spoon and locking gazes before pulling you in for a deep, open-mouthed kiss to get a taste of the incomplete creation himself.

Ushi’s lips and brownie batter are a knock-out combo js.

Literally has the most serious face when he’s cracking the eggs into the bowl

The amount of concentration is equivalent to that of when he’s performing a serve at match-point.

HAS to set the temperature to the EXACT degree stated on the box

Everything is done by the book if you do one thing out of place he will pull you up on it lol.

“(Y/N) you were supposed to stir it for 5 minutes, not 7.”

When its done you feed him some and he can’t help but smile its so ADORBALE AHHH.

You end up eating most of it since Ushi doesn’t strike me as much of a chocolate/junk food lover.

STILL A VERY FUN BUT F R U S T R A T I N G EXPERIENCE.

Tendou:

The complete opposite of Ushi

Does everything wrong and the unconventional way.

Absolute disaster but doesn’t even sweat it since Tendou basically thrives in chaos and the disorderly.

To him instructions are purely equivocal, will read them for five seconds then toss them away.

Step aside Gordon Ramsey, Chef Tendou is here.

Despite doing everything the unorthodox way it still comes out amazing.

Like??? how???

Will cheekily place a dollop batter on your nose then lick it off fh3jkeffefds

Or if he’s feelin’ a lil freaky, he’ll swipe it off with his long ass finger and make you suck it clean, smirking at your submission as you coat his finger with your saliva.

oop-

Constantly cracking jokes and shitty food puns, pretending to drop the bowl to make you go into preemptive cardiac arrest before you can swat him with the spatula.

While you’re waiting for the timer to ping, Satori being the schemer he is will use this as an opportunity to pull some fuckery and tease you in any way he can.

u better be praying like bodhisattva TanaNoya rn because he is MERCILESS.

Suggestive comments, the brush of his fingers against your thigh, it’ll leave you A C H I N G in frustration by the end of it.

Unholy activities aside, once your baking session is completed you finish it off by feeding PHAT forkfuls of brownie to each other and giggling like dorks when it gets all over your mouth.

The jackass actually got a fingerful and SMEARED it over your cheek and forehead, drawing a little cross and snickering when the crumbs fall onto your nose.

Tendou was smart to draw a cross bc he gonna need jesus with the ATTACK you launch on him after that, which promptly leads to an all out food war in your kitchen that neither of you want to clean up after ward.

Don’t worry though it’s Tendou, he’ll somehow find a way to make such a mundane activity fun.

Nishinoya:

stirs WAY TOO VIOLENTLY

IT’S LIKE AN ELECTRIC WHISK ON OVERDRIVE.

IT WILL SPLATTER OVER THE COUNTER, CUPBOARDS AND EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR WITHIN A 1 MILE RADIUS.

You best believe he will try and eat some of the batter and you have to swat the spoon away from his mouth since he has NO REGARD FOR THE FACT HE COULD GET SALMONELLA.

Plus you know what Noya’s like once he starts eating something the whole thing will be gone in a matter of milliseconds.

He somehow managed to get Baking powder EVERYWHERE and even gave him self a little moustache with it.

The white substance kinda looked like something else but you didn’t really wanna say lmaooo.

could explain why he has so much energy all the time oK ILL STOP-

While you’re putting the mix on the tray he is SO extra and will do fancy lil swirls and over extend his arm like a swan to gracefully spread the batter

until he nearly fucking knocks it over.

During processing time since he is so excitable and impatient you best believe he’s gonna suggest a game of ping pong or something because my guy can well and truly never sit still.

ping pong match with the spatulas, kitchen island and a hard boiled egg.

Pls be careful he will rolling thunder that egg and pimp slap it so hard with the spatula it’ll damn near give you a concussion, not intentionally, but like protect your noggin. Wear a helmet.

For the remaining 5 minutes of baking time y’all just sit like kids in front of the oven and watching it rise like starved hyena’s observing it’s pray before demolishing it into sad particles of cocoa.

And lemme tell u, once the timer pings, that baking tray is free real estate for Noya. Half of your creation will be devoured before you can even put it on a plate and marvel at your handiwork. 

He kicked your ass at spatula ping pong btw I’m sorry sweaty but short kings stay winning.

Oikawa:

Such a dramatic bitch like he got the whole she-bang going on.

Strapped with a pink apron, a whisk at his side and standing proudly with both hands on his hips.He is prepared like a greek gladiator going into battle.

You better believe he gonna make some snarky remarks and tease your method of doing things. 

“Ah-ah-ahhh (Y/N)-chan you’re doing it all wrong, let me show you how a PRO does it.”

Proceeds to drop entire bowl on his foot and yelp like a little girl in pain.

Well and truly embarrassed with himself, you put a band-aid on his toe and he piped down after that.

Shattered big toe and mixing bowl aside, actually a really good baker??

He is a PRO at decorating, y’all decided on cupcakes since its literally his forte to make them look aesthetic and pretty.

You almost don’t wanna eat them from how good they look.

jk almost

You take it in turns breaking bits off and placing pieces into each others mouth with a loud “aaaaaahhh!”

Places a piece in your mouth, leans forward and locks lips with you in a soft, passionate kiss before pulling away and uttering the words “It tastes even better coming from your mouth ;)”

hnnnNNGGGGGGggGg.

You both whine and bicker over who cleans up after.

“You cleaaannnnn!”

“no Toru YOU clean!”

“but I made the cupcakes look pretty :(”

“not as pretty as you <3″

He did the cleaning after that.

Like just stroke his ego with some compliments and he’s whipped with a smug grin on his face for the next 30 minutes.

You decide to save the rest and bring them to his next practise.

Literally on the verge of tears when he sees you beaming and holding the platter of treats, Kiyotani mauls half of them in a matter of seconds to which Oiks gets salty over LMAO.

Hinata:

So excited oh my god he’s so precious please protect him I will CRY-

Has a little sunflower apron on and JBJKNDDDKDW IM SMILING JUST IMAGINING HIM FIDGETING IN EXCITEMENT OVER THE THOUGHT OF BAKING COOKIES.

Yes you decided on cookies bc he goes rabid for some choc chip biccies.

You have to guide him v carefully because of how easily confused and clumsy he is.

Cannot for the life of him crack the eggs without getting a quarter of the shell in the bowl so you have to do it instead.

Has a surprising amount of strength and forearm power bc holy shit boy can stir FAST.

Hums a little tune while he does it and bobs up and down with a wide grin on his face it’s so adorable, he has such a gentle singing voice I can’t-

Attempts different shapes with the batter when pouring it onto the tray but fails pretty miserably lol.

he tried ok???

Once they’re done he takes the tray out of the oven and since it was heavy, subconsciously propped it with his knee and nearly dropped the entire tray from the pain. (I’ve actually done this before when making chicken nuggets I do not advise being that brain dead)

Had to put some burn cream on the bbies knee :’((

When you decided to dig in, he handed you a cookie that looked like a crooked circle and said he tried to make that one a heart and insisted he feed it to you.

Blushed VERY hard at the moment of silence and intense eye contact while he fed it to you.

Nearly short circuited when his fingers brushed against your lips.

Moe moe x100000000000000000000000000000

You offer to do the cleaning after because he hurt himself and you didn’t wanna make him do any work, but he still offered to wipe the surfaces for you bc he’s an angel <333

literally just wanna marry him.

[wtf-yoongi]

Stage lights. ‹‹part I of III››

pairing | jungkook x reader

summary | you visit jungkook on tour for the first time

genre/warnings | high levels of fluff + relatively new relationship + warning: features jk being extremely tired in between sets + but it’s ok because you look after him afterwards and now my heart is clenching 

words | about 7k total (part I is 2,034)

note | kinda belongs in the same universe as this one, but can be read separately. i got carried away and wrote this huge thing, so i decided to separate it into three parts. i hope you like it 🖤 p.s.: the other two will be posted in the next few days. also: have i mentioned i love jk and want him to have the whole world?

Your phone vibrates repeatedly inside of your pocket, but you can’t really reach for it while trying to get your luggage out of the conveyor belt, can you? You run towards your red, small-sized suitcase, thankful that you were fast enough to reach it before you had to wait it go around again.

When the tiny wheels are finally on the ground, you retrieve your phone to check the texts.

Hae is there to pick you up, ok? She has expert level English like me lol

She’s also wearing a bright orange jacket so you recognize her

Let me know when you’re with her?

You don’t really feel like replying now, choosing to look in the direction of the exit to see if you could already locate a bright orange spot somewhere instead.

It’s not that you are trying to ignore him – quite the opposite. To be completely honest, your nerves are killing you.

It all feels even more real now that your feet are on the ground and your brain keeps telling yourself oh my god he’s somewhere in this city breathing this air while at the same time trying to calm down. It has been months since you last saw each other, work and classes getting in the way, but the day has finally come. 

And you couldn’t be more thankful – or nervous. There’s something about seeing him after such a long time that, deep down, worries you. Yeah, you talk every day, but texting and video calls only go so far. They’re not the real deal. And even though 99% of the time all that comes to mind is how badly you want to hold him close and hug him for hours, there’s 1% of doubt there for some reason. 

Seeing someone after a very long time just gets awkward sometimes. And you don’t want things to be awkward, not even a second. You only have a few days together before you have to go back home, there’s no time for that – no time to lose.

You finally start moving again, holding onto your phone a little bit too tightly and dragging your suitcase behind you. The exit doors are not far from carousel number twelve and you can see there are a number of people waiting for arriving passengers: family members, friends, nicely-dressed people holding up iPads with fancy last names… And a young woman wearing the most absurd orange jacket.

Jungkook must have shown Hae a picture of you before – she’s quick and doesn’t think twice before waving shyly in your direction as soon as you’re through the automatic doors. You smile at her kindly and notice she’s immediately reaching for her phone to text someone. It wouldn’t surprise you if it is Jungkook himself or another staff member that could let him know the news.

“Hi,” she greets with an excited smile. “I’m Hae, it’s a pleasure to meet you! How was your flight?”

It intimidates you a little seeing such a sweet-looking person your age be so formal and polite around you. She looks like she could be your friend – a friend that insists on carrying your small suitcase even though you have no problem at all doing it yourself.

When you’re inside the black SUV, you text Jungkook back.

I’m on my way now, please tell Hae to relax and treat me as a friend

It’s kinda freaky how diplomatic she is

A few seconds pass before you get an answer.

Let her be, she’s nice haha

She’s an assistant to the head of PR. Literally her job description includes being as diplomatic as possible

You smile at your phone and then raise your eyes to Hae, who’s sitting on the passenger seat next to the driver. They exchange a few words in Korean, but remain quiet for most of the long ride to the venue.

There’s a little bit of traffic when you’re near the stadium, the influx of cars coming and going more intense the closer it gets. It’s great to see people lining up, singing and dancing in anticipation. The line itself isn’t as long now and you assume most people are already inside. With that, you also realize this is, in fact, your first BTS concert. How weird is that?

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to put this on,” Hae interrupts your thoughts and you turn to her to see a simple black baseball cap in her hands. “I’m really sorry about this, no one’s going to see you, this is just extra precaution. If you could hold onto this and wear it every time you’re outside, that would be ideal.”

You don’t say anything, settling for just nodding in agreement and taking the cap from her hand. As you put it over your head, you wonder if these are going to be some curious few days, filled with first timers. But even if the thought of hiding a relationship is foreign to you, you know, in this case, the price is totally worth it.

The closer you get to the stadium, the louder the cheering seems to get. When Hae opens the door, you find yourself parked next to many other cars and vans, and you can finally hear the sounds clearly – thousands upon thousands of people filling up every seat. She moves to get your luggage from the trunk and you just want to yank it out of her hands to carry it with your own, but stop yourself from doing so at the last second with pursed lips and a let her be in the back of your mind.

With a “follow me, please”, Hae leads the way through a maze of corridors, doors and temporary structures built solely for the single show that’s going to take place in this stadium. It surprises you just how big everything seems to be, the scale of it all, and Jungkook’s pressures kind of seem more real now. Putting yourself in his shoes becomes just a little easier as you can feel the buzz from the fans building some sort of anxiety inside of you.

“They’re inside this room,” she finally speaks again and points to a door with a sign that says ARTIST in big, bold letters. “I’ll see you again when the show starts, ok? Oh, and I’ll take care of your luggage, you don’t have to worry about that.”

You nod and let out a small “thanks” just when she turns the knob and opens the door, moving her hand to signal you can go in. You can hear many people talking before even seeing anything, but you’re not ready for the sheer amount of people working in a single room when you finally peak inside.

Everything looks like the most organized mess ever. There are black labeled boxes and bags everywhere and people moving up and down with Canon cameras, freshly-ironed shirts, makeup brushes and everything in between. They all seem to be speaking or laughing quietly and in a rush, their Korean rolling out of their tongues so easily it startles you when you hear something you can actually understand. 

“Hey, you’re here!”

You suddenly stop scanning the room to turn to your immediate left, where a familiar face is smiling at you. Namjoon has a water bottle in his hands, which he promptly leaves on top of a table to greet you properly.

“It’s so nice to see you! How are you doing?” He asks and leans in for a quick hug. When you separate, he’s once again speaking, but this time you don’t understand a word except for Jungkook-ah in the beginning of the sentence.

All of a sudden, you feel like all eyes are on you. People working all around stop for a second to see you for the first time and you start to wonder what exactly Namjoon said after calling Jungkook’s name.

It all lasts less than a second, though, as the staff at least looks like they have more important things to do than looking at a stranger – and you’re deeply thankful for that. To your right, you see both Jimin and Hoseok waving hello from their seats where they're having their hair done. You wave back at them with a smile and it isn’t until you turn your head to face forward again that you see him quickly moving towards you.

Jungkook has the most absurd smile on his face, dimples in full display – and, somewhere inside, you melt completely. There’s something different in him and you can finally see it now that he’s in front of you. His jaw looks more defined, his hair texture is healthier than the last time you saw him and there’s something about the way his eyes glimmer that certainly can’t be captured on camera. You have to be face to face to see it.

He takes longer strides the closer he gets to you and you feel like he’s fighting the urge to run altogether. It all happens so fast – you can’t even extend your arms in his direction before he’s crashing into you, the air leaving your lungs in a low humpf. Jungkook surrounds you with his body, his arms tightly holding on, while you do your best to press a hand to his back at the same time you’re trying to hold the cap on top of your head so it doesn’t fall to the ground.

It is overwhelming, but in a good way. Suddenly, that 1% of doubt is a thing of the past.

Jungkook lets go all of a sudden and looks into your eyes, soon grabbing your hand to lead you out of the room again without saying a word. He’s taking long steps and you have to be quick on your feet to follow.

“Where are we going?” You ask and you have to adjust the strap of your backpack before it falls from all the moving around.

Jungkook doesn’t answer, though, and swiftly pulls you into another room nearby. This one is much smaller, you notice, and there’s no one inside. When he closes the door behind you, it gets quiet and, somehow, familiar.

“My God, I’ve missed you,” he says under his breath, pulling you close again. He’s calmer now, taking his time to bury his face in your neck and take a deep breath. “I’ve missed you so much, I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

“I’ve missed you, too, you know? A lot,” you reply, running your hands up and down his covered back to comfort him. “A whole lot.”

“I’m sorry I had to drag you out of the room like that,” he speaks quietly before taking a deep breath – and you can feel the air he exhales soon after. “Too many people watching.”

“It’s ok, I understand.”

Everything feels so still you can swear, for a moment, that the whole world has stopped. Jungkook is slowly rocking both of your bodies from side to side, humming a song you can’t recognize, and it seems impossible to fall more in love with him than right now. You close your eyes, taking everything in, and you can smell the slight scent of fresh laundry in his clothes.

“And I wanted to kiss you,” he admits out of nowhere. “Can’t do that in front of everybody.”

Jungkook gently disconnects his body from yours, taking his time to look at you now. He softly places a hand on your face as if he’s struggling to believe you’re there and you’re real. When he smiles, your heart melts further – and you don’t know how that’s even possible.

“Can I?”

You smile back, nodding at the same time you reach for the back of his neck. “You can kiss me a hundred times.”

“Just a hundred?” Jungkook asks with a disappointed voice, leaning in closer now. “What happens if I want more than that?”

“You get… Refills,” you say and laugh at your own choice of word. “Endless kiss refills. Does that sound good?”

“Hmm,” he hums, kissing you and tasting your lips for the first time in what seems like forever. “Sounds great.”

He laughs and leans in again.

☁️ read part II here ☁️

Read more ›› masterlist

[purplerose244]

Sweet Aftermath

Hi @forthegloryofdragons! I’m your Secret Santa for the @toa-secret-santa event! 😊 At this point it probably looks more like a New Year present, but Merry Christmas anyway and I hope you spent nice festivities!

