#and i thought we were sorta friends the last time i saw her it seemed like she didn't care if we never met again....

[yukinyaminyato]

feeling kinda anxious abt going to class so i clipped my new pink walrus squishmallow to my tote bag to hopefully make me feel less nervous 🥹

[likeumeanit9497]

i read ‘wanna see’ and it was so good i was wondering if you could ever make a part 2 to it?

keep crying baby | c.s. |

chris sturniolo x fem!reader

a (sorta) part two to wanna see?

summary: y/n and chris have been caught up in a tumultuous situationship with one another for a few months. y/n is fed up with chris' toxic behaviour and knows that she needs to stop, but why can't she?

warnings: smut; oral (fem receiving); p in v (unprotected eek); toxic chris; established fwb; alcohol consumption; dirty talk; choking; hair pulling; 18+

notes: a lot of u seemed to luv wanna see? and i was lowkey inspired to write a toxic chris fic after i heard him say "keep crying baby" on stream the other day (oop) soooo i decided to combine those two ideas into one and this is the outcome of that!! i hope y'all enjoy luv uuuuuuu

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Walking into the party, I was immediately welcomed by loud music and the heat of bodies everywhere. Tonight I was once again going to a friend’s birthday party, and my eyes immediately scanned across the room in an attempt to find her. I had arrived late because I had been taking care of my sick roommate, Bree, and felt so guilty for missing so much of her night already.

Still scanning the house, I began walking towards the kitchen to find some drinks. Everyone around me was already clearly fucked up, and I knew I had some catching up to do. I grabbed a bottle of tequila that was sitting on the kitchen counter and poured myself a line of three shots to take back-to-back, a trick that had become sort of a habit for me. Just as I brought the first shot glass to my lips, a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.

“There you are.” His voice was low, I could barely hear it above the loud music, but I could feel the heat of his breath brush against my ear. I stayed silent and took the first shot, wincing as the liquid burned my throat. “I’m sober Chris.” I deadpanned before grabbing the second shot, and I heard him chuckle behind me. “So?” He replied as I brought the second shot glass to my lips, tilting my head back and swallowing the tequila. “If my memory is correct, the last time I saw you we were not on good terms. Therefore I’m too sober to deal with you right now.” He laughed again, this time putting a hand on my lower back and rubbing it gently. “Alright. Let’s see how long you last this time.” He said into my ear one last time before the heat of his body against mine was replaced by a cold emptiness and I was once again alone.

I rolled my eyes before taking the third and final shot in front of me, needing the liquor more now than ever before. Ever since that first time we fucked at his birthday party, Chris and I had been involved in a sort of complicated relationship. I use the word relationship here lightly, as really the bottom line is that we were really just fucking, and usually only ever when we were drunk. The sex was good, but it was creating a sort of toxicity in our friendship that wasn’t there before.

Even though we both agreed that it was nothing more than sex and that our love for each other was strictly platonic, I have learned that Chris has a habit of becoming possessive of whoever he’s fucking at the moment. I can’t lie, this dominance is fun while we’re having sex, but outside of the bedroom it did nothing but cause problems. If he saw me even in the same vicinity of another man, he would do everything in his power to scare him off. The toxicity was so addictive, but each time I had a run in with him I felt myself lose more and more of my self control. I hated that I had let him dig his claws into me, and I despised the fact that he knew how dick whipped I was.

Sucking on a lime, I shuddered both from the liquor sitting heavy in my stomach and my thoughts of Chris, and decided to do a thorough walk through of the house to finally find my friend.

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I reached for my phone in my back pocket, and through my blurry vision I saw the time read 1:43. I had been at the party for hours, and had spent the entire time drinking. Once I had found my friend, I had to pour us a round — or four — of tequila shots, and I had gone through a half dozen of the coolers in the fridge. Even though it was late, the house was still flooded with people. Each room was overflowing with bodies, and I had stumbled into the living room to take a seat and lay off the drinking before I reached the point of no return.

I flopped my body lazily on an empty couch cushion, and as I did I accidentally landed partially on a person sitting to my left. “Fuck, I’m sorry.” I slurred, turning my spinning head to acknowledge the guy. There was a deep chuckle, and once my eyes focused I discovered that I was face-to-face with a beautiful stranger. “Don’t worry about it.” I watched his full lips as he spoke, and resisted the urge to drool once he ran his tongue across his lower lip. Drunk and disoriented, I stayed completely silent as I stared blankly at his gorgeous face. “You okay?” He asked, pulling me from my trance. I nodded quickly. “Sorry yeah, what’s your name?” I asked, attempting to straighten myself out to look as presentable as possible. He smiled, his teeth pearly-white and straight. “I’m Benny. What’s yours?” I returned his smile and fixed my hair before reaching out my hand in an embarrassingly formal way. “I’m Y/n.” He looked at my ridiculous outstretched hand for a beat before taking it in his and shaking it quickly.

“You’re beautiful.” He said with a smirk, keeping my hand interlocked with his but letting it rest against my bare leg. Blushing, I adjusted in my seat and struggled to force myself to maintain eye contact. “So are you.” I replied shamelessly, taking in his sharp jawline and bright green eyes. “You here with anyone tonight?” He asked, shifting slightly closer to me. I shook my head and batted my eyelashes slightly, causing him to send me a pleased smile as he wrapped his free arm around my shoulder against the couch; using his hand that rested on my leg to brush against my skin.