Here we go with some Jlaire and our favorite punk wizard! ❤❤

Summary: Peace is momentary in their lives but when they get it, they enjoy it as much as they can. Dessert is always welcomed.

Also on the AO3

“Ouch!”

“Jim!” In the blink of an eye Claire was at his side, holding his hand before he could even process the idea of having a look himself. “You dummy, cut the strawberries, not your finger!” Granted that there wasn’t even any traces onto the actual cutting board – it was one drop at max, his girlfriend could be such a mama sometimes –, maybe it would had reached him some kind of prideful chef wound at being scolded for something this basilar.

It didn’t. All Jim could feel at the moment was the slightest pinch at the top of his finger, where the littlest red bubble was forming. It hurt. In a completely ignorable, absolutely meaningless way. But it hurt. It hadn’t hurt this little in a while now.

He couldn’t help smiling a little, even while Claire was already opening the cupboard to get the med kit. He had forgotten this type of common, after being the Trollhunter had become his everyday.

It was nice. And destabilizing. And a little freaky.

Then again, what wasn’t in his life?

While the little med kit was brought onto the counter of the kitchen and the cutting noises interrupted, the cheerful chatters coming from the living room brought his mind back. The party had been completely random, it had started with his mom wanting to know everything about what happened since they had last seen each other – well, she said that after the both of them managed to talk, with the messes of tears they had become with the both of them human again –, and it was continuing with plenty of people and food around.

Food gently cooked by the best chef of the Lakes’ house… not much of a competition really. But hearing his mom from the other room, chatting and gasping and laughing again, was enough to forget the bowl of popcorn on the table that she still somehow managed to mess up.

Jim breathed in, and then breathed out. Everything felt so new, yet exactly the same.

“Skin’s fragile. I forgot.”

“Well put it on a memo, it’s pretty important if you ask me. A mental memo…” The witch stopped midway, as she was pulling the plastic off the band aid. “I wonder if there’s a way to make that? A magical note stuck into your brain so you don’t forget it? I should ask Teach.” At last, the little medication was applied, At least none of the little red fruits got dirty. Yet Claire still wasn’t letting go of his hand, and when Jim looked up, there were those big brown eyes in front of which he could do absolutely nothing. “I’m serious, okay? Don’t get hurt, or at least try not to get hurt. I really think you had enough for a while.” She probably wanted to sound ironic.

It came out sad. Of course it did. And a lie as an assurance would had been pointless, the former Trollhunter would had made every single choice of his life all over again, to ensure the safety of those he loved. But maybe out of egoism, he would had not dragged them all in like this, knowing how much they were going to suffer for his sake. He wanted his friends near, yet not nearby. Did it make sense? Who knew? Maybe it didn’t have to.

Claire held onto both of his hands, looking up at him, lips curved in a little hopeful smile. And that put an end on any thought. It didn’t matter after all. As a human, as a half-troll, as a full troll, the sight right before his eyes had not changed. And he didn’t want it to change.

Jim sighed softly, nodding with a smile.

“I’ll do my best.” Claire sighed softly.

“Please do.” She leaned and kissed his cheek, and oh, magically there was absolutely no more pain into his entire body. A witch indeed, eheh. “What do you need the strawberries for?”

“Decoration mostly, but there’s so much chocolate in this that you need something fruity to make it less strong.” Right on cue the timer went off. He quickly stopped the noise and hurried to the fridge, taking out the cream that seemed perfectly chilled and ready to use. “Also should I say, strawberries and chocolate? Mucho romantico.” He shot a wink towards his girlfriend, who made that fond eyeroll from whenever he attempted to speak Spanish.

“Whatever, charmer. Get it over with, I’ve been smelling amazing stuff all evening and I’m really tempted to paralyze you with a spell and have it all myself.” Well if that wasn’t one of the sweetest compliments for his cuisine he had ever received. “How can I help?”

“Get me the sponge cake, it’s near the window.” Jim gave the cream a further whip to make sure it was airy and homogenous, before pulling out a spoon from the drawer – reminding himself last minute that he couldn’t and probably shouldn’t munch it anymore. “Alright, now for the tester…” He could had taken it himself of course, his sense of taste was back to human-like. Yet it was still hard to accept it, like his mind wasn’t fully into the all magical transformation that brought him back. He just needed a bit more of time, maybe. “Mrs. Nunez? If you could be so kind?”

“Oh well, if I really have to…” Claire smirked, putting the baking tray in front of her boyfriend with the sponge cake all rested and ready for the use. Then she leaned forward, taking the spoon into her mouth. She licked her lip. “Mm, oh yeah.”

“So it’s good?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “What? Let me brag a little, I’m good!”

“What if I still prefer guacamole over this?”

“Claire, you make amazing guacamole, but you also make a major bowl of it with, like, three tortillas. That kind of love is a little hard to match, even for my chef skills.” He got an elbow, because clearly some people couldn’t handle the harsh truth. “Just tell me if I should add something or mix it some more.” If it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t going into the cake.

She knew that. She knew it, and she grinned widely, putting a hand over his cheek with a very evident intention into her eyes. With the sudden realization Jim had to claw onto the bowl with both hands to prevent any catastrophes like letting it drop accidentally, because kissing Claire was that mind-blowing – and it took him quite a bit to make this cream, thank you very much. A chocolate kiss that got him such jelly knees he was considering just letting himself go with the unconsciousness, it would had been the sweetest knockout of all of his Trollhunter life. This girl had gotten so much more confident since they first started to hang out. She was as gentle as a lady, and as vigorous as a warrior.

His Claire. His amazing, beautiful Claire.

She pulled away first, perfectly in control of the situation, smiling softly at him. The aftermath was possibly even better, knowing that this was real and it happened and it was going to happen again. Somehow he still could hardly believe his luck.

Claire bit her lip, staring with those big impossible eyes.

“Too sweet, maybe?” Jim shook his head with a grin.

“Nope, absolutely perfect.” Did that come out corny? Smoothness wasn’t exactly a skill of his, hopefully he didn’t ruin- and Claire was kissing him again, never mind, he loved life.

“Okay mates, quick update, we’re out of snacks in the other room and since I lost rock paper scissors I got sent here also to sneak on the dessert, and if you’re wondering how I lost let me remind you that Binky got four aaaaaarrrrm…” He loved life a little less with their good old – apparently very old – master wizard coming into the kitchen uninvited. That sheepish little grin was kinda funny though. “So, you mess with the timeline once, and you acquire the magical ability of having a terrible timing. Noted.”

Jim pouted. Claire laughed. Jim laughed. That was just how it was, also his girlfriend suddenly had that malicious look into her eyes that told him he wasn’t going to dislike the next following minutes – and he knew she had that look before she became a shadowmancer so… destiny?

“You’re actually right on cue, these dirty dishes are dying to meet you.”

“Uh… how badly are they dying?” And now the witch was glaring, the wizard immediately raised his hands for surrender. “Can’t blame one for trying.”

“Try and ruin another moment between me and my boyfriend, you’d wish I was only blaming you. You got out with little.” That was probably true and that was probably a given, hence why a second later Douxie was over the sink, pouring down the water and reaching for the soap. Claire gave him a firm nod. “Alright, what do we got?” She turned to the counter, gathering a few snacks onto another tray. “Okay, all kinds of chips, cold popcorn from the microwave Barbara made oww, socks, so many socks, a few burritos Krel’s friend brought…” Given the discovery that aliens were real, having an extraterrestrial as a taco seller so responsible for the burrito that had gotten Gatto that nasty stomachache somehow even made sense. “This should do for a while. Be right back.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and went to the living room.

Again, human’s skin was sensible. Jim hadn’t realized it made a difference before, he had been sturdy, strong as a half-troll. And so hardly soft and easy to please. It was still a little complicated listing off what was good and what was bad of his current situation. But one thing for sure, he loved how Claire’s kisses were sweeter than ever.

A snort. Apparently he had been staring at the door for a while, and Douxie was holding back his laughter with little success. So the former Trollhunter grinned back, giving him a shoulder while putting down the cream onto the squared sponge cake.

“Shut up and do the dishes.”

“Roger that.” The wizard stopped the water as the sink was full, getting to work. A minute of silence was filled solely by the tinkling of dishes and the dripping of water. A nice moment of normality. It had been a while after all. “You know, I gotta say.” Douxie wasn’t looking, yet there was definitely fondness into his eyes. “Spending 900 years adventuring and protecting the world, I’ve seen a lot of things. But a witch learning how to control dark magic in order to save her human-half-full-troll-hunter boyfriend? That one I’ve been missing.” He was fast at cleaning, swift and careful. He must had done it quite a lot at the restaurant he used to work in.

Jim sighed, nodding softly, his eyes lingering on how nicely the chocolate smelled and look. He carefully pushed the remaining onto one side, smoothing the surface.

“I’m so lucky to have her.”

“She’s also lucky to have you. You’re pretty great, and brave. To the point where it gets scary. And worrying. A lot.” Douxie laughed a little awkwardly, clearing his voice. “Not that I can talk, really.” Right, the two of them got so close to their demises for the sake of others.

They were similar. Very similar. Jim couldn’t help smiling.

“We really need to stop trying to die.” The wizard cracked a real laugh.

“Got that right.” Another moment of peace followed, and to this mindless noise Jim was starting to get used to again. “What are you making anyway?”

“Bouche de Noel.” Wow, exactly the same frown as Claire, was it a wizard thing? The confused judging eyebrow? “Yes, you don’t have to tell me, it’s a Christmas dessert. Yes, you don’t have to tell me, it’s disgustingly anachronistic. And no, you really don’t have to tell me, because I’m not trying to pull a Christmas on July thing. You got a British accent, not an Australian one, I wouldn’t even have a stretch to work on here.” Another little laugh. “I’ve been postponed it since forever not knowing if I had the bakery skills, but now that I got functioning tastebuds back I’m all in for it.”

With the cream down, he finally went over the cake, rolling it carefully to form the base of his dessert. It had chilled perfectly and had maintained the form, it looked just like the one in the picture where he got the recipe from. The thrill of making something with his own hands. Another absolutely pointless fun of just a human. It felt great.

Douxie gave it a peak, whistling.

“That looks and smells possibly even better than the mince pies from Camelot. For what’s worth I’m very glad we’re getting Christmas today!”

“Right, because you never know what might… uhm…” Jim swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. From the wizard’s widened eyes, it looked like he couldn’t take that back even if he wanted to. “… today feels so nice. My friends are all here, my mom is here, my girlfriend is here. It hasn’t happened in a while, and I guess I realized how rare this is. We’re not even at the end of summer and we got three different apocalypses, so I thought of… not having too many regrets?” Now that it was coming out it felt very stupid. And insecure. Which wasn’t exactly weird coming from him, but at this point? A fight more a fight less? What was the difference?

He didn’t want to know what it was. He got too close already.

The master wizard breathed in and out, extremely deeply, the washing work momentarily forgotten. He picked a towel from the counter, slowly passed it through his fingers, then let it down. Only to bring one hand onto the former Trollhunter’s shoulder.

“You’ll make a fruitcake, at the real Christmas. A Panettone, or a strawberry cake maybe?” He was smiling, with that renovated determination that had gotten him ever since he came back from beyond the grave. “So you better invite me, and all the others. We’ll have another party just like this one, all together. Every single one of us.” That sounded like a promise. And this guy, this wizard was always ready to give everything for his promises.

So Jim nodded. It was barely a confirmation that everything was going to be okay. But the effort, that alone, was worth at least hoping for. They were all in this together.

Luckily for the guitarist there wasn’t much to clean up besides the bowl and various plates – for now at least, he was half sure Claire was taking this long just to pile up other stuff –, but he stayed to watch the trunk taking form. Two cuts for the shape. Ganache all over. Without worries.

Without problems. He was here. Right here, safe and alive… oh.

“I didn’t thank you, huh.”

Douxie blinked, taken back.

“… there were, like, five dishes. Doesn’t really compare with my shift at Benoi-”

“For saving my life.” Another sequence of batted eyelashes, and it was almost too easy imagining what were going to be his next words. Today Jim felt completely in charge of the situation, finally. “And I’m not talking about the whole turning back into a human thing, neither about the Arcane Order, even though that’s also worth mentioning.” Having Nari around was mildly unusual for that, but she was adorable enough to forget about it. “Claire told me about you guys at Camelot. About trying to find a way back to our time, saving everyone, saving me… the dungeon break was your idea. I wouldn’t have escaped if it wasn’t for that.”

Douxie seemed to have problems grasping this, or simply accept it. He turned his eyes back to the sink, almost as he wished there was still something to make himself busy with.

“It was nothing.” This time it was Jim who snorted.

“You messed up a timeline for one single half-troll, that’s a bit of something. I mean… I doubt Merlin would’ve done it.” That was probably uncalled for. But despite knowing how much those two wizards were close, it didn’t erase what that old man had done to him in the past.

There was no hatred into those amber eyes though. Just thoughtfulness.

“… I knew it was risky. But I also knew that too much depended on you.” The wizard managed a sad smile. “If that wasn’t a mistake, because Merlin didn’t believe in them, then I guess I really wanted to believe in the unexpected possibility that you were going to create… I didn’t want to leave a single friend behind.” He scratched the back of his head, shrugging a little. “Also my wallet couldn’t bare losing a tipper like you.” Sarcasm had to be some kind of special power of those who had been playing with life for too long.

Maybe that was also what made them so similar. Maybe that was also why, in some way or another, they had managed to survive. Jim smiled, bringing an arm onto his shoulders.

“Thank you, Douxie.” The wizard looked at him in bewilderment. And then, slowly, he lightened up, clenching his hold onto his shoulder. Giving him the feeling that maybe, just maybe, there hadn’t been many satisfactions for him lately. And this one came right on time.

“I did fix something after all.” He smiled too. “You’re very welcome, my friend.”

“So NotEnrique bet and won all the socks at Monopoli and I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming, that brother of mine will be the death of- aww, look at you.” Claire smiled at them, putting down the empty tray. “Having a little moment?” When he had taken that little detour for school at the beginning of this adventure, he definitely didn’t expect that one day he was going to be found by his girlfriend preparing a dessert for a bunch of mythical creatures and humans, while sharing a bro gesture with Merlin’s apprentice.

Did he ever say that his life was weird? Because boy oh boy it was.

Douxie took all his time to gave him one last pat and then turned to the girl, this time him being the one to showcase the little menacing grin – he never did dark magic before right… right?

“Indeed we were, guess who ruined it and will join me at cleaning dishes?”

“… well played Casperan. And that’s the only reason why I’m agreeing.” Claire huffed humorously, getting the dishes she just brought in onto the sink. “How’s the cake?”

“Almost done, just need to cover it and decorate it.”

“Good, because Toby got to his praising of your culinary skills, with plenty of more details now that he got all confident about making that one movie. So I’m pretty sure there will be a riot unless they get cake.” She breathed out, picking up a sponge only to look intensely at how her boyfriend was putting down the chocolate bark of the Bouche. It used to bring him such crazy butterflies in his stomach he could had passed out just by the knowledge alone. Now he couldn’t think of a life without those eyes on him. “We really need to do this more often. Just… this.” No silence felt more eloquent than the one that followed. It barely needed a nod from the two of them, while the dessert was finally put altogether with the covering and a smoothing for the surface.

Jim picked up a fork and started passing it over the covering, creating traces that made the trunk look somehow real. He moved the tool steadily, enjoying this, enjoying every moment of this peaceful time of them. Then he turned to the strawberries, all arranged nicely onto the cutting board, and he smiled a little.

He picked up a knife and one of the fruits.

“Let’s see…” He engraved it, creating little petals getting smaller towards the center, and placed it onto the cake. “Roses for my love.” Claire giggled, lancing her arms around his neck from behind. Then Jim picked up another strawberry, cutting it in thin pieces, then placing them onto the surface to form a note with a long tail, the only notion he had about music – at least not including that one piano kinda-serenate to Senor Uhl for not repeating the year. “And a note for my friend.” He completed with a few leaves of mint all over. “I think we’re ready now.”

Today Douxie looked so easy to please. Or maybe he really did spend a long time without being recognized for much. Because his amber eyes were shining, and it looked like he was holding back a much wider smile.

“Were you always this mushy, or was it Claire that has changed you?”

“Don’t know, don’t care, don’t ever want to find out.” Jim picked up the dish with the Bouche on it. “This is all I want.” The witch tightened her grasp – never mind, butterflies still lived.

She showed her tongue to the wizard.

“Jealous that I got the sweetest guy ever?”

“Nah, I have a punk rock soul, I’m immune to pure cheesy lovey-dovey situations.” Douxie grinned, looking fondly at them. “But if I can say it…” He lingered onto them, perhaps a little troubled. And somehow it was clear, he was pondering about the future, it was a thing that he couldn’t help doing apparently. Despite that, his eyes were sincere, and this determination still as solid as before. “Yeah, the both of you have great taste in people.”