Just then, I allowed my eyes to leave his and take a quick glance around the room, only for them to fall on the figure sitting in the chair directly across from me.

There was Chris, slouched nonchalantly in the chair with his legs spread and a beer sitting in his lap. There was a girl sitting beside him, enthusiastically talking to him as he stared straight at me. Everything about his outward demeanour seemed relaxed and confident, but his clenched jaw and flaring nostrils told me all I needed to know about what was going on inside his head.

His eyes burned into mine for what felt like an eternity, and my gaze was only pulled from him by Benny’s voice, distant in my ears. “Let’s go take a shot.” He began lifting himself from the couch, pulling gently at my arm as he did. “Uh, sure.” I replied tentatively, not sure that I should take another shot but also not really wanting my interaction with him to be over so quickly. I stood up on wobbly legs and he smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders lazily and leading me out of the living room and into the kitchen.

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Once we were standing in the kitchen, I sent Bree a quick text to check on how she was feeling as I allowed Benny to pour me a second shot. “For you, Y/n.” My eyes lifted off the screen and met his as he handed me the overflowing shot glass with a lime wedge on top, and I felt my stomach lurch at the thought of consuming anymore alcohol. “Uh, Benny, I don’t know if I should be taking a shot right now.” My voice was so slurred that even my own ears were shocked, and I used my free hand to hold onto the countertop as I felt myself spin.

“Aw come on, you can do it.” He replied in a pouty voice, placing a hand on my hip and pulling me against him harshly. “I want to tell my friends I took a shot with the hottest girl at this party.” He smirked and I felt my cheeks blush slightly, knowing that if I was sober I would have found that line horrendous but I was clearly drunk enough to be flattered. “Can I take a smaller shot then?” I asked, knowing that I shouldn’t test my limits. He shook his head with a twinkle in his eye. “Nuh-uh. Half shots aren’t real shots. Come on, if you were really too drunk you wouldn’t be worried about taking just one more.”

He lifted his shot glass to mine, resting dormant in my limp hand. Maybe he was right, I had been more drunk than I was right now, and that level of drunk-me would absolutely not question whether or not I should take another shot. So, I tentatively lifted my glass to cheers against his, and slowly brought it towards my lips while keeping my eyes locked on his. Just as I went to tilt my head back and swallow the tequila, I watched as his eyes suddenly flicked from mine to something slightly behind me, and then continued to watch as his brow furrowed in confusion as a hand came from behind me and grabbed the shot glass out of my hand.

“What the fuck, bro?” Benny’s tone had suddenly shifted to one much angrier than the one he had been using with me before, and his face had contorted into one of complete disgust, and it sort of scared me. I didn’t have to turn around to know who was responsible for this disruption, especially once I felt his familiar touch on my waist. “Oh I’m sorry, didn’t she just tell you that she didn’t want to take this shot?” Chris’ words came out smooth and relaxed, but they had a slightly menacing edge to them that made the hair on the back of my neck shoot up. My eyes still glued to Benny, I watched as he put his shot glass down and crossed his arms. “Pretty sure it’s none of your fucking business, motherfucker.” He spat, and I stiffened from the heavy silence that followed.

Chris was right up against me, and I felt his chest rise and fall rapidly and knew that he was trying to keep himself calm. His grip on my waist tightened as he worked on regaining his composure, and without even turning around I knew his eyes were burning into Benny’s just my the hesitant expression on his face. Finally, the torturous silence was broken by a gruff chuckle behind me. “You do this often, huh? Feed girls shot after shot until their vision becomes blurry enough to find you just a little bit attractive? That won’t work on Y/n.” I opened my mouth to protest but was cut off immediately by Chris’ booming voice. “She’s a party girl, and likes having a good time so she rarely turns down the opportunity to take a shot. So the fact that she tried to turn one down from you means one of two things: either she knows you’re a creep, or she knows that you would never be able to show her a good time the way that I can.”

My mouth dropped at his words, and I watched as Benny’s darkened eyes flashed between me and Chris. I tried to unscramble my mind and come up with something to say, but I was so shocked by the conversation that I couldn’t find the words. There had been a part of me that had been relieved to feel Chris behind me moments ago, but that relief had been replaced by sheer anger at Chris once again getting in the middle of my personal life in a way he never did before we started fucking. Just as I was about to turn around and push him away, Chris grabbed my arm and pulled me away. “You’re coming with me right now, Y/n.” He growled.

I was pulled through the house and towards the first floor washroom, where Chris pushed me in and locked the door behind us. I turned to face him, fists clenched at my sides and armed with a plethora of insults to shoot at him, but I couldn’t get anything out. He stood in front of me, chest heaving under his plain black tank top. His blue eyes looked like they could belong to a wild animal, the way they were frantically scanning my face. His cheeks were flushed slightly, presumably from the adrenaline of once again freeing his possessive side in front of another man. I looked at all of these parts of him, and I knew that if I hadn’t drank half as much as I did that I would have immediately shut down his toxic behaviour. But in the state of mind that the tequila had put me in, all I could see were flashes of him pinning me down, leaving marks all across my skin, whispering dirty phrases into my ear, and all of the other forms of his possession that never failed to draw me back to him.