They were going to have more parties like this. For sure.

With Claire right next to him, Douxie opening the door, and the number of smiling familiar faces waiting for him, Jim managed to push away the thought of tomorrow, with everything that was most likely still going to come for them. Here, now, they were happy and alive. It was enough.

So he snickered, showing up the cake to his cheering family.

“Merry Christmas, everyone!”

[korra-the-red-lion]

Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 5: Killer Moves, Dude.

(Lyn)

I sighed deeply through my nose as I handed in my test. I legit have no idea how I did on it. Religion in Pop Culture was a fun class, but some of the material was challenging. I mumbled my thanks to the prof and hefted my bag over my shoulder as I headed out.

It’s been nearly 3 weeks since the shower incident. No other freaky shit had happened, so I guess it was just a hideously stupid prank. Our guess was it was one of the other teams just playing a prank on us, or the women’s soccer team. We were the only ones who would have been in the locker room at that time.

Still, the whispers and the strange looks were starting to get on my nerves. I normally would argue that I was an easy-going kind of person, but this kind of attention had made my mood sour as of late.

“Why the scowl, Lyn-Lyn?”

I glanced over when Loryn bumped hips, finding a little smile on her face.

“Just finished writing a test and heard yet another ‘bet they’re gonna lose the banner again’ whispers,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I swear, these people are making me want to commit bloody murder.”

“Aw, don’t let them get to you,” said Loryn, wrapping her arms around mine, “they ain’t worth it.”

“I know, I know. It’s just hard, you know?”

Loryn nodded. “Yup, totes. But seriously, Lyn, I have a good feeling about this year. I feel like barring any extreme accidents, we’re gonna kick Turner’s ass this year and win that banner.”

I finally cracked a real smile. “Loryn, you know you’re awesome, right?”

“I mean, obviously. That’s why everyone loves me,” she said with a cheeky grin.

I snorted, the tension finally leaving my body. I said goodbye to Loryn, who was heading to her next class as I headed to the pool to teach swim lessons.

Loryn was one of those people who just knew how to get under my skin, in a good way. We were frosh together, and ended up in the same res. When we both showed up for the rookie week, we had a good laugh about the coincidence and because fast friends. Loryn came from a family of four girls, which according to her meant she was ‘a-mazing at dealing with conflict’ and it was hard to bring her mood down. She was planning on going to school after this to become a middle school teacher, which I thought was awesome. I was lucky to have a good friend in her, because my first year here was… well, let’s just say I was going through some stuff.

I pulled off my shirt as I walked into the AC, waving to Hassan, who was working at the desk today. He was a really sweet guy on the Badminton team, and admittedly I used to have a huge crush on, so every now and then I liked to tease him when I went by.

He grinned as he waved back, and I snickered as I bounded down the stairs to head into the locker room. I could hear all the kids chatting and messing around in there as I punched in the password to the swim team’s locker room. Those sounds always brightened my mood, and by the time I was done changing, my mood was pretty much back to the usual Lyn Hart standard.

I stepped onto the pool, laughing as a couple of the kids immediately ran to my side. Hunter, Joy, Kevin and Morgan loved me and always raced over to tell me about their days or whatever else crossed their minds. I sat down on the pool edge as they all spoke over each other to be heard, and eventually I had to settle them down so I could start the lesson.

I hopped into the pool and demonstrated the skills they needed to learn for this week’s lesson. I always loved getting in with them and showing them how to do it right. Too often do I see the other instructors standing on the pool deck, not really engaging in teaching. I get it, it’s not for everyone, but sometimes it’s not about you, it’s about the kids. Some of these kids…swim practice is their escape, they need this. If you aren’t there to be supportive, then why are you here in the first place?

The lesson went by so fast, and it was time for our practice. I said goodbye to the little guys and quickly threw on my cap and goggles. Time to get this underway.

XXX

“Lyn?”

I looked up from my laptop bleary eyed. Kerry pulled out a chair and sat down next to me. “Yeah? Wassup?”

She sighed as she leaned back, pulling her leg up on the seat. “I know this is going to sound so utterly stupid, but I’m nervous about the meet this weekend. I just haven’t been in a great head space recently, and with all the drama surrounding us and Gunner, I guess I’m just feeling overwhelmed.”

“Hey,” I said, reaching over and taking her hand in mine, “that is not stupid at all. Don’t ever think how you feel is stupid, got it?”

Kerry gave a lopsided smile. “Thanks, Lyn.”

I smiled in return. “Always. Now, did you tell Emma about how you felt? Or Andrew?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I will, yeah. Just…I wanted to talk to someone else about it first. It’s one of those things where you know that once you talk to someone is like ‘oh, why’d you take so long to say something?’ but still take your time.”

“I totally get that. I tend to keep things all bottled up until it just explodes out, you know? Loryn is the only one who knows how to get it out of me. Remember at the Halloween Bash last year when I finally lost my shit and decked Frankie across the chin?” I shook my head in shame.

Kerry chuckled. “I have to admit though, Frankie deserved it. He was being such a dick.”

I smirked, thinking back to that night. Frankie probably did deserve it but resorting to physical violence was something I should avoid in the future.

All of a sudden, Matt popped out of nowhere. It was like he was using his twin sense to find Kerry. Honestly, it was cute. Kerry seemed to be the more sensitive of the two on the surface, but in reality, it was Matt. He was constantly checking in on Kerry and would seriously drop anything to make sure she was okay. Kerry and Gunner were in an on again off again relationship for the past 6 months, and clearly his drug incident was bothering her a lot more than she was letting on. Matt walked over and plopped down on the table.

“Did I miss anything important?”

“I was admitting to my undying love to your sister, and we’re running away together after the swim meet tomorrow to move to Calgary,” I said seriously. Kerry nodded solemnly beside me.

Matt rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out. “How are y’all feeling about it, anyhow?”

I shrugged. “I mean, the first meet of the season. Feeling a little nervous, but otherwise same as always.”

“Ah, the Stonewall Lyn is coming back out to play, huh?”

“I hate it when you call me that,” I said with a whine, slumping onto the table. “It’s not like I’m impenetrable.”

“No, that much is obvious,” said Kerry with a smirk. Matt burst into laughter as my ears got hot. I reached over and squeezed Kerry’s arm, causing her to jokingly squeal in pain.

Someone yelled at us to shut up, and we all quieted down guiltily. Sometimes I forget that you still had to be quiet in the library. Matt slipped off the table and pulled out his own laptop, and the three of us decided to do our homework together.

XXX

My head burst through the water as I took a breath. I could barely hear them all shouting at me to go faster, that I was only close behind Sophie LeBlanc from Turner University. We both hit the wall and I pushed off, kicking hard. I could see in the corner of my eye that we were neck and neck for the final 25 meters. Sophie was faster than me, but I had more endurance. The 200 Fly was where I shined. My hands smacked against the wall and I immediately looked up to check the clock. A huge grin broke out on my face when I saw the number 1 next to my name. Sophie smiled at me and I reached over the lane rope to give her a hug.

“Good swim,” I huffed out.

“You too,” she breathed heavily.

I pulled myself out and shakily walked over to where the team was waiting, clapping me on the back. Maddie handed me my towel and I listened to Coach Jacob point out some things I did well and things I could work on, nodded when I needed to. He clapped me on the shoulder and sent me to the warm down pool.

I hopped in and swam a couple of laps lazily, to get that lactic acid moving out of my system. I stopped at the wall and watched Kerry swim her 50 Breast, cheering as she hit the wall for a turn. Despite her initial nerves, she was on fire this meet.

I swam back to the other end of the warm down pool and jumped out. I quickly threw on my swim parka and sweatpants, not wanting to get cold. The relay was the last event, and I needed to be ready to swim the Fly sprint. I walked over to where Emma, Maddie, and Tammy were, getting each other pumped up.

Emma huddled us together and closed her eyes. “Alright, you psycho bitches, we’re going to kill this relay. We’re not going to let Turner or Francois step all over us this year. You girls are seriously some of the best people I’ve ever had the joy of swimming with. Wolves on 3. 1, 2, 3!”

We all shouted “WOLVES” and hurried over to the starting block. Maddie chucked all her stuff into the box behind the timer’s chairs and waited for the whistle blow before hopping into the water. A jolt of nervous energy shot through my system as the buzzer went off, and so did the swimmers. I tossed all my stuff off too and slapped my arms and legs as part of my good luck ritual. I spared a glance over at Sophie, who gave me a cheeky smile before getting settled herself.

Maddie was fast approaching the wall, and Tammy was raring to go. She dove in the second Maddie’s fingertip brushed the wall, her form as beautiful as always. I shouted with the others as loudly as I could, before getting onto the block myself. Tammy was slicing through the water, looking as awesome as she did. I know she was exhausted from her 50 Breast swim from earlier, but it didn’t show at all as she kept pace with the others. Tammy’s hands slammed into the wall and I dove in, kicking as hard as I possibly could and fell into a mad rhythm, trying to keep pace with Sophie and Megan from Francois University. My lungs were screaming for air by the time I hit the wall for my turn, and I took a quick breath. My body was already in agony from my earlier swims, but I had to push through that for them. I hit the wall hard and Emma dove in. Maddie helped me out as I struggled to catch my breath. Emma was already halfway down the pool when I got out, trying my best to cheer for her despite my lack of oxygen. Kim Hawks from Turner was one of the best freestyle sprinters in the province, and while Emma was good, she wasn’t as good as Kim. I just hoped that we did enough to stay in the race.

Emma slammed her hand against the wall, and we all looked at the timer on the wall, holding our breaths. Turner popped up in the number 1 spot, unfortunately. But Mount Seamus showed up in the number 2 spot right after and we cheered. Maybe it wasn’t first, but yeah, beating Francois felt pretty damn good. We helped Emma out of the pool and held each other for a minute. I could feel the pride oozing off of us, and that was amazing. The points all mattered in the end, but right now, we did good.

XXX

Mondays after a swim meet were always the hardest. You were exhausted and spent the whole Sunday evening catching up on any work you were behind on. The only thing nice about them was morning practice was cancelled.

I yawned my whole way through my Asia World History course, even though it was one of my favourite classes. It was just hard when you were as tired as I was. I was just lucky since I did the readings ahead of time, because I know my notes were total garbage today.

Professor Gorgens told me I did an awesome job this weekend as I left class, and I gave him a warm smile. The guy was a bit of an egotistical jerk sometimes, but he did care about his students and made an effort to keep up with how the athletes were doing.

The food hall was a little quieter today, as students were frantically studied for their first batch of tests or they were just getting sick of the food already, which does happen. I yawned as I grabbed a couple of the premade sandwiches and some of the less questionable fruits. I didn’t really feel like eating inside right now, so I lumbered outside.

I sat down under the big tree, taking small bites out of my sandwich as I read through my textbook for my next class. It was just about October, and while it was starting to cool down, it was still nice enough out to enjoy the weather.

It felt like I was starting to doze off when I heard someone say my name. I looked up groggily and saw Ally waving to me.

“Oh, hey, Ally,” I said. “How have you been?”

Her eyes flickered to the tree uneasily before looking back at me. “Oh, good! I just finished writing my first midterm and have another one tomorrow. So, just been a little busy. How about you?”

I shrugged. “Good. Busy with swimming and school, so the usual.”

I’m not sure what was going on with Ally, but she kept looking up at the branches with some obvious discomfort. I looked up as well, wondering if there was an animal or something, but I didn’t see anything out of the norm. I looked back to her, and when we made eye contact, she gave me a tight smile.

“Is there…is there something wrong?” I asked hesitantly.

Her smile tightened even more, and she shook her head. “Nope, nothing is wrong. Why would you think there’s something wrong?”

Uh, okay. That was weird. I frowned and said, “Well, because you’re all wound up about something.”

“Am I?”

“You seem to be.”

She made a popping sound with her mouth. “I see. Well…this is going to sound so strange, so don’t judge me please, but I don’t like the vibes from the tree.”

I stared at her blankly before nodding. “Yeah, okay. That makes sense.”

“It does?” She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, totally.” I stood up, brushing my butt off and walking away from the tree. “According to the history of the school, this tree was planted on an old mass grave. It freaks a lot of people out because of that, but I always found it a nice spot to sit.”

Ally’s face paled as she took in the tree entirely. I don’t think I totally understood what was bothering her, but I gently pushed her away until the colour returned to her face. Whatever it was about the tree bothered her, and I was going to respect that.

“Does that bother you?” I asked as I continued to lead her away.

Ally gave a slow nod. “I…it just makes me uncomfortable, that’s all. I didn’t realize that there were so many buried skeletons at this school.” She tried to look over at it one last time, but I placed my hand on her face and directed her attention to me instead.

When our eyes connected, Ally made a strange face as her cheeks turned red. I know sometimes my stare can be pretty intense, according to the several people on the team who told me, so I dropped my hand and looked away slightly.

“Sorry, I just didn’t think you should be looking at the tree if it was freaking you out that much, you know?” I said with a grin.

“Oh, uh, yes!” Ally composed herself and nodded firmly. “Thank you for that. Sometimes I just get into my own head and it’s hard to get out of there.”

“Anxiety can be a bitch,” I said with sympathy.

“You don’t even know the half of it,” she said with a small chuckle.

I walked with Ally to her next class, just wanting to make sure everything was all good before I headed to mine. Some nice-looking guy with a small scar on his eyebrow was waiting for her when we got there, and I waved goodbye to her as I walked down the steps. Ally seemed more adjusted to the student life than last time I spoke to her, which was good. I was glad that she was making friends and finding herself a nice routine to fall into.

I was just about to dash to my class when I realized I left all my things under the tree when I made Ally leave. I ran over and gathered all my things quickly, sparing one last glace at the branches before leaving.

Maybe it was the trick of my eye, but it did kind of look like there was a shadow. I blinked and looked again, only to see the clear sky through the branches. Huh.

XXX

Practice was an easy affair today. Coach Jacob liked to give us one easy day after a meet, something we all appreciated. Plus, he started the day off with great news.

“Gunner is allowed to compete again!” he announced before any of us got into the water.

Several people cheered and Kerry gave him a small peck on the cheek. Gunner looked embarrassed but determined. He apologized to all of us for his behaviour this summer and that he was going to make it up to us.

Jackie reached over and patted his shoulder. “Hey, it happens to the best of us, Gunner. My sister fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up needing rehab. The important thing is that you got clean.”

Gunner brushed away tears and gave her a hug, which caused a huge group hug. I was happy for him, really. Sure, he made a mistake. But you’re supposed to be allowed to learn from those mistakes and grow from them. He was lucky to have such a good support system, because not everyone did. Coach Jacob rubbed his head and told everyone to get into the water and to stop being so sappy. A few of us laughed as we broke up the hug and did as we were told.

It was about halfway through practice when Jackie hopped out of the pool to run to the bathroom. Normally Coach Jacob hated when we did that, but I think he was in a good mood today, so he let it slide. He read through the next set and we got to work.

It wasn’t until we were finished with the set that I noticed Jackie hadn’t returned. That was really strange. I think other people noticed too, because I saw some heads swiveling as they looked for her. Jackie’s lane partner Tammy said under her breath, “What’s taking her so long? Did her tampon get stuck or something?”

I said I’d go see what was going on and pushed myself out of the pool. I padded lightly into the locker room and called out her name, only to get no response. I felt my heart speed up a little, as I felt a pit of concern growing in my stomach.

I walked into where the bathrooms were and knocked on all the doors. Still nothing. Maybe she just had to race home for something? I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling, however. That wasn’t like Jackie at all. She always made sure to let people know where she was going, even if it was a sudden situation change.

My heart was pounding loudly in my ears now as I called out again and still got nothing in return. I shuddered as I walked towards the locker room, feeling a sudden chill. I shakily punched in the combination and opened the door to where our lockers were located.

I couldn’t help but shriek when I saw Jackie lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. She groaned as I grabbed a towel and shoved it against her stomach, where it looked like someone had cut her with something. She opened her eyes and tried to say something, but I shushed her.

“Jackie, sweetie, don’t say anything right now,” I said, trying to keep the panic from my voice. “You need to lie very still, okay?”

She gave the teeniest of nods as her eyes lost focus again. I heard someone running into the change room, most likely responding to the sound of my scream.

I move the door with my foot so the worst of the scene is hidden from view. “Don’t come in!” I shouted.

“Lyn, what’s going on?” That was Loryn.

“Jackie’s been hurt, she needs medical attention ASAP.”

I heard Loryn swear loudly. “Lyn, my phone is in there!”

“Use the phone on the deck or upstairs!” My voice cracked with fear as the blood seeped through the towel. I grabbed another one and applied pressure on the wound, praying that it would slow down or stop. Jackie was looking very pale, and her breathing was shallow.

I forced myself to look away for a second, knowing I was getting tunnel vision. The lockers were all open and the light overhead was out. There were huge gouges in the wall that looked like they were trying to spell something, but I was not in the right head space to even try and read it right now.

The door opened and Coach Jacob stood in the doorway, taking the scene in. He went very pale and had to lean against the wall to keep himself upright.

“I-is she…?”

I shook my head. “Breathing, alive for now. She needs to get to the hospital, now.”

He nodded shakily. “They’re on the way. Loryn…she called.”

Thank God for Loryn. She was good a keeping calm under pressure. I looked down at Jackie and breathed a little easier when I saw that this towel hadn’t soaked through. I have no idea who did this to her, but they couldn’t have gotten too far. I felt like crying so bad right now, but the tears just wouldn’t come out. It was like my body knew what it needed to do right now, and crying was not it.

I refused to leave Jackie’s side until the paramedic gently removed me from the scene to ask some questions. I answered them the best I could, but I honestly had no idea what happened. I thought it was a stab mark at first, but as I thought about it a little bit more, I couldn’t get the visual of claw marks out of my head.

XXX

I sat on the hospital bed, my guts tied up into a nervous knot. I had to be brought in because I went into shock after I- well, after it. I checked my phone and paused when I saw that I missed a call from home. That was something unusual. Honestly? I didn’t feel like dealing with that right now, so I just swiped the notification off. If they couldn’t be bothered to leave a voice mail, then I can’t be bothered to call them back.

There was a knock at the door. I looked over as Loryn, Kerry, and Matt poked their heads in. I smiled weakly as they shuffled into the room. I took Loryn’s hand into my own as she sat down on my bed. Matt pulled over another chair and him and Kerry sat down next to the bed.

“Is…Jackie…?” I croaked, unable to get the words out.

Loryn nodded slightly. “Jackie is okay. She needed some serious stiches and won’t be able to compete for the rest of the season. Jacob and Robin are with her while they wait for her parents to arrive.”

I sighed in minor relief. “At least she’s okay. Um…did they find anyone?”

“They claim that they found a guy wielding a knife,” said Matt. “But Lyn, I’m not too sure about that. Why would some random guy attack a student in the locker room?”

That was my thought too. Also, I swear it was claw marks. They were straight across, not stabbed in. The thought of Jackie lying on the floor flashed in my mind and I had to squeeze my eyes shut as I waited out the wave of nausea. Loryn squeezed my hand as I struggled to control myself.

“Did they give you anything?” she asked quietly.

I shook my head slowly. “No, I refused.”

“Why’d you refuse?”

“I didn’t want to be drugged up if something happened to Jackie…”

There was a tense silence in the room. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else, so I directed my attention to the window. The ticking of the clock sounded incredibly loud as time passed by. The IV pump I was connected to chugged along as it pumped some fluids into my body. I could hear Kerry sniffling in her chair, unable to say the words she needed to hear. It was like my brain was shutting down, unable to process what had happened.

Poor Jackie didn’t deserve this. Not that anyone did, but Jackie was such a sweet person. She would give you the shirt off her back if you asked and would then give you even more. This was a random attack, but why? The why was bouncing around, giving me a headache.

I felt Loryn reach over and brush her thumb against my cheek. I looked at her confused as to why she did that, then I realized I was actually crying. I don’t cry often; it just wasn’t something I did. I began to tremble and completely lost it when the three of them gave me a tight hug.

I cried and cried until I couldn’t anymore.

[jadienjaystoriesandart]

Exploration of the Mind - (1/7) The Heart

Summary: Thomas decides to try out meditation to learn more about his mindscape. 

Warnings: Eh, none that I can think of for this chapter.

*Line Break*

So, meditation, wasn’t too hard, Thomas found he had done it alot in the past when talking with his sides. Maybe this can work. Took some time, but he found out of all the people learning, turning off his mind was actually easy to enter into his mindscape. Thomas sat on the mat in his home as soon the sounds faded out and he opened them to see he was in what they called the ‘Oasis’ part of his mind. The first level as his teacher called it, the place you feel the most stable and encompasses your inner self.  One of the students, Matt, said his was a graveyard, and after having talked to the guy... yeah, he can see it. Another said hers was a clearing in a forest near a pond.  His was interesting, it was a meadow like area with a playground in a small dip between the rolling hills. The air was misty, cool, but in a comfortable way. Took a while to find it too, having exited from an area in the treeline from a long path to get here. But now when he meditated it was like this area was his ‘spawn’ point as he had yet to explore farther. Taking steps forward through the large, tall grass, Thomas could faintly heart birds around, skittering of animals. flowers were all around the area too, it was very beautiful with the blue, misty sky in the early morning.  One lone tree stood int he center of the park like area, Thomas got the sense he knew this place, but couldn’t quiet remember. Shaking his head he pushed forward, following where he felt the right area to go was. Often your intuition guides you here.  Logan was skeptical about this, but after finding Thomas did indeed enter into his own mind, the others slowly opened up more. In here though, Thomas was mostly on his own in exploring.  He paused when he neared the edge of the clearing, Thomas looked around for a moment, he hadn’t even been this far away from it. But, he didn’t feel afraid, he looked carefully into the forest and thought he saw something. There was a small slope doing a little ways down, nodding to himself he carefully moves down it and finds a footpath near the leaves. Thomas looks around to see it was autumn now. The trees were semi-bare and the wind was cooler. He carefully stood back up and looked around to see everything clear now, a cottage in the distance next to a small creek. He walked to it, the sound of the leaves crunching and the wind the branches was actually rather comforting. For a moment, he looked back, to find the mist was now at the edge of where he fell down hiding all else from view. Then back to the cottage, seems only place he had to go was forward. “Huh...” he said as he saw the full picture now. He neared the small white fencing around a garden like area, it was simple, quaint even. Tomato vines grew on a archway, and some other vegetables and fruits here and there. Blackberries and blueberries near the gate, flowers near the window of a light blue colored cottage. There was the faint smell of cookies in the air also, and Thomas felt... safe here.  The sky was still cloudy, but this gave it a charming feel, with the sun sometimes poking out. He couldn’t see into the house though, strange... Thomas walked up to the door to see a mat that said ‘Wipe your Paws’ at his feet. Then up at the door.  He hesitated for a moment, going to knock only to find as his hand neared it the door opened. No one was behind it, this was freaky, but Thomas guessed in his head that where this was his mind he didn’t have any real locked doors.  Carefully he entered into the cottage, the smell was stronger. And... he was in his living room? No... this place looked very familiar. “Hello?” he called out carefully.  There was a sound as he turned his head to the kitchen, standing there was... “Patton?” Thomas asked, as Patton stared back at him shocked, then a wide grin spread on his moral sides face. “Son! You actually got here first!” he cheered, putting down the bowl in his hands and taking off the light blue apron.  Arms were around him as Patton hugged him, woah this was different. He felt warm when Patton held him. Thomas found himself smiling as he hugged back, “So this is your place?” he asked once they let go.

Patton nodded happily, “Yup, you’ve already seen this part, but the outside is the first. Anywho kiddo, welcome to my home!” he laughed a bit cheerful as always.

Thomas found the others happiness was always contagious as he grinned back, “It’s strange not popping up and just walking through the front door.” he mused as Patton lead him over to the couch sitting him down as he went to put the timer on the cookies before joining him.

“I’ll say.” Patton agreed as he plopped onto the cushions, where were soft to the touch, much different from his couch. “So, what do you think?” his moral side asked eagerly, nearly bouncing in his seat.

“Of the outside?” Thomas asked, Patton nodded, “I never really knew you liked Autumn.” he said sheepishly.

Patton just laughed, “Yup, I love the colors of it, maple trees always give the best too. Plus their sap makes for some great sweets.” he looked out the window, which Thomas now to see he can see outside of. 

Thomas was bemused, “This place is strange.” he commented.

Patton shrugged, “Well kiddo it is your mind after all. Some things just don’t follow the rules of logic and reality here. Anything goes for us.” he explained. “Logan thinks after a while of you doing this, you’ll soon be able to enter areas freely without any thought.” he looked very excited at that idea.

Smiling at him, Thomas nodded, “That would be interesting. So, you guys all live in areas of my mind?” he asked Patton.

“Most of us, me, Logan, and Roman, live on this area, you don’t have to travel far down to find us.” Patton hummed. “I guess I’m the first you’ve met.” Thomas nodded and Patton smiled even more, happy to be the first one. 

Patton continued after that, “Logan could better explain it to you, I just know that if you want to meet Janus, Virgil, and Remus, you have to travel deeper into the mind.” he shrugged. “just be careful if you do, too far could mean problems.” 

Thomas looked curious at that, but seeing Patton possibly wouldn’t give much else, he resolved to asking Logan when he found him. “Can I ask then,” Patton looked at him now, showing he had his attention, “why isn’t your room affecting me right now?”

His moral side looked puzzled for a moment, then understanding drew in, “Oh! That I think is because you are here just visiting and not in the dilemma. Or something like that.” he waved his hand. “But it makes it great, meaning you can come in here without having to worry about my room affecting you too much!”

Thomas supposed that was a good thing, he actually really liked the cozy feeling this area gave him. It was soft, light, smelled of home to him. He could see why this area now was nostalgia based, one didn’t want to leave because this area was his comfort zone. 

“Besides, this also means I can show you around.” Patton said as Thomas saw him get up taking out the cookies and leaving them to cool. “If you want to that is.” he said, hopeful that Thomas would say us.

Getting to his feet, and Patton quickly getting them two coats, he asked “How big is your area?” as he was lead to the back door in the kitchen. 

“Princey’s is much bigger than ours, as is Remus’s. Mine is decent enough, I don’t need much Thomas.” he said cheerfully. “besides, everything I like is in walking distance, come on, I’ll show you.” Patton took Thomas’s hand, as the host smiled, maybe this wasn’t a bad idea after all. As he was lead out into the crisp air and Patton leading the way, Thomas decided spending the day with Patton sounded great. He didn’t have much to do anyway.

-0-0-0-0-

It wasn’t until later Thomas blinked out of his mind and slowly got back awareness in his body. His legs were numb, but that was fine. He popped his back and looked around his room.

The time read he had been like this for about an hour or so, strange, it felt like hours in his head. “Maybe time moves differently.” he said out loud.

“Yup!” he jumped turning to see on his bed was Logan and Patton. “So?” Logan asked looking at them.

Patton looked excited, still happy from having shown Thomas around. The host shrug, “Seems to work, I just spent time with Patton.”

Logan nodded to this, pushing up his glasses, “And to answer, yes Thomas, time does move different for us, and hour to you could be hours for us.” he explained. 

“Okay, good to know.” Thomas muttered as he got up and sat beside Logan as the blood flowed back into his legs. 

“At least we know this isn’t a waste of time.” Logan nodded again in thought, “And tomorrow, as we don’t have anything planned, I can show you around my area and answer any questions you have.” 

Thomas blinked, was this Logan’s way of saying he was excited about tomorrow. Given Logan didn’t share feelings often, that was his best guess. “Uh... yeah, looking forward to it.” he smiled.

Logan smiled at that faintly, straightening his tie, “Good, for now we have a few things to do in reality Thomas.” he said, Patton groaned having wanted to talk more. But Thomas smiled, yeah, Logan was looking to make time go by faster so tomorrow would come.

[xenoredux]

The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 2: The Invasion

If you haven’t read episode 1 yet, you can do so here.

As mentioned before, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Animal and human injuries, firearms, other weapons, animal death, and just a whole lotta spilled blood. Basically if any form of violence upsets you, it’d be a good idea not to read ahead

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

HAVE FUN READING OR ELSE!!!

Everyone has just recovered from Daisuke's nasty fall when Gohei has a fall of his own. The old man's antics (and his drinking too lbr) have finally caught up to him, and he collapses in the snow. Before he slips away, Gohei's mind is filled not with the hurried voices of those around him but with images of Gin.

He imagines Gin fully grown, a silver clone of his father. Imaginary Gin is leaping across a gorge like he did while bird hunting, and once again he falls. Except this time as he falls he morphs into Riki, and a trail of blood follows him during his descent into the void below.

Gohei's eyes snap open, and he's greeted with the electric hum of hospital overhead lights. He's greeted by not just the harsh white walls and flurescent lighting, but by Daisuke and Gin, who Gohei realizes has grown substantially. Daisuke explains that the old timer bit shit and has been in a short coma, but he's under the care of Dr. Hidetoshi now. As if summoned, Hidetoshi enters the room, reassured Gohei that he'll be overseeing his care for the next few months, and allows the three the privacy he'd initially interrupted.

Gohei pouts in the way only elderly men can at the knowledge that he won't be able to haul ass outta here while flipping off the doctors again. He's too weak to get out of bed now. Daisuke promises him that he'll be taking Gin's training into his own hands.

Oldie McGee appreciatively places his hand on Daisuke's shoulder, then on Gin's head. He looks down at the dog, relieved to see he's still got silver brindle fur instead of the red from his dream. Gin licks his hand affectionately.

Daisuke is just about to leave and take Gin home when he notices something out of the corner of his eye. He turns a corner to find Hidetoshi's indoor archery range, cementing just how much disposable income the good doctor has. Hidetoshi fires an arrow right in the middle of the target across the room. The customized red, purple, and blue tail of the arrow bobs rapidly as it strikes the back wall.

Daisuke gapes in amazement. Hidetoshi laughs and tells the kid not to underestimate how powerful a bow can be. Daisuke enthusiastically grabs for the bow, and Hidetoshi allows him to, but soon the child finds he doesn't have enough arm strength to so much as pull the arrow back.

Daisuke is disheartened, but to make up for his abysmal performance, Hidetoshi says he'd like to show him something. He allows Daisuke and Gin into his office, which contains a multitude of taxidermied animals, photos of the man's hunting trips across the Western world, and a couple of dog beds. One of those beds contains John, and he smugly rises to meet everyone. John smirks as Gin stares at the photos of John adorning the walls, all of which showcase the dog sitting or lying beside a dead animal twice his size.

Hidetoshi elaborates on the adventures he's had with John, many of which he used a bow during. His face then falls as he explains something a lot less riveting: Gohei's meatsuit is too fucked for him to return to his old life. He'll never hunt again. He wouldn't be able to handle the physical strain. He will never get to kill Akakabuto.

Daisuke and Gin leave the hospital. Daisuke is struck with an existential crisis about what meaning Gohei's life will have now and how he'll never get to avenge Riki's death. Gin whines supportively, watching as Hidetoshi and John enter their car and leave. As soon as they're out of sight, Gin runs back into the archery range and snags up Hidetoshi's bow. His intention may have been to play fetch, or it may have been to stop the kid from crying, but Daisuke takes this as a sign that Gin and he will simply have to kill Akakabastard themselves.

For the next few months, Daisuke and Gin both work hella hard to improve their physical prowess. Daisuke jumps rope, goes for runs, lifts weights, and probably punches rocks or whatever it is body builders do. Meanwhile, Gin joins him on runs and, in his own time, makes an honest effort to leap across the rooftops of houses as if they were his mortal enemy: cliffs. The two boys do everything to get ripped shy of frequenting body builder forums and subreddits, and that's just because the internet isn't a thing yet.

The two have made amazing strides since they began their regimens. Daisuke has arms freaky large for a kid his age, and Gin, now just over a year old, has the most profound dog pecs anyone who hasn't experienced Ginga has ever seen. It's a good thing, too, because they'll need the strength. Though Akakabuto never truly rests, he's not the only thing frequenting the forests now. Winter will soon be over, which means that hibernation for the other bears will be over too.

One day Diasuke comes to Hidetoshi requesting to use his bow. Amused, Hidetoshi allows it. Daisuke finally manages to pull the arrow back and let 'er rip, hitting the target dead on. Hidetoshi is stunned. He knew Daisuke was tryna get beefed up, but he didn't expect the boy's self discipline to get him this far. He praises the boy for his achievement, and so does Gin. Gin and Daisuke have become inseparable outside of their individual training regimines, cementing their brohood more then ever before.

As Daisuke and Gin are walking home, they're met with a surprise. It's Gohei! The stubborn cuss has once again decided he's tired of waiting around inactive, and he commands Gin to come with him and hunt bears. But the ancient dude can barely chuff out the last few words before he collapses to his knees both real and artificial. He topples over, out cold.

Daisuke rushes to his side and tells Gin to retrieve Hidetoshi. Gin  understands because frankly he was gonna do that anyway, and he takes off like a rocket (or should I say a shooting star?) to find Doc. As Gin books it, Daisuke does the weirdest flex of all by lifting the old man unassisted.