“You need to stop doing that.” I finally managed to get out, my throat suddenly feeling excruciatingly dry. A small smile threatened to appear across his mouth before he responded. “Do what?” His voice sounded much more innocent than it had just moments before. “Cock blocking me.” I replied simply, crossing my arms over my chest. He tilted his head to the side cheekily. “I was just doing you a favour. That kid would definitely fuck like a dead fish.” I shoved his shoulder and gasped at his choice of words. “Chris! This isn’t funny. I told you this the last time. You need to stop acting like you own me every chance you get. I’m so sick of it. I’m not tied down to you, you’re not tied down to me. We’ve fucked a few times, so what? I’m allowed to do whatever I want with whoever I want, and I don’t need your approval. As a matter of fact, I actually remember telling you that the last time really was the last time, that we can’t do this anymore. And I meant it, okay? No more.”

Satisfied with my drunken rant, I allowed myself to take a deep breath and gather my composure to prepare to walk out of the washroom and back to Benny. Closing my eyes for a moment to wait for my heart rate to decrease, my moment of serenity was interrupted by Chris. “You’re sure about that?” My eyes shot open, ready to go on another slurred tangent, when Chris gestured to his shoulder. There was my hand that I had used to shove him moments ago, resting against his soft tank top, rubbing it softly. “You’re really sure you don’t want to do this anymore?” His tone was soft, but he had a knowing look in his eyes as his hands found my waist once again and pulled me against him.

As soon as my body was pressed against his and he gazed down at me affectionately, I felt that familiar combination of excitement and uncertainty that always came from his touch. He raised his eyebrows, wordlessly telling me that he was waiting for my response, but my words were failing me as my mind became clouded with thoughts of him. “What’s wrong baby?” He cooed, taking his hand and running it along the curve of my ass. “Having second thoughts?” I couldn’t shake the fuzzy feeling in my mind, and the heat that was growing in between my legs wasn’t helping at all. Against all better judgment, I brought my free hand up to his other shoulder and wrapped my arms around his neck. I stared up at him wordlessly for a few moments, my hands thoughtlessly playing with the ends of his hair as I once again lost all self control.

I stood up on my tip toes, making it so that our noses were centimetres apart. I felt his breath against my own mouth, and continued to contemplate as his hands engulfed my ass. Chris’ mouth moved towards mine, where it barely brushed my lips before I pulled away. His hand travelled up my body and to my cheek, where he used his thumb to stroke it softly. His thumb moved from my cheek down to my lower lip, where his eyes never left, and he pulled it down slightly and watched as it popped back up on release. He brought his lips to mine again, pressing them there ever so lightly as if to test the waters.

No matter how many times I tried to tell myself otherwise, I could never resist the temptation of Chris. Ever since that first time a few months ago, it was like no other sex could ever compare. Even though his behaviour pissed me off, I knew that it was never going to make it possible for me to resist him. Ever since it got a taste, my body never stopped craving his, and tonight was no exception.

Finally, I allowed my lips to crash against his, and he immediately worked his tongue into my mouth in an act of dominance. Our mouths moved in sync as the kiss deepened, and I released a breathy gasp as he pinned me against the washroom door. As we kissed, Chris brought a hand to my shirt and pulled it up over my tits so that they were completely exposed. Grabbing one in his hand, a quiet moan escaped his lips as he ran a thumb against my sensitive nipple. His mouth moved down to my neck, where he used a lethal combination of suction and biting to leave what was sure to be deep purple bruises along my sensitive skin.

Once his lips latched back onto mine, I felt his hand slip into my leather pants and cup my heat. His lips turned up in a smile against my own. “Hmm, who got you this wet princess?” I gulped for air as the very tip of his finger trailed along my already dripping slit. “Y-you Chris.” I replied, my brain on auto pilot. He chuckled before retracting his hands from my pants. “That’s what I thought.”

Suddenly, he lifted me into the air and my legs immediately wrapped around his waist as he continued to fervently kiss me. I felt him place me delicately on the sink, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep his mouth on mine. Still having complete control over our tempo, he used his mouth to slow the motion of our kiss down tremendously. Still just as deep as before, our lips moved in a lumbering pace as he pressed his bulge against my core. Unable to help myself, I released a soft whine in frustration as my heat began to pulsate. “Tell me what you want, Y/n.” Chris whispered against my lips, maintaining the feverishly slow pace of the kiss. “W-want you to make me feel good.” I replied in a squeaky voice, nearly panting from the anticipation.

“Hmm. That’s what I thought.” He said, pulling his mouth away from me and staring down at me with glazed over eyes. He didn’t make me beg anymore before he unbuckled my pants and pulled them — along with my thong — down my legs, and dropped to his knees. He grabbed my shins and pulled my legs apart, leaving my pussy completely exposed and in his sightline. “Looks so pretty like this baby, so wet for me. Can’t wait to taste it.” He took a moment to admire my heat before bringing his mouth down just to the side of where I needed him the most.