Daisuke manages to carry Gohei halfway to the hospital when Gin arrives back with Hidetoshi. After some running around in a fuss, Doctor x Hunter has Gohei settled back into his own bed. The old man is murmuring something to himself about Akakabuto, but nobody pays it much mind. Hidetoshi thanks Daisuke for his help and allows him to go home - he'll stay beside the wacky ole spitfire tonight to make sure he doesn't get up to his old tricks again.

As Daisuke and Gin leave, Daisuke decides he's had enough. Tomorrow he and Gin are going into the forest and they're not coming back out until Akakabuto is Akakadead, Bro. Gin appreciates the conviction in the young man's voice, but shit dude, you sure?

Tomorrow arrives, as it usually does. Gin and Daisuke depart super early in the morning so the parentals don't notice. They only stop to borrow Hidetoshi's bow, taking care not to attract any attention. They've just entered the woods when their first roadblock presents itself.

The bridge across the river has been busted up. The heavy snow has begun melting into the now overflowing river beneath it, and the raging current finally did the shitty wooden walkway in. Now the two will have to go upstream to cross. Before they do, Gin pauses and snarls at something across the way. Daisuke notices several dark masses moving through the underbrush.

It's a mother bear and her two cubs, and it's instantly clear who their father is. Each twin bearbabe has a streak of dark, shiny red fur running from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Daisuke is certain the family is taking a field trip to Daddy Bear's territory, so he and Gin follow the bears alongside the stream as they make their way to the pass.

Having risen only a little later then Daisuke, Hidetoshi is having a lark of his own. He, John, and a few of his friends are all packed into his Jeep and heading into the forest. This trip isn't for pleasure, though. It seems as if some of Hidetoshi's friends' livestock has been mauled to death and stolen, and nobody wants to stand by and let that happen.

The men come across the same thing the two kiddos did, the busted up bridge, and groan in frustration. However, just before they can start heading to the other pass, Hidetoshi pulls out a rope and passes it to John.

He begins giving John commands in English, commands which I wish I could understand, and John jumps over the stream and secures the rope around a tree. Hidetoshi also uses this show-offy moment to teach us all a valuable lesson in being overprepared by producing a pulley from out his Jeep. The other men are having a hard time knowing what to do with this information, but at least they don't have to hike up a different trail.

A ways away, Daisuke and Gin have finally located Akakabuto's territory. They know this to be true because they've found a freshly plopped pile of bear poop. Daisuke has never been more afraid of a pile of shit before, his knees quaking and his breath quickening at the sight.

He decides now is the time to take a breather, so he and Gin settle beside a tree to have breakfast. But Daisuke's anxiety has given him a gut ache, so he just passes the dog his food. Gin tries to enjoy the rice when a torrent of noisy crows descends upon the trees. The birds caw incessently, their calls blaring in Daisuke's overwhelmed noggin. Some of them even begin to land and try to steal from a snarling Gin.

Daisuke's overstimulation has reached its peak, and in an effort to get the flying vagrants to fuck off, he takes out the bow and fires a warning shot at one of the birds. Only it's less a warning shot and more a bullseye.

The arrow plows right through the bird's greedy guts, and though it does scatter the other bothersome thieves, it wasn't what Daisuke had in mind. He's never killed before, and he gets a hard hitting rush of guilt, shame, and astonishment in the pit of his gut. He comes to realize he'll have to make peace with this feeling if he's to slay Akakabuto, so he swallows his emotions and tells Gin to hurry up. They've got a bear to kill.

The two trod through the forest before a drop of moisture hits Gin's nose. Then one hits Daisuke right in the eye (he totally wasn't crying you guys). Daisuke looks up. Just their luck - it's started to rain. Perturbed, Daisuke says he and Gin should find some shelter. Gin begins looking for a cave to hide in, and he has the good fortune of finding one. Psych, did I say good fortune? I meant THERE IS A BEAR IN THE CAVE.

Daisuke almost pees his pants at the sight of the thing. It's not nearly as big as Akakabuto, but it IS massive, and it looks pretty peeved. Gin's prey drive kicks into high gear and he starts wailing on the bear, snapping at its face and leaping around its body to land a few good bites. He's actually managing very well for himself despite his lack of hands-on experience.

Daisuke, on the other hand, ain't doing so hot, having collapsed into a hyperventilating mess beside a fallen tree. Who knew life and death situations would be so scary?!

Elsewhere, Hidetoshi's squad have found one of the missing horses. They're surprised to find it alive... kinda, sorta, for a moment. When they get a better peek at it through the foliage, they see it's barely breathing, mostly because its neck is being chomped on by a bear.

This bear is not Akakabuto, but unlike Daisuke's find, it's almost his size. It takes one look at the men before turning tail and galloping away, leaving the corpse of the horse behind. The men ready their guns while Hidetoshi commands John to tail behind the animal, which the dog does without a moment's hesitation.

The battle between Gin and the bear rages on. In between his blows, Gin repeatedly looks over his shoulder at Daisuke, urging him to join the fray. Daisuke is too busy going into panic induced shock to help, so Gin is forced to keep up the brawl alone. He throws himself into the bear repeatedly, snapping and snarling and trying to draw blood, but the animal is too much for him to handle alone.

With a well placed swipe of a gargantuan paw, Gin is sent whimpering to the forest floor. A rivulet of blood follows him in his descent, the sight of which finally snaps Daisuke out of his stupor. Lightening strikes somewhere nearby. The bear's roars are indistinguishable from the thunder above. Gin stumbles weakly to his feet, blood dribbling down his face as it mixes with the falling rain. Four deep, long gashes span the length of Gin's forehead.

Daisuke stops wallowing in his own fear long enough to begin thinking of how to save the dog from the fiend that just performed minor surgery on his scalp. Through tears and sobs, Daisuke tries to remember what Gohei once told him about bear hunting. The center line. He needs to hit the center line.

While Daisuke is having a callback/bruh moment, Gin is still getting his ass handed to him. The bear sweeps all four of his legs and sends him flying once more, the poor poochie yelping miserably. Gin crumples to the ground, the blood from his mauled forehead running into his eyes. The landscape goes red as Gin sees Daisuke finally take some goddamn initiative and aim the bow at the bear's face. Daisuke doesn't manage to hit the illusive center line, but he does take out the animal's right eye.

The bear reels back in pain, even more furious then its default state of being. It swipes at Daisuke instead of Gin for a change, but Gin recovers from his bloody stupor and drags Daisuke out of harm's way. When the two are a safe distance from the bear, Daisuke realizes that he'd dropped the bow, and now it's too close to the pissed off wildlife to retrieve.

Gin doesn't take notice to this because all his brainpower is focused on getting back to ass kicking. The dog returns to baiting the bear just long enough for Daisuke to snatch up the bow and let loose one, then another, then another arrow into the animal's face.

One arrow pierces a nearby tree. Another enters the bear's left nostril, drawing more blood. The last lodges itself dead center in the animal's throat. The bear topples backwards, scratching wildly at the projectiles stuck in its skin, which causes the arrow in its throat to shoot sideward and pierce its jugular vein. As the two youngsters watch, the bear collapses to the ground and bleeds to death.

Daisuke practically passes out beside the fallen tree, and Gin howls victoriously into the rainy night sky. At that moment, the clouds depart and the rain ceases.

Gin licks Daisuke's face to rouse him. Daisuke hugs Gin, crying out happily at their amazing victory. An unfamiliar sound joins in with Daisuke's whoops of jubilation, and the two lads turn to the forgotten cave. Within it they see two sets of shining eyes gazing back at them. Two small shadows rush from the cave's entrance and half run, half waddle to the fallen bear's side. It's the two red-backed cubs they'd seen earlier. Daisuke and Gin have just killed their mother.

Elsewhere in the forest, Hidetoshi and Company have just managed to down the bear that was chomping on the horse. Hidetoshi praises John for his involvement in the hunt before going to reload his rifle. John seems almost dismissive of the compliment. Of course he did a good job, has he ever failed before?

Despite it's magnificent size, the dog's ego isn't large enough to blot out the smell of something else in the area. Something that smells awfully familiar. While the men are distracted, John heads deeper into the woods.

Back at the new monument to matricide, the bear cubs are trying to awaken their mother and scare off Daisuke and Gin with pitifully small snarls. Gin stands and stares slack jawed at the orphaned twins while Daisuke sobs an apology to them. He can't help but connect what he's done to the cubs to what Akakabuto did first to Riki, then to Gin. Maybe this hunting thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The sound of a dog barking fills the air, and the two turn to see who's making all the racket. It's John, snarling and running towards them. It takes them a moment to realize that John isn't actually running at them, but at the cubs huddled by the dead bear.

As Daisuke tries fruitlessly to scare the cubs away, Gin yells demands at John to stop in the name of all that is good and wholesome. John doesn't know the meaning of the words, but he is familiar with snapping animals' necks, which he now does to one of the cubs.

John then flings himself headlong at the remaining little bear only to be intercepted by a flash of silver. Gin knocks John on his ass and away from the fleeing cub. He scolds John for the cruelly and proudly killing infants, but John doesn't seem to care. All he does is snort, gaze silently at the new scars on Gin's head, and then lunge at the Akita. He introduces Gin's cheek to his hind foot and sends him flying. Gin almost swears he hears John utter "Ha, gottem" before he tears the throat out of the remaining cub. The baby had been too slow to outrun him.

This starts a scuffle between the two dogs with, to John's amazement, Gin gaining the upper hand. He flings John ass-side up, asserting his dominance via animu protag posturing, and the two have a staredown. While they toss schoolyard insults at each other in their hackles-raising contest, Daisuke has other things on his mind.

If John is here, Hidetoshi is sure to be nearby. Daisuke begins yanking arrows out of the dead bear, then calls for Gin to join him in escaping the scene of the crime. The two pound pavement (or the forest equivilent of) as John barks for his master's attention.

Hidetoshi's crew come to find John and are taken aback by the sight of a dead bear and its two cubs. At first they believe that John somehow managed to slay them all, but Hidetoshi notices something that changes their minds. He draws attention to the arrow sticking out of the tree trunk nearby. It's impossible to miss the arrow among the desaturated greens and browns of the forest because of its red, purple, and blue tail.

Hidetoshi and friends begin their own trek home. Both the men and the boys share a similar experience while leaving the woods. While leaving, both Gin and John notice a peculiar smell coming from the surrounding mountains. Both are too distracted to pay the faint whiffs much mind, but without their knowing, they are being watched by at least 100 sets of eyes, all gazing down at them from the mountain cliffs. Tens of four-legged shadows disappear from the clifftops just as swiftly and soundlessly as they'd appeared.

Daisuke and Gin make it back to civilization first. Daisuke tells Gin to make believe they've been here in Hidetoshi's shooting range the whole time. Gin doesn't understand how he's supposed to aid the illusion, so he just sits and chews on himself. Shortly after, Hidetoshi and John pull up in their Jeep. John leaves the car and settles down beside it to rest. Hidetoshi enters the hospital to inform Gohei of what has just transpired in the woods.

Daisuke is pretending to practice when Hidetoshi enters the room. Daisuke greets him nonchalantly without meeting his eyes. Hidetoshi greets Daisuke by telling him he forgot something as he produces the abandoned arrow. Daisuke just about shits.

Hidetoshi scolds Daisuke for his recklessness, tells him he's too irresponsible to use weapons, and bans him from using his bow and arrows ever again. Daisuke responds like any mature young man would by throwing a temper tantrum and storming off with his dog to run through the streets and holler about how nobody understands them. We've all been there, kid.

Later that night, Gin stands atop Daisuke's house, gazing off into the abyss of space. His head is throbbing from where the bear got him, and Daisuke's parents had angrily let their son know that each mark would forever be a scar carved into his loyal friend's head.

Gin wasn't afraid of having scars. At anything, he decided that from now on he'd consider them a trophy from his first real victory over The Enemy. Before he climbs down for the night, he watches as a shooting star crosses the speckled black sky.

The next day, spring really starts gettin' sprung. While this would normally be a relief to the village people (not the band, the phenomenon) no snowfall means no more hibernation for the wildlife, which means all of Akakabuto's allies are sure to be around. Daisuke and Gin are especially aware of this, and Daisuke's feeling the pressure to do something about it.

That said, Gin's mind has been wandering elsewhere. A strange smell from the mountains has been wafting through the village. Gin can't quite put his finger on what it is, but it's neither bears nor God lettin' one rip. Something strange is occupying the woods.

Daisuke and Gin go to visit Hidetoshi. Daisuke plans on begging Doc to let him borrow his bow so he can help stop the ever growing Winnie The Pooh Lookalike Competition sweeping the forest. When the two arrive, they find Hidetoshi and his friends loading back up into the Jeep. They plan on going back to the forest and bringing back both the bear they killed and the one Daisuke killed. Hidetoshi greets Daisuke with a disapproving glare, and John matches Gin's annoyed expression.

Before Daisuke has a chance to ask, Hidetoshi reads his mind and tells him no, he can't have the bow, but yes, he can instead fuck off. Daisuke has proven he shouldn't be allowed to have it, and Hidetoshi, being a doctor, doesn't feel comfortable purposefully setting someone up to get hurt.

As the men depart, Daisuke regresses to 5 years old again. He stomps his feet and screams every obscenity he's ever learned. From his hospital room window, Gohei is looking down at the kinder, his face unreadable. All he thinks is that the little shit sure is serious about this bear killing thing.

Meanwhile, The Master Blaster Squad has reentered the forest. John leads the men back to the bear he helped slaughter, but his reaction is unexpected. His hackles raise and he utters vaguelly panicked sounding barks, two things he's usually too full of himself to do.

The men instantly see why - the bear's carcass has been stripped clean of fur and flesh! All that's left of the animal is a few scraps of muscle on its skull and a slimy pile of white bones. John continues snarling and barking as he gazes at something on the nearby cliff's edge. The men look up.

It's dogs. Dogs of all different breeds are lining the cliff as if in military formation. Everyone becomes more then a little anxious, concerned about being surrounded on all sides by feral animals. The dogs gaze down at the men for a moment (one of them totally does that "I'll be watching you" gesture with a forepaw) before departing, swiftly disappearing from sight. A strong feeling of What The Fuck lingers in the air.

Back in town, Daisuke has stopped screeching long enough to come to an obvious conclusion: couldn't he just, like, ask his dad to buy him a bow? He and Gin head home to ask pops if he's willing to drop a few yen on a deadly weapon for his 12 year old when Momma Daisuke makes them aware of the fact that Dad is outski. He's at a town meeting that's been organized to sort out the whole Man-Eating Bear business. Daisuke, overcome with a need to be involved again, invites himself and his dog to participate.

The meeting is more enlightening then most town meetings are. Akakabuto is obviously mentioned, as are the sightings regarding his children, but so are two newer threats.

Another bear named Madara ("mottled" or "spotted", guess what she looks like) who was originally being hunted in neighboring Miyagi has made her way to Akakabuto's territory. She's not known for picnicking on people, but she is aggressive and willing to attack anything in her way. She's powerful, too, refusing to die even after getting several bullets stuck in her gut.

The other bear is named Mosa. He's traveled here from Iwata, and the easiest way to recognize him is by his missing right foreleg. He's infamous for having killed several lumberjacks and woodsmen on his trek over. It's believed that both bears are making the effort to move into Futago Pass, aka Redhead Central, for good.

Daisuke and Gin have been watching the meeting from a window. Daisuke is seething with hatred at all the beary big invaders while Gin is trying to image the heinous power of three giant killing machines tearing through the mountains. All the men in the meeting are too chickenshit to wanna confront the bears, so they just sorta shrug and say "What can ya do?" This pisses Daisuke off enough to get him to yell at the men from outside, calling them out for not wanting to die in bear maulings.

The dude leading the meeting opens the window and begins scolding Daisuke for rudely interrupting when another rude interruption barges in and tells everyone to shut the fuck up. A rude interruption by any other name is Gohei Takeda, and he's hobbled here from the hospital, getting up the moment the words "bear" and "meeting" were used in the same sentence.

Exhausted from the walk there, Gohei pants to everyone in the room that Akakabuto and his ilk will not stop until they ruin everyone's lives forever. Then he tumbles into the meeting room table, swearing. Several men get up to help him as he tells them, and especially Diasuke, that no matter what, Akakabuto MUST die.

Unbeknownst to the human populace, Futago Pass's Fight Club has just opened, and it's first participants are Akakabuto and Madara. The bears have the arm wrestling match of the century to prove if Madara's allowed to walk around wherever she wants.

Akakabuto defeats her, but he allows her to hang around under one condition: she and any bear she either recruits or births must fall in line as Akakabuto's body guards. She figures that's not a bad deal for free room and board, so she agrees to be his right hand bear. With any luck, they'll all be enjoying human hamburger very soon.