My hips bucked up in anticipation as he worked his mouth against my inner thigh, frustrated that he was teasing me when I was so turned on that it almost hurt. After what felt like forever, he inched his mouth closer and closer to my cunt at a snail speed, and I watched — mouth agape — at his fluttering eyelashes and small sprinkle of freckles along his nose as he finally made contact with my aching core. My hands immediately flew to his hair, fisting the curls at the nape of his neck to hold him in place as his tongue drilled against my clit.

“Mmm yeah baby, please, just like that.” I slurred as his mouth worked its magic on me. He released occasional hums against my bundle of nerves, which provided a new sensation that caused my eyes to roll to the back of my head. Chris maintained the same amount of speed and pressure with his tongue, and him and I both knew that it wouldn’t take him long to get me to my orgasm.

With a taunting finger, Chris ran circles around my hole, causing me to shift my hips in delirium. He knew that doing this drove me crazy, and when he finally used his fingers to fill me up, I released a guttural moan that echoed through the small washroom. His pumping fingers never missed my g-spot, and my dripping arousal caused our ears to fill with a wet sucking sound. “Oh god,” I began, trembling from the unmistakable feeling building up in my lower stomach. “Oh fuck, gonna cum Chrissy.” I managed to get out as my mind began to unravel. Chris moaned against my pussy but maintained his pace, pushing me over the edge. Suddenly, a violent orgasm washed over me, causing my grip on his hair to tighten and my back to arch. As it rolled through me, a plethora of incoherent phrases left my lips as I lost complete control over myself, and Chris didn’t stop his merciless actions until I felt the gush of my release against his mouth and down his chin.

After placing a soft kiss against my sensitive bud, Chris got on his feet in front of me and fumbled with his own pants. I watched as my chest heaved, feeling like I had lost my mind, as he pulled his boxers down and exposed his cock — its size still never failing to startle me. He positioned himself between my open legs, and I watched with hungry eyes as he grabbed his hard dick and pressed it firmly against my needy core. “You want this?” His voice was in my ear as he tauntingly slid his member through my soaked folds. I swallowed, unable to take my eyes off of his length, and nodded. Suddenly, he used his free hand to land a sharp slap to my thigh. “Y/n, we’ve talked about this. Use your words.” I looked up at him through my fluttering eyelashes apologetically. “I-I want your cock.” I said, my words shaky and laced with desperation. They brought a dark smile to Chris’ lips, however, and it didn’t take him long to slam his hips into mine; filling my cunt with every inch of him.

His size still shocking, I practically screamed as my walls moulded around him. With each of his powerful thrusts into me, I couldn’t help but release loud moans from the combination of pleasure and pain. Even in my fucked out state, I was aware of the dozens of people just on the other side of the door, and I used my own hand to cover my mouth in an attempt to stifle the uncontrollable sounds from slipping out of it. Chris’ eyes were watching his member slide in and out of me in awe, before they trailed up my body and back onto my face. Noticing my hand over my mouth, he grabbed it and pried it off; holding it firmly in his own against the counter top.

“No no, keep crying baby. Want everyone to hear how good I make you feel.” His words scrambled my brain into an aroused mess, and I did as he said and allowed sobs of pleasure to fall from my lips as he continued to pound into me relentlessly. “S-so g-good Chris.” I murmured, digging my nails into his back as his head dropped onto my shoulder. He released occasional grunts as he rolled his hips against mine, and the vocal confirmation of his pleasure was like music to my ears.

Suddenly, Chris pulled his dick out of me and I gasped at the shock that came from the loss of contact. He kept his head resting against my shoulder for a moment as his breath hitched, and I was wondering if he already finished when he finally pulled himself up and planted a deep kiss on my swollen lips. “Off the counter.” He commanded, voice raspy with lust. I did as I was told, still in a trance, before he grabbed my shoulders and spun me around so that I was now facing the sink. I saw a glance of myself in the mirror and came face-to-face with a girl who was practically unrecognizable. Eyes wild, lips puffy, and hair in shambles, it was like I caught a glimpse of the alternate version of me that just couldn’t get enough of the toxicity that was Chris.

Before I could spend anymore time staring at the girl in the mirror, Chris grabbed a fistful of my hair and used his grip to bend me over the sink. Using his other hand to encourage my legs apart, he wasted no time in sliding his cock back in my soaked cunt. Through the mirror, his eyes drilled into me and the intensity that it brought was overwhelming. His blue eyes were blown out, and his jaw was tense as if he was boiling over in anger. The new position that he had put me in provided me with a new sensation, and being bent over allowed him to have easier access to my g-spot; which he hit with precision on each thrust. “You feel so fucking good wrapped around me like this, Y/n.” Chris growled, and I moaned in acknowledgment.

“Who’s pussy is this?” He asked in a demanding tone, and my eyes flashed to his in the mirror. I felt my second orgasm bubbling up inside me, and my words were nowhere to be found. In my silence, Chris slapped my ass hard — sure to leave a dark red mark — before asking again. “Y/n, tell me who’s pussy this is.” Even though I didn’t think it was possible, Chris began pounding his hips into me even harder and faster, doing everything he could to draw the answer from my lips. “Y-yours. It’s yours C-Chris.” I screamed out after he slapped my ass once more, and I watched through droopy eyelids as he smirked at me through the mirror before grabbing my throat and pulling me up to him.

“That’s right,” He began, leaving sloppy open-mouthed kisses against my neck. “This is my fucking pussy. Don’t forget that princess.” He drove his hips up into me unforgivingly, and once he reached his fingers around my body and began rubbing my clit, I felt my legs weaken as my orgasm began taking over. “Oh yeah baby, feel so good with your walls milking me like that. Go on, make a mess.” He spoke his filthy words right into my ear, and my body took them as verbal permission as my second orgasm swept me off my feet. I felt myself go limp, and lost all of my senses as my body was hit with relentless waves of pleasure. Chris never stopped pounding into me, and as my arousal dripped down his legs he pressed my lethargic body back down onto the counter.

Overstimulated, I continued to cry out as Chris slammed in and out of me; chasing his own high. My body felt simultaneously lifeless and reactive, and I gripped tightly to the countertop as I struggled to keep myself from sliding to the floor. “Oh fuck, baby, I’m close.” Chris muttered, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment before shooting open and once again landing on mine in the mirror. “I’m gonna cum inside you, and you’re gonna take all of it like a good girl. Okay?” His words were choppy, and he was visibly struggling to maintain his composure, but still I nodded frantically. “O-okay, fill me up baby.” I moaned out, feeling the pressure of one final overstimulated orgasm take over me.

My body broke out into convulsions as I came, the lack of down-time between this one and my last causing my nerves to feel like they might explode. As I rode out my final high, Chris’ hips suddenly stilled and, as he released a throaty moan, I felt his cock twitch inside of me; shooting his warm cum against my walls. I watched his euphoric expression in the mirror as he finished —jaw slack, eyes fluttered shut; muscles flexed — before his eyes opened once again and he bent down to place a gentle kiss on the small of my back.

After giving us both a moment to catch our breaths, Chris slowly pulled his cock out of my raw core; causing me to wince slightly. He walked over to grab the roll of toilet paper and used it to clean me and then him as I pressed my forehead against the cool counter top. As I rested there for a moment, regaining my conscious mind, I was filled with the all-too-familiar feeling of confliction. Once again, I had encouraged Chris’ possessive behaviour by sleeping with him, but fuck, it had felt so good. This had been happening for weeks, and each time it did it had ended the same way it did tonight.

I let out a groan in frustration, and Chris chuckled under his breath. “Something wrong?” He asked, and I lifted my head off the counter and looked at him through the mirror. “We cannot keep doing this Chris.” I mumbled, straightening myself up to fix my hair and makeup. Chris sighed as he pulled his pants back up. “I don’t understand what the problem is. You clearly enjoyed yourself just now.” His voice was arrogant, and I rolled my eyes. “The problem is not the sex, Chris. The problem is I’m not yours, and you don’t seem to get that.” He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, watching as I slowly began putting my clothes back on.

“Y/n, I know you’re not mine, and I’m fine with that. But that doesn’t mean I want you to be anyone else’s.” He paused for a moment with a bold glint in his eyes before continuing. “Now hurry up and get dressed. Matt’s coming to pick me up soon and you’re coming home with me. I’m not leaving you here with that weirdo fuck.” He didn’t wait for me to respond before opening the door just enough to slide his body through, leaving me alone in the bathroom. And once again — as if my body had detached from my brain — I buttoned up my pants, pulled my shirt back down, and followed him out the door; sending Bree a quick text letting her know I wouldn’t be home tonight.

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[cryptic--writing]

ok i have such a good request for you ml

i’m thinking maybe teenage james and he’s not very popular at school so sorta gets made fun of and reader is like a really popular girl on cheer and stuff so obviously she’s dating a jock and he james secretly likes her or something. Anyway i thought maybe reader and her jerk bf breakup ON prom night and James sees when he’s standing near the snack table and he really wants to do something and nervously asks her to be his prom date (even though they’re already there, idk)

i have faith in you wowza (please ignore how disgustingly horrid i wrote that out)

hihi!

maya omg ily sm this is sooooooo good you're so getting it tonight

also this pic gives off a lot of teen vibes so I thought it was rly cute and fitiing

uhhh idk what to make the readers name so its just ___

word count: 5,446

warnings: extremely toxic/abusive relationship, people get slapped twice, swearing, fluff, fighting, angsty start, happy ending

OPPOSITES ATTRACT (1980)

It seemed like I had a picture-perfect high school life, I was popular, on the cheer team, I had straight A’s, and my boyfriend was a football jock, which was every girl's dream it seemed. People at school adored me, I had beauty and brains. Though, I couldn't shake the feeling of unfamiliar eyes on me sometimes, watching me, but not in a creepy way.