Gohei has been taken back to the hospital, much to his dismay. Hidetoshi is trying to comfort him, saying that he'll get revenge enough for both of them. Gohei doesn't seem pleased at the idea of being left out, but he's actually less concerned about the ego bruising and more worried about Daisuke.

That damn kid has got it in his head that he can kill a 10 foot tall bear with a bow he barely knows how to use and a dog who's not fully grown yet. Hidetoshi says that Daisuke's lost his bow privileges, but Gohei doesn't care. He doesn't believe being disallowed the doc's toys will stop the stubborn child.

He's right to think so, because Diasuke and Gin are hauling ass AND their snowmobile into town. Diasuke barges into the weapons shop and strikes up a trade with the man behind the counter: the snowmobile in exchange for the most bitchin' bow and arrow set he's got.

The man can barely stop himself from laughing, taking Daisuke for an overzealous kid who can't tell the difference between a toy and a deadly weapon. Daisuke strikes up another deal almost instantly: for the bitchin' bow, he'll give the dude the snowmobile AND prove he can fire an arrow himself.

The Weapons Seller is about to protest that the traveler cannot handle his strongest weapons when he schanges his mind and takes Daisuke up on the offer. If Daisuke can hit the tree out back from the other side of the yard, he can have the bow. As expected by everyone who's reading this, Daisuke strikes the tree without breaking a sweat, and so he and Gin hop, skip, and jump home with a new, genuine bow and arrow set of their own. It's time to prepare.

Daisuke and Gin head into the forest in the same fashion they log into Disney.com - without their parents' permission. Daisuke is so overjoyed at having his own flying spears that he's firing off into tree trunks like it's no one's business, making believe each one is a monster bear.

Gin's not paying any mind, though. Not because he's seen Daisuke do this before, but because that strong, unfamiliar scent is even stronger here. His hackles raise and he begins growling involuntarily. There's a power to the strength of the scent that he can't ignore.

In an instant, Gin takes off after the weird smell. Daisuke is confused before scrambling to his feet and following. The sound of snarling and... is that barking? fills their ears as Gin follows the scent. Along the way, they find the battered body of a dog who's clearly picked a fight with a bear.

The dog is white with brown spots, and its head has been crushed as if stomped on. Gin gazes sadly at the corpse for a moment before continuing after the smell. The dead dog isn't the only unusual thing out here.

At the end of the scent trail, the two come to a small hollow in the woods. In a little sand embankment is a young Japanese black bear snarling at a large pack of domestic dogs. The dogs are standing over the body of a freshly killed deer, no doubt telling Tubby Teddy to back off 'cause they ain't sharing. The bear doesn't take the hint, so the dogs begin their attack.

A particular dog, a dark fawn great dane with a collar of red beads around his neck, barks commands at the others. Team 1, attack the legs! Team 2, go for the arms! Team 3, see if you can reach the eyes!

Gin and Daisuke watch spellbound as the dogs organize into units to slay the bear, downing it in mere minutes. Daisuke can't understand what the Great Dane is saying, but he gets the idea of how clever the dogs are. Gin watches spellbound, amazed at the pack's organization and power.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Gin slides down into the hollow to meet the canine coterie. The Dane's gaze meets his first, and every other dog turns and snarls at the Akita. Gin utters a weak "Hi" before the entire pack starts growling at him in warning.

Daisuke's understandably scared, but he knows there's not much he can do against a pack of this many animals. Luckily, the dogs' attention is torn away from Gin by a howl in the distance. Everyone turns to look.

Standing atop a nearby hill is the silhouette of another dog, a dark splotch against the setting sun. His howl is powerful and visceral, and it instantly draws the attention and command of the pack.

Gin is especially taken with the sound. He can't pinpoint why, but the voice stirs up something primal and powerful inside him. He wants to follow it. He wants to follow the pack.

----------

End of episode 2, wherein we finally see where this story is going. More mysterious dog antics are yet to come, which is what I know all you dog weebs are actually here for.

Episode 3: The Soldiers

[an-american-teen-against-crime]

Hi! So I’m conducting kind of a survey/study? Can you rank the games in order from best to worst in your eyes? A simple list will suffice

AHH sorry this took me so long to finally do haha but I finally got it done! (this was. extremely difficult . I struggle) (also sorry some of my notes got kinda long so you can just skip ‘em if you wanna)

1. TRN- it has to be. My list has changed so much over the years and SPY was actually here once, but I’ve realized that this is the one that has stuck at the top throughout the years. It’s just SO. GOOD. from the music, plot, characters, hardy boys, setting, mystery, AUGH it’s amazing

2. SHA- I know this one is quite controversial in the fandom (chores.) but this had always been one of the top for me. It reminds me of my childhood (rip) and I just adore every single setting in this game- the atmosphere is wonderful. I just really adore the plot as well as the Dirk and Francis storyline, as well as the old west feeling (still not over the cliff dwellings or Dry Creek). THIS GAME MAKES ME V HAPPY

3. MHM- this was tough, but this was not only my first game but also it still holds up for me. It’s super old but I just adore the setting and gameplay, the spooks are top shelf and I just adore the feeling of this game from it’s puzzles and storyline. 

4. GTH- I have for sure played this game way too often, but I love it. The vibes in this game are TOP NOTCH, and I will never forget my first playthrough of this game. The story, the charACTERS, setting, music, is all so good. The puzzles tho are a bit of a draw back but I still love this game. 

5. SPY- I felt weird about have two “newer” games in my top five, but I genuinely love this game. It’s moved down since I’ve realized I kinda dislike the puzzles, but the spy aesthetic and the story of Nancy’s mom PLUS the Revenant/Colony Operation is SO INTERESTING to me. Not to mention this game has a unique story structure in the fact that Nancy solving the mystery is actually helping the bad guys which is really unique. I feel like this game also characterizes Nancy really well which I adore. 

6. CUR- So I actually thought this would be much lower on my list because I played this when I was much older than the other ones, so it has less nostalgia for me, but it still has some. (plus a lot of the game was spoiled for me before I played it because I watched a walkthrough of it. Dumb middle school Cambria WHY DID YOU DO THAT) The plot structure and just...the puzzles and how the whole game fits together is so amazing and the music/atmosphere/aesthetic is just SO AWESOME. Genuinely a spooky game and I adore it for that.

7. FIN- I adore this game, the plot, the timer/three days, the characters, setting, everything is awesome. I feel it’s pretty unique to the series which makes it even more special and its just SO GOOD. Plus it has Nick Falcone who is one of the best characters of all time. 

8. DDI- the atmosphere, THE MYSTERY, the whole setting it’s all just. wonderful. I love BEING in this game, and I feel like it’s one of those mysteries that really represents the series as a whole. 

9. TRT- Just like DDI I feel like this game really is a really good representation of these games as a series. It has everything that makes a good Nancy Drew game and it’s atmosphere is wonderful. I also love the history and while it’s way more treasure hunt like than mystery it does have good mystery elements and it’s a very cozy game.

10. SSH- I am shocked this game is so high, and I actually didn’t like it that much on my first playthrough. This is a game that gets better the more you play it because you uncover so much more- I love the museum and all the history, the social commentary, and the mystery IS SO INTERESTING. Like everything with Henrik trying to stop Sinclair and like you know there’s someone bad out there doing this stuff but you’re not sure who, and there’s all this information you uncover AHH. I know some don’t like the phone convos but I feel like tracking down all the different pieces opens up Nancy’s world so much and it makes it feel real. Also just the idea that you have to track them all down is so cool to me. Also the ending is freaky and gives me anxiety to this day.

11. SEA- this game makes me so happy, I adore Iceland, the setting, the story, the ship, the characters, ALL FABULOUS! Some of the puzzles are annoying but that’s a trend for the later games.

12. STFD- it shouldn’t be so high on the list probably but the mystery and plot line is always really fun for me. The whole premise, locations and iconic moments in this game are so special to me. I love just being in the game, it’s so simplistic. Plus, Dwayne Powers.

 13. WAC- this is the game I always fall back on to play. It’s further down simply because the puzzles are a little annoying at times, but the setting is great and I adore the school feeling of this game. It just always has been a game that has stuck out in my mind ever since it came out.

14. CLK- clk is so nostalgic for me, I literally don’t care about the time travel bit because it reminds me so much of reading the books. I love the town, the mystery, and it’s one of those games I can just relax in. You can spend hourS in this game and seriously do nothing but fish, deliver telegrams and play golf. Maybe a game of bard bounce in there too. 

15. SAW- I used to feel medium about this game, but as of my most recent replay, I’ve found I LOVE it. The setting is so freaky and I actually enjoy most of the puzzles. It just has this weird off feeling to it where you’re constantly being told everything is fine when everything is definitely not fine. I honestly wanna make a separate post just for this game, I have so many feelings on it haha.

16. DED- I love the feeling of this game, from it’s Tesla theme, to it’s puzzles, and also it’s a murder mystery which is super interesting. The mystery and gameplay is so fun for me, honestly not sure why.

17. CRY- I love this game’s atmosphere so so much, and a lot of the puzzles are really fun. The whole legend of the skull is fascinating and it has a great spooky vibe to it. However I feel like the plot is a bit weak and I am still salty Nancy doesn’t help Henry more. But also it has Henry Bolet.

18. TMB- I love Egyptology, I love archaeology, and this game is super fun to me for those reasons. the whole idea of the curse is spoopy and the puzzles are pretty cool too. I love both Dylan and Jamilla so that bumps this game up as well. 

19. VEN- I have wanted to go to Venice ever since I played this game, I feel it does a perfect job of making you feel like you’re really there. I love the whole spy aspects, and while some of the puzzles are EXTREMELY annoying it’s a really exciting game.

20. DOG- The vibe of this game is off the charts, I love the history and the mystery is kinda weird but leads you to a treasure hunt which is pretty interesting. I love the puzzles in this game and while the characters are kinda annoying I feel like this game is just so grounded and interesting. 

21. CAP- some stuff in this game is kinda dumb (PUZZLES. WHO PUT THEM THERE I NEED TO KNOW)  but the whole fairytale vibe is great, and I love the fact that Nancy is trying to track down a cryptid. I also kind of hate the culprit motivation, but it is what it is.

22. ICE- this is actually a pretty well put together game, I like the location, and the mystery is nice. It’s one of those that I really question the whole idea of why Nancy is solving the puzzles? Like I get it that she’s trying to get into the needle it’s just...sorta convoluted. Also some of the puzzles are really annoying in this game haha.

23. LIE- pains me to put this game so low on the list, but I freaking hate the puzzles in this game. I like the museum puzzles, and that’s IT. The set has no. reason. to have that weird of puzzles. This is one of those games that would have been better with the treatment of having more practical puzzles like the older games. Anyways, I still love the setting, the characters, and the fact that it’s in Greece, in a museum and has a play about a greek myth makes me really enjoy this game. Plus, I do like the whole villain plot and the ending you start feeling really trapped and freaked out which is exciting. 

24. ASH- I get why people love this game, I really do, but for some reason I always drag my feet to play it. It still is super interesting though from the mystery, characters, bad guy plan, and it has a good classic mystery vibe. I think I just have to be in the right mood to play it.

25. TOT- I actually do enjoy playing this game but the puzzles/chores can be really annoying, and I feel there needs to be more mystery. However I actually do enjoy the setting a lot and there’s something special about it to me. Plus I like to look at the clouds. :3

26. DAN- I like that it reminds me of Paris because it got that vibe, the history and locations are very cool, and I really enjoy being in the game. However the mystery is ditched for Nancy trying to solve the Noisette stuff which is annoying and weird and I feel like this game is a bit unfocused which bugs me. Plus I can’t remember a single puzzle right now other than that horrible wall clock puzzle.

27. MED- Yes, this game is a hot mess and I’m still upset about Sonny, but I actually really enjoy the location and puzzles of this game, it’s just really fun to be in. Also the reality tv show concept is fun. Wish the sheep were alive though.

28. HAU- I like a lot about this game but at the same time it feels very...small? Idk. I just feel like the whole game is Nancy running around on the moors solving random puzzles she just finds in the hopes of finding Matt. It’s weird. I do like the vibe tho and Fiona is a bit freaky. Plus, sheep.

29. CAR- peoplearegoingtomurdermeIwillbethenextjake listen I for some reason feel just meh about this game, idk if it’s just Joy, the location, or WHAT but for some reason it’s mostly meh for me. There’s bits that are fun and I always liked it when I was younger but for some reason it doesn’t do it for me. But I can get why people really like it! 

30. SCK: The vibes are great, the ending is v exciting, and I feel like the school is very creepy and the diner is a solid location. The whole mystery of how Jake was blackmailing everyone and the drug plotline is super interesting to me and while the disk switching drives me NUTS I really like pulling this one out just to feel like I’m in the 90s.

31. CRE- I think this game is fun and has some iconic bits to it, along with the fact I could spend hours at Big Island Mike’s Immersion Excursions, buT the fact is the mystery is freaking weird and I don’t like bugs. But we did get Big Island Mike. 

32. MID- Listen, this game is a good video game, but it’s a bad Nancy Drew game. I liked my first playthrough of this game, I really did, but theres just so many problems with it and it’s so upsetting to see what’s become of the series. You can tell that it wasn’t made by the same people and it doesn’t have the classic ND charm. There are a lot of plotholes and random stuff like the Hardy’s personalities in this game don’t make sense. However there are a lot of stuff that it enjoyable about this game and I will still replay it. It’s just kinda sad.

33. SCK Remastered: Lower than the OG because Beech is dumb and they changed the ending. Also some of the old magic is gone, and all the characters are way less likeable. However it did explain some stuff about Jake so there is that. 

34. RAN- It’s still fun at times and I like the location but the puzzles will be a thorn in my side till the day I die. Also the mystery is just meh. And it needed more characters, that’s just a fact. 

I guarantee that this will probably change by the time we are done with this playthrough, but until then this is my listing. I think it’s really a testament to the games though that there is no game I consider unplayable. SCK could be that game but I am willing to do the disk switching lol.

[homosexualcolombus]

unsolicited online dating advice

let's be real, i was just as blindsided as the next person and had no clue that a few months into this wretched year of our lorde 2020 we would be living through a major historical event that is the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic. so now, i'm home from university with nothing else to do, stuck in quarantine with no idea how long it would last. couple that with the fact that i am a complete gen z stereotype in the sense that i am always glued to my phone and my laptop, talking to strangers on the internet and broadcasting every single vapid detail of my relatively uninteresting life to a just-as-uninterested audience, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster.

two weeks and a thousand pages into the pornhub home page later, i got tired of the rinse and repeat and decided i wasn't gonna be that bitch who gets carpal tunnel less than a month into quarantine. question is, where would i put all the pent-up sexual frustration into now that the sweet release of pulling the padge is no longer an option? the answer? tinder.

by the time i finally got used to the sour taste that "e-dating" brings to my mouth, i realized i needed a game plan.

don't get me wrong, i'm no stranger to tinder and online dating, and i'm not even kidding when i say it's legitimately a war zone out there. god forbid u get hit by a stray hormone in the battlefield (in which case, f in the chat for our fallen soldier). but with the current situation in mind i knew i wasn't going into just any regular battle, hell not even a regular hunger games, but a full blown quarter quell.

this, of course, led me to convening a meeting with my two remaining brain cells: dumb and dumber. now the last thing dumb "retained" was a stupid ad from a youtube video: an e-toro ad. normally i would have dismissed that stupid idea (if you can even call it that) but given the shortage of manpower i decided to look at it in a different way. which then led me to thinking of approaching dating as a marketing strategy (which, by the way, whew! big reach. so glad i stretched before that one). in the vein of the ad topic, dumber decided to regurgitate the memory of an old tv commerial from my head.

tinder. meet, chat, date. olx. hanap, usap, deal.

see the difference between the two? yeah no, me neither.

so now i'm on board, even though i was totally not expecting to get a sensible idea from dumb and dumber. the problem is, how the fuck do i market myself as a person desirable enough to make people want to buy into the fantasy?

i tried forcing myself to remember every single econ related lecture and every single experience i had in grade school where i was forced to sell shit for grades until i've finally managed to unleash my inner entrepreneur. she came and she came ready. the bitch even brought with her a checklist so you know she means business (also because she's a capricorn, and they're all anal like that)

1. branding

i would be the first person to tell you my name is very pedestrian... the kind of pedestrian who's unlucky enough to be collateral damage in a freaky car accident. i have a white person's name too (christopher!!! yes as in colombus aka the world-renowned caucasian colonizer) so i'd say i'm not doing so hot in the branding department.

inner entrepreneur's solution? a nickname. one unique enough that it catches someone's attention, but not quirky enough to make them think your parents are hippies. in the end i chose toph, because it's not THAT common, and it gives the hot normies an opening to make avatar: the legend of aang puns so overall a win-win.