The last few days have been full of excitement, as tomorrow was finally prom night, everyone had their prom dates, dresses, or suits, all of us ready for the festivities tomorrow night would bring. I was walking down the hall with my best friend Tammy, we had known each other for years and did cheer together. We were giggling and chatting when I heard a familiar voice, mixed with others and cruel laughter. It was none other than my boyfriend Darren. Tammy gave me a glance of confusion, and I just told her to shoo and let me deal with this, and she did, walking away. I quickly looked to see who he and his asshole friends were laughing at, and I saw a boy sitting on the floor, his long, curly blonde hair draping over his back and shoulders, a hurt expression on his face, watching as Darren went on to laugh and ridicule him before kicking him. I was not pleased with the sight, and I quickly approached the situation.

The boy was familiar, a past player of the football team. I didn't know his name, but I had seen him around school a lot, we had some classes together. I walked over to Darren, pushing him away from the group and the other on the floor, “What the hell are you doing?!” I asked, worried about the state of the familiar yet unknown man, searching Darren's face for any signs of regret.

“I'm putting that loser in his place, don't tell me you think he's more than that, he quit the team!” Darren yelled back at me, trying to convince me to forget about this.

I shook my head, “That doesn't mean you have to be a jerk to him!” I responded back, going to help the blonde boy off the floor, offering my hand, and he took it as he stood up.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you? If he did I'm-” I was quickly cut off by him.

“No, I'm fine, thank you..” He responded quickly, brushing off his well-worn jeans as I scanned over his face.

“Are you sure? I'm so sorry, Darren can be a real jerk sometimes.” I added, still watching him as his eyes finally met mine. This time, they felt familiar, though in an unfamiliar way. Could he have been the one watching me?

He nodded, “Yeah, I'm fine, I promise,” He smiled at me slightly, which made me feel a little bit better. “I'm James, by the way.” James introduced himself to me.

I nodded with a small smile, “I'm ___. It's nice to meet you, James.”

Of course, I couldn't get even a simple conversation in without Darren pulling me away, grabbing me by my arm, and dragging me away like a child. I looked back at James, giving him a small wave and he did as well.

Once Darren pulled us away from the crowd and around the corner, he quickly shoved me against a locker, holding me by my shoulders.

“You think you can just talk to other guys like that? Especially shitheads like him?” He scolded me through gritted teeth.

I always hated it when he got like this, it scared me so much. “No, no, I- I'm sorry, I won't do it again,” I barely mumbled in my shaky tone.

He slapped me across the face, causing me to wince in pain and cover the impacted area, the sting growing with each second, and I could feel tears pricking my eyes.

“You better keep that promise, or else you'll be bruised way worse next time.” He threatened, pushing me back against the locker again before storming off, leaving me there as I began to cry, my mascara starting to run as I quickly headed to the bathrooms so I could hide. No one could see me, not like this. I'm considered the queen of the school, and the queen doesn't cry, right?

I quickly scurried into a stall, locking the door as I heard other students enter the bathroom. I quickly grabbed toilet paper to wipe my eyes, trying to clean up the mess I had become, trying to stop the tears that just kept coming. I covered my mouth, hearing the mumbled words of the other girls in the bathroom, waiting for them to finally leave to clean myself up.

I didn't want to go to prom anymore, not with Darren. I thought back to James, he seemed so sweet, and he was cute too. But unless I wanted to be hurt again, I wouldn't be able to speak with him, which disappointed me slightly, as he seemed like a nice guy.

As I heard the girls leave the bathroom, I quickly came out of the stall, looking at my messy face in the mirror, using water to rinse off my eyes and remove the mascara stains. I could also notice the growing red mark on my cheek, making me frown that it would be obvious, and possibly even appear tomorrow night.

Luckily, I probably wouldn't have to see any more of Darren until cheer practice, since he leaves campus for lunch. He normally watches me at practice, or at least I think he's watching me. I finished cleaning myself up, walking out of the bathroom as I wiped the last of my tears away, and headed to the cafeteria to get my lunch, which was a plain, boring salad, a diet suggested by my coach, and one forced by Darren. I don't even know what he sees in me, or what I see in him, but love is a crazy thing I guess.

I grabbed my tray, heading towards the salad bar, grabbing a paper bowl, and scooping some lettuce and tomatoes into it, garnishing it with minimal sauce and other salad additions before looking for somewhere to sit. I normally sat with my friends, and the rest of the cheer squad, searching for Tammy, but I couldn't notice or see her, but I did notice a familiar face sitting at a table, alone in the corner.

It was James. Darren wasn't here, so maybe I could go sit with him and talk, he looked really lonely, though he was always shy anyway. I headed in the direction of his table, all the way in the back, pushed into a corner. 

I approached him, “Mind if I sit with you?” I asked James, who didn't notice me approaching, though he nodded.

“Uh, no, go ahead.” He responded, his voice soft and shy.

James watched as I sat in front of him, picking and mixing my salad before he spoke again.

“That guy, Darren, he didn't seem too happy about you talking to me,” He began, his voice still soft as he spoke.

I shrugged, “Oh, my boyfriend Darren, he's a bit.. Sensitive, I guess. But love works in odd ways, y’know?” I said to assure him, but it seemed it was more to assure myself instead.

James' face changed, maybe disappointment, “Darren is your boyfriend?”

I nodded as I continued to eat, “Yeah, we’ve been together for a couple of months. Do you know him?”

James shrugged with a nod, “Yeah, I was on the football team with him.”

I glanced up at James, “He said you quit the team, why was that?”

“Coach told me to cut my hair or quit the team. I didn't have much choice.” He answered with a small chuckle.

I smiled at his answer, finishing my small salad as James continued to eat his own lunch.

“Are you looking forward to prom tomorrow?” I asked James, expecting a ‘yes’ as it seemed everyone was, but with him, I don't think prom is his biggest dream at the moment.

James just shrugged, “I guess, I wasn't really planning on going, but my friend Ron is, so I'll just go to hang out with him.” He answered, though his voice did not convey a single bit of excitement.

I just nodded, “It'll be fun.” I added, getting up to put my lunch tray away, feeling James' eyes on me as I walked away. After a minute I returned, going back and sitting in front of him, looking to the side briefly, making the faint red handprint on my cheek obvious, and James watchful eyes definitely noticed.

“Hey, what's that on your cheek? Did someone hit you?” James asked, his voice worried.

I felt my stomach drop, quickly covering it up with my hand and shaking my head, “No, no, I just uh.. Fell, earlier.” I muttered quickly, my words obviously untruthful.

James clearly didn't buy it, sitting up straighter and reaching out to moe my hand, his touch gentle and caring.

“You don't get a handprint on your face from falling. Who hit you?” James carefully moved my hand away, gently caressing the slap mark, making me bite back a wince of pain.

“No one, James. I'm fine, it's nothing.” I kept denying the truth.

Even with my continued responses, James wouldn't let up. “___. No one just ends up with a red print on their face, someone hurt you. Who.” This time he demanded that I tell him, but if I did, things would be a lot worse for me, and I didn't want James to get hurt by Darren again.

I shook my head, “James, just drop it.” I sighed, and he slowly pulled his hand away, backing down to where he sat.

“Fine.” He mumbled, letting it go for now, but I could see him continue to think about it.

It was silent between us for a while, until the bell rang and we gave each other a look of goodbye, walking off to our separate classes.

LATER THAT DAY

School had finished for the day, and now I was at cheer practice. The whole day Darren was gone, a bit of a blessing for me, but I also noticed that Tammy was gone too. She probably just didn't feel well and left early, and Darren probably had a party with his friends.

I walked towards the gym where we normally practiced, expecting to see Darren in the bleachers and some of the other girls' boyfriends or siblings.

I entered the gym, hearing the squeak of sneakers on the wooden floor, noticing I was 4 minutes late. I sighed, setting my bag down as I joined the rest of the group, looking for Tammy, but I couldn't see her. Maybe she was just in the bathroom or something, so I walked up to Ashley.

“Ashley, have you seen Tammy?” I asked her, almost worried about my friend's absence.

She just shook her head, “No, not since our last class together. Why?”

I shrugged, “Nothing, thanks.”

I walked away, looking at the bleachers to also see that Darren wasn't there either. It had to be a coincidence, right?

Tammy wouldn't do that to me, we had been friends since middle school. I was probably just overthinking everything. The prom was tomorrow, and that should be what I'm focused on.

Until my coach snapped me out of my haze, grabbing my attention back to practice.

THE NEXT DAY

I awoke with a groan, stirring in my lonesome bed as my alarm clock rang. I slowly sat up, turning off the blaring machine. I sighed, the events of yesterday playing over in my mind, getting up and walking towards the full body mirror in my room, seeing that the mark Darren left had grown to a darker bruise, the faint and warped shape of his hand more obvious. I felt a sadness in my whole body, today was prom, and I'd be a mess all because of him. I looked to my prom dress I was so excited to wear, hanging on a rack, the slightly poofy, flowy baby blue dress, so beautiful, would now never be brought to its full prom night potential. I had spent months working up the money to finally get it, not to mention to heels I would be wearing with it.

I quickly got ready for school, wearing a denim skirt with a light pink sweater, quickly doing my hair, keeping it down, and working on my makeup before I could put on my shoes and head out for school.

As I drove to school, I couldn't help but wonder why Darren and Tammy were absent from cheer and lunch. Darren normally was gone during lunch, but Tammy was normally always there, sitting at the cheer table waiting for me.

And she had never missed one cheer practice, ever. This wasn't like her, but maybe she just felt sick and left early. Eventually, I shook the thoughts out of my head, my mind wandering somewhere more pleasant, James. He was so shy and sweet, though a complete opposite of me.

A guitar-playing metal head in a band, his beautiful long hair almost like a lion's mane, I couldn't help but feel a little attracted to him, even if I was in a relationship with Darren. I hadn't known James long, but he feels closer than that.

After a few more minutes of driving, I arrived at school, parking my car, and walking into the building, firstly headed to my locker, where I saw Darren hanging nearby, seeing him talk to a friend of his as I walked up to him.

“Hey, ‘you excited for prom? We're still going together, right?” I asked with a smile on my face as he broke away from his conversation, shooting me an annoyed glare.

“God, just leave me be, ____. I don't needa hear you bitch to me.” He replied coldly, ignoring my questions.

My smile quickly dropped, sighing and walking away with a frown, heading back towards my locker to grab my stuff, not paying much attention to my surroundings, my shoulder bumped into someone's arm snapping me out of my sad haze. 