2. aesthetics

the mirror is not my friend, and nor is the camera. i'm what you would categorize as "aesthetically challenged"ㅡ in short, i'm ugly. but this aspect i wasn't really too worried about because i wasn't born yesterday. appearances, especially in photos, are easy to enhance. i knew my good angles and with the help of a few filters and good lighting i was all set. it also helps that i have an android phone because let's be real, who wants to look clapped in hd? certainly not me! i believe beauty is in the eye of the cctv footage quality selfie.

android - 1 apple - 0

3. product integrity

don't pretend to be something you're not because that jig gets real old real fast. i'm the type of person who likes to lay out all my cards on the table, and in that spirit, i'm upfront and honest to my matches about being a pathological liar. it's fun making them squirm by letting them second guess everything i say as they desperately try to decipher what i am and i'm not lying about. plus, everytime i feel the conversation slipping into snoozefest territory, i just say something wayyyy out of pocket and it shoots the conversation right back to party city! is it real, or did i make it up, who cares? who says i don't know how to keep a relationship spicy?

4. advertising

no, pleb, this does not mean you should buy tinder gold (unless you're an incel, in which case, be my guest). what this means is that i swiped religiously. i made sure i reached my like limit early so that i get maximum engagement by the time the 12-hour timer resets. the more users i liked, the more chances my profile appears in their cards, and in this house, we love good exposure!

so now you've read this far and you might be wondering, is this method successful? can i apply this to me too? and let me be the first to tell you it isn't. i would NOT have made a whole blog post and posted it on the internet for free for everyone to see if it did. the point here is that if you've read this far and thought "well maybe this can work" then i've successfully managed to waste a good few minutes of your time (or maybe not few, idk how fast you read), which in the age of quarantine, is a commodity you're bound to have too much of.

now, i believe a thank you is in order?

[barnesnmrnoble]

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Read on ao3!

Word Count: 2000

Summary: Bucky is moving from the couch, carefully detangling himself from the pile of limbs him, Clint, and Tasha had become, before he really registers the soft knock on the door. Clint is half asleep, curled around Tasha like a koala bear relishing in the feeling of her hand carding through his freshly washed hair, while old Christmas reruns of dog cops play on the big living room tv.

A/n: Merry Christmas to the wonderful and darling @cuddlememerrick​! I hope you enjoy dear! Much love from your no so secret santa! 

The pairings in this are pretty vague, its open to interpretation for whoever you want to be together.Or if you want them all to platonic, there is no real mentions of romantic relationships. I tried to keep the reader gender neutral but I may have missed some pronouns or descriptions so if you see any let me know! anyways!

HAPPY READING!

________

Bucky is moving from the couch, carefully detangling himself from the pile of limbs him, Clint, and Tasha had become, before he really registers the soft knock on the door. Clint is half asleep, curled around Tasha like a koala bear relishing in the feeling of her hand carding through his freshly washed hair, while old Christmas reruns of dog cops play on the big living room tv. He grunts softly when Bucky moves him over, but doesn’t give anymore than the grunt and nuzzles back into the brushing fingers over his scalp. Bucky understands, he feels all soft and cuddly in the god awfully ugly Christmas sweater Clint had brought over and made him wear. He isn’t complaining too much, it’s really soft. 

The door swings open with a loud jingle, damn bells Clint had put on every door as “decoration”. Why does it need to be made known that he is opening literally any door in the house, including the bathroom door. Clint really gets into the Christmas spirit and Bucky may glare at him every time he ends up underneath a doorway, because yeah, every doorway also has mistletoe hanging from it and Clint always catches him and kisses his cheek. It makes it really hard for Bucky to keep up with his grinch-y attitude when Clint does nothing but make him smile all day long. 

 “Hey, I didn’t think you got back until next week?” Bucky doesn’t hide his surprise when he opens the door to see you, and he is clearly happy to see you home finally. It’s been two months since you left on a minimal communication op. Nobody had heard from you in the last two weeks, and there had been no mention of you coming home early. Nevertheless, he is happy to see you and knows that Clint and Nat will be too. The four of you are nearly inseparable. 

You look a little worse for wear, a bruise or two forming on your cheek and around your eye, favoring your left leg and heavily leaning against the doorway. You leaning, seems less out of pain and more out of exhaustion, both physical and emotional. The question he asked nearly a minute ago finally reaches your brain, and you nod. It’s about all you have the energy to muster up as a response. Really you should've just gone to your own place, taken a quick shower and crashed for the next four days but you couldn’t override the part of you that needed to see them, that needed to have company after two very long months being completely alone and isolated. 

Bucky doesn’t even hesitate, he knows just what you need. He bends over and scoops you into his arms, bringing you over to the couch and plopping you down between Clint and Nat. He disappears for a minute and comes back with another one of Clint’s ugly sweaters, strips you of your tac vest, and carefully replaces it with the soft fabric of the sweater. He throws another look to Nat and they do their freaky “silent conversation with their eyes” thing and she kisses your cheek before she runs off down the hallway. With Nat’s departure and Bucky off doing other things again, Clint attaches to you like a sleepy, happy parasite, and you can’t help but join him. 

You don’t even realize you’ve fallen asleep until you start to wake up to Clint hovering over you with a washcloth, carefully wiping away the dirt and grime on your face. Apparently while you were out, he took the liberty of brushing your hair out and twisting it into a neat braid that pulled everything from your face. You have no idea how he manages, but anytime Clint plays with your hair, it becomes so soft and all you want to do is run your fingers through it. 

The apartment smells different than when you fell asleep, like chocolate. It smells like Bucky’s amazing chocolate chip cookies, and when you see him appear from the kitchen with a plate freshly baked cookies you can’t help the grabby hands you make at him. “Are those…?” There isn’t much need to finish the sentence, by the smile on his face Bucky knows what your about to ask and his dopey grin answers the question. He nods, before he goes back to grab drinks. 

Tasha glides into the room a moment later, three large pizzas and what looks like little jars of black and grey goop balancing precariously on top. With one hand, she grabs onto the jars and blindly throws them your direction and Clint barely moves to catch them both easily.  Nat drops the pizza onto the coffee table, opening the first box and grabbing a piece. She holds it out for Clint and he cranes his neck to take a bite before grabbing one of the jars (of what, you haven’t figured that out yet but you’re too tired to try.) “Bucky, come on, hurry!” You snort quietly when you hear Bucky huff his way back into the room. “Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’.” 

“What's going on? I think I missed a lot in my impromptu nap.” Clint beams with his blindingly bright smile. “You did. Face masks, comfort food, a good christmas movie,” He puts his hand by his mouth and whispers not so quietly, “and a little alcohol.” You hum happily and make grabby hands in the direction of the alcohol and cookies Bucky brought in pointing at him and saying “You. Are my favorite.”

“Hey! What the hell! This was all my idea.” You raise an eyebrow at Clint and he squawks indignantly. “It was!” You can’t help but laugh, pulling your legs from where they were folded underneath you and wrapping them around Clint like he’d been doing earlier. “You’ll always be my favorite, hun.” He winks at you, placing a sloppy kiss on your cheek. Bucky is now grabbing Nat and plopping them both down on the couch at your back, forming a similar cuddle pile to earlier, now just with the addition of you. 

It’s been two long months of being alone with no one to talk to, none of Clint’s big smiles and dumb dad jokes (and most importantly, no Lucky.), none of Tasha’s softness that’s reserved only for the people she loves, none of Bucky’s giant hoodies and his amazing cooking. And maybe two months isn’t that long but it felt like it, and you want nothing more than to be a little buzzed and curled up in between all of them. 

Your peaceful train of thought is interrupted when Clint drops a glob of freezing cold black gel onto your face and starts to spread it around. “God, Clint! That’s freezing!” He just shrugs and smooths it out across your face. Behind you, Tasha is spreading the grey gel on Bucky, who is complaining just as much as you are. This stuff is really really cold.

 Luckily for you, once Clint and Nat finish lathering your faces in the masks, they turn to do it to themselves and Clint spends the entire time complaining much louder than you had. It’s karmic justice, and really, it’s the little things in life that make you happy. 

Clint has yet to tell you what the movie is but when he gets up to get it started, you realize why. He picked Die Hard. You and Tasha have been arguing with Clint and Bucky for months that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie, going as far to tweet Bruce Willis about it. The boys still refuse to believe that it’s not a christmas, even after Bruce Willis replied with “It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie, boys. Not Christmas.”

“Really Clint?” He nods, a mischievous smile on his lips before pulling you tight against him again. “Hmm, hand me a piece of pizza?” 

______________

The four of you watch the movie in relative peace, Bucky, -weirdly enough- is the one to cause the ruckus. When the timer you’d set for the face masks goes off, well, let’s just say taking Bucky’s off was a bit more painful than the others.

 “Tash?” She looks up at him, immediately realizes her mistake. Her eyes are wide and a bit sympathetic but she is doing a poor job at hiding her amusement. Bucky sighs. “This stuff isn’t supposed to go in my beard is it?” Nat sputters and shakes her head and Bucky is whining again because they have to peel it off and that shit hurts when it’s not stuck in facial hair. Beyond your laughter, you do sympathize.

But it’s an odd picture to see the fearsome Winter Soldier tearing up while pulling off his face mask.

It takes him almost 20 minutes to finally pull it off, and by the end, it hurts so bad, he makes Nat just rip off the last of it around his eyes. Which of course, was a big mistake. The moment it came off Bucky threw his face into Tasha’s chest and you could hear the litany of curses that bled from his mouth. Clint couldn’t hear it, he’d taken his aids out a while ago, but he could relate, he’d done it the first time him and Tash had done face masks. 

____________

It’s nearly midnight when you start to drift to sleep again, Tasha is asleep, her head in your lap. You’ve bashed through four Christmas movies.  Well three, and Die Hard. Your entirely too full on pizza and cookies. You’re sure you ate through 3/4 of Bucky’s cookies. But it’s nice, it leaves you with this warm and fuzzy feeling that’s entirely too ironic with the holiday cheer surrounding you. 

Clint took your hair out from the braid after you pulled off the face masks and was now running one hand through the hair again, carefully pulling out the flecks of the mask that had gotten in your hairline. It was probably what was lulling you to sleep. You fight the strong pull and press your lips to the calloused skin of his palm, at least where you can reach. You pull your hands from Natasha’s grip and sign as best you can to Clint, Thank you. I didn’t realize how much I needed this. He only hums deep in his chest and presses his lips to your forehead. You reach across Tash and poke Bucky’s shoulder, who is clearly about to crash hard, his eyes flutter close only to spring back open every few seconds and you know the only reason he is staying awake is the bet he made with you and Clint that he would be the last to fall asleep. He is pretty notorious for being the first to fall asleep during team movie nights. 

He won’t ever admit it, but it’s easier for him to fall asleep surrounded by the team and people he trusts then when he is alone with himself. Though it’s extremely rare to find any of the four of you without each other. Whoever is out on an op, it is guaranteed to see the others in together, cuddling or sleeping, or really just spending time together. If the boys are out, its you and Nat, if it’s you and Tash, the boys find comfort in each other. It’s a nice balance for a group of touch starved assassins.

You sign to him as well, unwilling to break the air of comfort by using your voice, thank you. Now, sleep. He gives you an incredulous look, silently telling you he won’t lose the bet. I don’t care about the bet. Sleep. 

You should get everyone at least to the bed or somewhere more comfortable than the couch, you know you are going to wake up with a kink in your neck and most of your body sore but you don’t care, it’s just how it is and you know none of you would ever change it for anything.

[im-tops-bottom]

💑Rare Love💏 (just a fic idea)

"CHILLED BEHIND YOU" Vanoss calls out before laughing as he hears Chilled Yelp.

"Sorry Delirious, I would love to stay and chat but I gotta run" Chilled says as his hula girl prop starts zig zagging out of the room.

"noooooooo Chilled come back. I need to shoot you"

"wow Delirious, are you just gonna shoot a little girl just like that? You haven't even taken me out to dinner yet"

Everyone laughs at that and starts making bad date jokes. Vanoss, Delirious and Cartoonz all feel different feelings as they mask it under the laughter and jokes.

"noooooooo the props wo- oh my God you changed into that chair I kept walking pass? No way" Delirious says before having a drink.

"alright run it back. New teams. Let's leave the Gmod gods deligate us" Moo says as he laughs at a tweet Daithi posted.

"and this time Vanoss no ghosting" Panda says as he eats some of his food.

"hey everyone what's up?"

"oh hey Galm. We are playing Prop Hunt. Wanna join?"

"it could be everyone vs the Anthony crew"

Once again everyone goes into giggles and jokes. 3 certain YouTubers secretly don't like this idea as it would mean they won't get to be on the same team as Chilled.

"hey is Mini online? See if he can get into contact with Padilla. The more Anthonys we can recruit, the more of a chance this would turn into one massive derpfest"

"mini had to go to bed early. Sam is ill"

"damn. Hey is anyone Keen to play Mario kart afterwards"

"hell no. I've seen Galm play and he is way too good at it."

Jokes about Panda coming last in 90% of the games pop up and when they hear Daithi's come through their headsets they start making Daithi de Cumberbatch jokes.

Galm joins in on the session without recording as he is only playing just for fun and the game commences with team Anthony vs "team non Anthony".

"HEY ANTHONY"

"which one?"

"I'm seeing Chilled pop up on my screen"

"ah shit. Now look"

Delirious laughs as he is about to shoot Chilled but let's out a "noooooooo I shot the wrong one" as his player model dies.

Chilled laughs as his prop jumps around in the kitchen "I'm the king of props. No one can shoot me" and just like that he watches as his prop gets destroyed by Vanoss.

"that kill came at the right time" Vanoss says as he carries on looking for the other two props.

"what the hell Vanoss. I thought we had something special. You even ghosted for me man"

Vanoss blushes as he stays silent and concentrates on looking for the other two. Lucky for him it doesn't get awkward as he locates Galm and starts chasing him around the attic. He shoots Galm before the timer runs out.

"WHOOOOO I LAST A WHOLE ROUND WITHOUT GETTING SHOT"

"Panda had an amazing spot too. Next round I'm following you"

"where was it?"

"the both of you follow me next round"

After a couple of rounds they finish the Gmod session and some of the group leave. The only ones left are Chilled, Vanoss, Delirious, Cartoonz and Terrorizer who came in right at the end. They decide to see if anyone is else is available for Last Year Nightmare and manage to pick up Gorillaphant and Ohm.

Whenever Vanoss, Delirious or Cartoonz was the killer, they would do their best to not try and attack Chilled and if they were on the same team then they would fight over saving Chilled. Because of this Chilled was dubbed the Banana Bus Princess with his 3 saviors.

Ze joins in the call and starts teasing Chilled about leaving the derp crew but chilled whines about how everyone is teasing him. Ze laughs and tells Chilled to suffer as he joins in on the next round of games which was CAH before leaving.

The crew finish up on a game of Skribbl.io before ending their recordings and just sitting back.

"so Chilled you still Keen for this weekend?"

"yes, I can't wait"

"what's happening this weekend?"

"Chilled and I are recording some vlogs and doing a 24hr live stream with Galm, John and Tom. John found this cabin in the woods that is apparently haunted so Galm said no balls we'll do some vlogs there. If there is any internet then we'll do the 24hour stream there otherwise we'll do it after the weekend and just talk about the experience"

"can I come?"

"wow Cartoonz, someone who hates horror games wants to go to a haunted cabin in the woods? Until Dawn anyone?"

Everyone chuckles at Delirious' joke while Cartoonz tells him to shut up.

"hey man I'd be down for a spooky house tour"

"and the only person who has ever seen you in real life has been Cartoonz"

"who says anything about me being on cam?"

"are you serious?"

"yeah I'm serious. I trust everyone not to let it out that I've secretly been a talking teddy bear all this time"

Everyone makes jokes about Delirious face reveal as they plan the trip. Terrorizer says he'll see if anyone else is keen for the trip and will let Chilled and Ze know by tomorrow.

A couple of days later and it's Friday. Everyone had gotten time off their jobs so they can pack and all meet up at the airport for the overseas friends to join.

Everyone has their recording devices already out, including Delirious who is only recording for personal reasons. Everyone makes sure to not get Delirious in frame and if they do then they'll make note to edit something to block his face out. They laugh as they realize they all had been recording the moment they woke up.

They head out to grab some shopping for the weekend before going through drive thru's at different places to order something to eat as they don't want anyone to spot Delirious.

They arrive at the spooky cabin just after 2;30pm and park up. They bring everything inside and pack the shopping away before checking out the rooms.

"thank God it's a huge cabin" 2 stories in fact, Ze says as he looks around.

Cartoonz, Delirious, Vanoss and Chilled take one room. Ze, Galm, Tom and John take another. Terrorizer, Daithi, Mini and Wildcat take one. Kryoz, Scotty, Smitty and Panda take the last one.

"I swear if we some freaky shit, I'm ditching you guys and just making a fucking run for it" Wildcat says as he grabs a drink out of the fridge.

"you know what we should do?" Mini asks.

Everyone shouts out "ASK MINI" before cracking up laughing.

After finding out that yes there is reception, Mini turns his phone data on and sends out a tweet. He mentions everyone who is at the cabin and to start sending questions while recording equipment is being set up.

Ask Mini got real hectic and at some point there were dares put in place as well. Delirious, Smitty and Vanoss stayed off camera. Delirious for obvious reasons while Smitty and Vanoss weren't real big on being recorded. Vanoss was still shy in front of the camera which everyone joked about.

His shyness went away however when halfway through someone had tweeted that Chilled looked weird standing behind the couch and should just sit between Cartoonz and Ze. just as soon as space was made, Vanoss rushed over to sit down and pulled Chilled onto his lap. Jokes were made and he ignored Delirious and Cartoonz' glares in favor watching Chilled go red when Ze sings the wedding song.

After playing around outside and playing some games inside (they had laptops, phones, board games and console's galore. All types of games were played) they had a BBQ before heading of to their rooms.

Each room had their TV's on with different movies playing in each one. It was nice and calm. Well except for one.

"I wanna sleep next to Chilled"

"but I want to as well"

"how about one of you pick tonight and the other goes tomorrow night"

"why do you get two nights?"

Chilled watched the 3 fight and can't help but snort. He's had a thing for each one of these idiots and can't believe they are still fighting over him. What did he do to deserve this.

"how about instead of fighting, one takes each side"

In a minute, Chilled finds himself in an awkward position. Cuddling on his right is Cartoonz, his left is Delirious and underneath him is a smirking Vanoss.

"guys this is not what I had in mind"

"shhhh Anthony. The movie is playing"

As it was still early in the night, they watched a couple of movies. As each movie came along, Cartoonz, Delirious and Vanoss got more and more touchy feely.

Halfway into the third movie Chilled let's out a little moan as he feels a hand slide pass his clothed hard on and laying right on his thigh. In the span of several seconds of silence, Chilled finds not only himself but the other gentleman naked and kissing all over Chilled. Chilled has to bite his bottom lip so he doesn't moan out loud as teeth come into play.

Chilled finds that it was going to be a great night. He's sucking on Cartoonz as Delirious eats him out and Vanoss bites all over his body. None of them noticing a red light by the doorway.

Each of the older men take turns at drilling into Chilled. At times there are tag teams as Chilled gets spitroasted while at other times they manage to find away for two of them slip Chilleds ass while the third is getting a blowjob. Sooner or later they have practically gone through every single sex position and making up their own (and oh boy are they greatful that all 4 men are flexible) as the sun rises up.

As they make their way downstairs they notice everyone smirking at them. The older 3 look smug while the youngest of the 4 has gone completely red as he limps his way over to the kitchen table to grab some pancakes.

Chilled smiles as he is given painkillers by Delirious. Vanoss gets him coffee. Cartoonz grabs a soft pillow for him to sit on. They surround chilled as they eat while feeding chilled some of their own pancakes even though he's eating his own.

After the weekend is done and everyone is driven to the airport, another argument is made as Vanoss, Cartoonz and Delirious fight over who gets Chilled.

Terrorizer stands between the 3 and tells them that Chilled has his own life and he can make time to visit all 3 men or they can organize to meet him but until those moments come up, they'll just have to deal with long distance relationships.

Daithi feels proud as he pats his boyfriend on the back for that incredible speech.

Everyone says goodbye (chilled gets pulled into 3 long kisses) as they all separate to go their own ways.

....

So this was an idea I had in my head as I was rewatching some old gaming vids (i pretty much watched every video of that had chilled with either 3 YouTubers.) Another inspiration was this fic which I really liked.

Seriously if anyone has any ChilledxVanoss, ChilledxDelirious or ChilledxCartoonz fics then let me know.

And if anyone wants to write this up as a full fic then tag me because I would love to read it. I'm not great at writing and I prefer reading other people's stuff rather than writing my own.

[cassiebones]

The Reunion

Alex had not been looking forward to this night. She had tried everything possible to get out of it; from feigning illness, to bribing Vasquez into reporting a false alien attack, to outright handcuffing herself to the bed and attempting to lure Maggie in with her feminine wiles.

Surprisingly, none of it had worked and Maggie had to practically drag her from the hotel room, kicking and screaming. It wasn’t until her wife had promised her a night of post-reunion sex and ice cream that Alex begrudgingly agreed to go. If only for one hour.

“And not a minute longer,” Alex added as Maggie drove them to the high school reunion on her bike. “Seriously. I’m setting my timer the second we enter the parking lot. As soon as it rings, we are getting out of there.”

“Understood,” Maggie had laughed, patting her wife’s hand affectionately as they stopped at a red light. “And you’ll get rocky road for your troubles.”

“Can I eat it off your body?” Alex purred in Maggie’s ear, making the other woman shudder. She knew exactly what she was doing—and so did the detective.

“Stop that,” Maggie husked, “or you won’t be getting anything.”

Alex snorted and kissed her shoulder. Maggie was wearing that red leather jacket that Alex had bought her for their first anniversary. It fit her like a glove and made Alex’s heart start to race whenever the woman put it on. She often lost her train of thought when she was explaining something to her trainees at the DEO and Maggie showed up to take her to lunch, wearing that jacket.

She’d also put on an NCPD shirt underneath the jacket after Alex had explained to her how uncool she’d been in high school. She’d had only one or two friends at a time, but they’d always drifted apart at some point. Otherwise, she was just known as that nerdy girl with the freaky little sister.

“Let’s see how ‘nerdy’ they think you are when you show up with your FBI badge and hot detective wife.”

“My hot detective wife who’s in the Science Division,” Alex pointed out. “They’ll think you’re an even bigger nerd that I am. And you kinda are.” Maggie had stuck out her tongue and Alex laughed, pulling her closer to catch her tongue with her own lips. Maggie moaned into her mouth and cupped Alex’s jaw in her hands. When they pulled away, Alex nuzzled her nose and chuckled. “My incredibly hot nerdy wife,” she sighed. “All the guys that used to call me a frigid bitch for not responding to their flirts are going to be incredibly jealous. We might have to kick a few asses.”

“The best kind of foreplay.”

The second Maggie parked and put down her kickstand, Alex had her phone out and the timer began. They had sixty minutes to get in and then get out. She just hoped that she could survive it.

“You ready for this?” Maggie asked, straightening Alex’s dress shirt and blazer.

“I don’t know…” Alex sighed. “Do I look too gay?”

“There’s no such thing and you know it,” Maggie retorted. “Come on.” She linked her fingers with Alex’s and led her toward the doors of the gymnasium, which were decorated with balloons and a banner that read: “Welcome Back, Class of 2007!”

Alex’s stomach filled with dread as she followed the other woman inside, instantly feeling as if she’d been brought back in time. Music from the early 2000’s met her and she almost laughed. The Pussycat Dolls vibrated through her nerves as she and Maggie walked through a room that looked as if it were decorated for a middle school dance and not for the fifteen-year reunion of a high school class. Alex’s trained eyes clocked each individual as she walked past them; familiar faces that seemed to have aged two decades overnight stared back at her and whispered among themselves. She checked her phone.

57 minutes left.

“Let’s get a drink,” Maggie suggested.

“Please,” Alex agreed and Maggie snorted, leading her to a bar that was set up in the corner. Alex opened her mouth to order, but a squeeze on her hand silenced her.

“Two diet cokes,” Maggie ordered. Alex almost groaned, but she understood. If she started drinking right now, there was no telling how many she would have afterward. Even in just an hour.

“Coming right up,” the bartender said, looking at Alex funny. “Danvers?” he asked as he reached under the counter for two cans of the soda and slid them across to Maggie, who handed one to her wife. “Is that you?”

“Um…yes?” Alex said, looking down at the tag she’d picked up at the front table. “It’s me. And you are…?” He wasn’t wearing a tag.

“Oh, you probably don’t remember me,” the bartender laughed. “I’m from a different class than you, two grades down. My name’s Henry Tam. We were in the chemistry club together.”

“Hank?” Alex asked. “Is that really you?” She grinned. “Well, look at you, all grown up.”

“Literally,” Henry laughed. “I must have grown about two feet since the last time we saw each other. How’ve you been, by the way?” He glanced at Maggie and held out his hand. “You a friend of Danvers?”

“A little more than just a friend,” Maggie replied, shaking his hand. The metal on her ring finger glinted under the light above the bar and Henry’s eyes widened. He turned back to a blushing Alex.

“Hank,” she said. “This is my wife, Maggie.”

“Whoa,” Henry said, with a growing smile on his face. “I knew we had a lot in common, Danvers, but I thought it was mostly the nerdy stuff.” When Alex furrowed her brow, Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, showing her the picture inside. “That’s my husband, Richard, and our little girls, Coco and Michelle.” Two toddlers hung off of their dads like tiny monkeys, smiling toothily at the camera in matching dresses.

“They’re beautiful, Hank,” Alex said, smiling brightly. “How long have you been married?”

“Only about two years,” Henry admitted. “But Ricky and I have been a thing since high school. My dad wasn’t too approving of that ‘lifestyle’ so I had to keep it quiet until I moved out.” He shrugged. “He’s gotten better with it, though. Best Grandpa ever and he even goes golfing with Ricky on Sundays.”

“That’s so nice to hear,” Alex said. “I’m glad you guys are happy.”

“Same here,” Ricky said. “Enjoy your reunion.”

“Thanks, Hank. Take care.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Maggie said over her shoulder as she was led away by her wife.

They walked around, sipping their drinks and Alex kept glancing around at the long-forgotten faces in between checking the timer on her phone. Some of them were seated at tables, gathered in the same cliques they’d had over a decade ago. They whispered among themselves, all overdressed and way overconfident. They were the same assholes who had picked on Kara all those years ago.

“Lexie Danvers?”

Alex practically hit the roof at the familiar voice and turned, with wide eyes, as she was approached by a beautiful and very familiar sight: Vicky Donahue. Vicky’s smile was as wide and bright and dimpled as she remembered. Her dark skin practically glowed in the low light and her figure…

Gosh, her figure. Alex felt her heart skip a beat and her face flush, as if she was the same little nerd in high school who used to bury all those feelings she had for her best friend. Vicky looked even better than she remembered. But not—she reminded herself—as good as the woman currently hanging off of Alex’s arm. All she felt for Vicky now was nostalgia; her feelings for Maggie were real.

Still, nostalgia could be a bitch sometimes and Alex found her mouth going dry at the sight of her ex-best friend walking toward them, a woman on her arm following at her heel.

“It’s been way too long!” Vicky said, opening her arms. “How have you been, Lexie?”

“Lexie?” Maggie snorted behind Alex and her wife turned to glare at her.

“Don’t call me that,” she muttered and Vicky laughed.

“I was the only one ever allowed to call her that,” she informed Maggie. “And she still hated it.”

“But you never stopped,” Alex pointed out.

“Of course not,” Vicky said, affectionately. “It was the only way I could ever seem to annoy you.”

Alex rolled her eyes and pulled away, reaching again for her wife’s hand. “How have you been, Vicky?” she asked.

“Pretty good,” Vicky replied. “Got married recently, actually.” She raised her left hand to show the glittering amethyst on her engagement band. Her birthstone, Alex remembered.

“That’s great!” Alex said, genuinely happy for her. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“That would be me,” the woman who had been standing just behind Vicky stepped up and raised her hand. She was gorgeous, with long red braids and a nose ring in her left nostril. She was a bit heavier than Vicky and just as beautiful. She wrapped one arm around Vicky’s waist and leaned her head on the shorter woman’s shoulder, then offered her hand to Alex. “Ada Lowe.”

Alex’s eyes widened.

“I…uh…you’re…um…are you…I mean…huh?”

“What?” Vicky asked, tilting her head in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Alex insisted. “It’s just that…well, I had no idea.”

“No idea what?” Vicky asked, still looking confused.

“No idea that you were…uh, that you liked girls. Uh, women.”

Vicky’s eyes widened and then her brows furrowed even deeper as she stared at Alex with a strange expression that the agent tried to identify. She hoped that she hadn’t just insulted the best friend she’d had in high school.

“Um, I’m sorry,” Alex said. “I didn’t mean to…did I say something that—”

“No, no,” Vicky assured her. “It’s just that…didn’t we, like, date for three years in high school?”

At that, even Maggie’s eyebrows flew up and she looked toward her wife with a million questions in her eyes. Alex was pale and very, very confused.

“Um…what?” she asked. “What do you…you thought we were a couple?”

“Well, yeah,” Vicky said. “I mean, we cuddled a lot and we were always holding hands and, jeez, we even shared a twin-sized bed when we had sleepovers at my house.”

“But…we never even kissed!” Alex said. “Or went on dates or—or—or—you really thought we were dating? I didn’t even know I liked girls, let alone you!”

“Seriously?” Vicky asked. “Alex, you have always been the gayest person I ever knew. And I was never in the closet. My parents were totally chill with, like, all sexualities and they made sure I knew it. Hell, my first crush was on Hayley Patterson in the first grade.”

“Yeah, she was kind of cute,” Alex agreed, “but why did we never kiss or say anything about it?”

“I always figured you weren’t ready for that yet,” Vicky said, with a shrug. “And I thought after the first time I asked you to the movies and laid my head on your shoulder…well, it went without saying that we were dating.”

Maggie and Ada watched the conversation like one would a tennis match. Maggie’s smile grew with each sentence until it took up the majority of her face and she couldn’t hold her laughter in any longer. She tried to stifle it, at least, with the heel of her hand.

Alex looked like she was suddenly questioning her entire life. It didn’t help that her wife was practically tipping over in her mirth at her side. Alex glared sideways at her. “By the way,” she said, still slightly in shock, “this is my wife, Maggie.”

“Ha! I knew you were gay,” Vicky said, victoriously. “Also, hi.” She held out her hand and Maggie could barely shake it without snorting.

“Nice to meet you,” she said. “So you and ‘Lexie’ dated?”

“Well, I had thought so,” Vicky retorted. “After all, I always counted her as my first heartbreak.”

“You did?” Alex exclaimed.

“Babe,” Maggie laughed, “for a lesbian, your gaydar is horrible.” Alex glared at her, but Maggie pressed herself against the taller woman’s side and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Alex flushed and muttered something under her breath, but still pecked her wife’s forehead as they continued to talk to what was apparently her first—and only—ex-girlfriend.

@queercapwriting I did the thing.

[radicaldreamer017]

So, my thoughts about Palace 5 and what happened just after...

I’ve seen quite a few people calling this palace the worst... but in the end, it thought it was a hyperbolic claim. The first part of the dungeon with the security cards is the only real annoying part. But I had fun beyond that. Maybe also because I got Xenogears flashbacks (Solaris)... gotta love the Soylent Green reference and spaceport aethetics... Not to mention the Shadow Daleks and shadow/villain Buzz Lightyear ahah.

The timer thing wasn’t a problem either. 

Now, storywise... Do the game frankly expect us to be shocked if Akechi gets revealed as the big bad at this point ? I don’t think they’re even trying to make it a surprise. However, the characters are completely kept in the dark compared to the player... which can be a bit frustrating.

Also, the way Haru’s dad died was just freaky... and bam, cut to a cutesy picture (lol game, that’s rude). The cutscene where the school’s principal died was also quite freaky. I totally expected such a scenario to happen since I did the first Palace. Somehow, our characters would ultimately be faced with one of their targets dying and be blamed for it.

I also liked Destiny Land = Disneyland. I think I grew to like Haru... even if she got less than the others (mostly because she had to share the spotlight with Morgana... on top of being the last party member). But geez... I find her reaction to her father’s death a bit weird. She was pretty unemotional about it. I know she gets lots of heavy stuff to take care of as a teenage girl, since her father was a big company CEO... but still... even Mitsuru in P3 showed more emotion. I guess it feels strange because Haru seems like the cutesy girl who would show her feelings... but she apparently can hide her pain extremely well (unless she’s just not written well).

So, now it seems the next Palace will be about Makoto’s sister... and i can’t  wait. I’m more than 100 hours in... maybe it’s time to play the last quarter of the game. I think I got all the SLs... but I doubt i’ll be able to max them all out. First on my list will probably be Sun and Moon.

Oh and... about Sojima’s SL... i so hope Futaba’s mother actually eventually loved him even if she didn’t tell him. Sojima is a good guy and protected Futaba from her abusive uncle. Respect. I don’t quite have The Feels over him and Futaba like I did with Dojima/Nanako... but they’re still a lovable “family”.