“Sorry, I didn-” I glanced up at the person, realizing it was James.

He quickly noticed the bruise on my face, his face changing with worry, “What happened? I want an answer this time. You don't just get a bruise like that from nothing.” James more so demanded rather than asked.

I sighed, shaking my head, “I really shouldn't be talking with you right now,” I muttered, trying to walk away quickly, leaving him hurt and confused as he followed after me, grabbing my arm.

“Hey, where are you going? Why can't you talk to me?”

I grunted, trying to get out of his hold, Darren's threat replaying in my mind. I didn't want to get hurt further, and I really didn't want James to get dragged into this and hurt as well.

“James, I can't talk to you. Leave me alone!” I grumbled, and he let go of my arm, a look of hurt and sadness on his face as he watched me walk away from him. I felt horrible for treating him like that, but I couldn't put either of us at risk.

Even after I stormed off, I could still feel his eyes on my back, heading towards class. It was like he was glued to me, unable to remove himself until I got too far into the crowd where he could no longer see me.

School was slow that day, though the classes and students buzzed with excitement over prom, smiles, and laughs with last-minute prom-posals, though I couldn't get myself to feel excited over the eventful night.

Eventually, it had reached our lunch hour, everyone heading to the cafeteria, seeing the cheer table, where Tammy actually was, and I also saw James, alone again, in the corner.

I had to talk to Tammy for a minute, even though I would've almost preferred to be with James. He looked disappointed, sad in a way, and I knew I was part of it.

I sighed, grabbing my lunch and scurrying towards Tammy and the table of other cheer members, sitting down next to her.

“Where were you yesterday? You were gone all day basically and didn't make it to cheer.” I asked, slightly worried but confused.

She just shrugged it off, “Oh, I just didn't really feel like going. I had other things and people I wanted to do instead.”

Her voice had an undertone to it, I couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly, but it was not good. She sounded snarky, and when she said ‘people she wanted to do’ I could tell something was off. I gave her an odd look, eyeing her before something caught my eye.

Hickies, on her neck. It wasn't something usual, she didn't have a boyfriend or crush or something, or at least not one that was known. She gave me a small smirk, noticing my staring.

“What? Is something wrong?” She teased rather than asked, and now everything clicked.

Why Darren was gone all day, why she was gone all day, why Darren disregarded the prom thing, why she is acting so strange.

It seemed that my world crumbled around me, my once perfect social life, shattered in just a day.

I quickly got up, not thinking to grab my food, I had lost any appetite I once had, storming towards the back of the cafeteria. I needed someone to talk to, but there was no one I could air something like this out to. I wasn't thinking much, quickly leaving through the back, but I could feel familiar eyes on me as my own welled up with tears.

James.

I ignored the feeling, running out to the empty hall and outside the school, tears streaming down my face as I wandered towards the empty school courtyard, sitting in the grass as my emotions crashed down on me, everything coming loose in my head, though clicking.

Darren had always been an asshole to me, sure, there were the good moments, but I never felt truly happy with him because he never seemed that happy with me. I loved him, so much, but all that love was now thrown away for my own best friend. He doesn't even know that I know, but I doubt he could care.

I tried wiping my tears off of my face, staining my sleeves black with runny mascara as I heard footsteps approach, glancing up, my puffy eyes meeting James.

He slowed as he came closer, sighing. “I know you want me to leave you alone, but..” He trailed off, watching me as I sniffled, shaking my head.

“No, I don't want you to leave me alone,” I mumbled, and he came closer and sat next to me. 

I looked at him as I sighed, “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it, I didn't mean it.”

He shrugged, “Why would you not mean it? I'm a fuckin’ loser and you're, well, you.”

We sat in silence together for a moment, and I sniffled again as I tried to stop my tears.

“What's wrong? Or do you not wanna tell me.” He asked, and I had to tell someone, I had to tell him.

I began to cry more as I explained what happened, Darren hitting me for talking to James, the threats he made, getting cheated on with my best friends, all the toxicity of my relationship with him finally coming to light as I leaned against James, and he held me, gently wrapping his arms around me as I sobbed into his shoulder, hearing every word, cry, and sound I made, careful to listen to me in a time of hurt.

The story seemed to make James upset that that had happened to me, but it also seemed to fuel a fire in him. For the short time he'd known me personally, he seemed to care a lot already.

I eventually stopped mumbling the story as I kept crying, his worn band shirt soaked with my tears as he gently rubbed my side with his hand, his touch making me feel warm, something that Darren never could do.

“Shhhh, you'll be okay, I'm here, alright?” He said to me in a soft voice, trying to comfort me as I kept crying against him.

“You don't need that asshole, you can do so much better than him. And if she was really your friend, she wouldn't have done something so shitty like that.” He kept comforting me, the soothing motions of his hands helping me reach a calm after a good couple more minutes of crying into him, my sobs slowly stopping as I just sat there with him, in his arms.

After a few more minutes of silence, just us together, James spoke up again, “You alright?”

I just shrugged, “I don't know.. Everything just.. Crashing down around me.” I mumbled, snuggling in closer to him, my hand on his shoulder/neck area as I moved my face from his shoulder, laying the side of my face there as I looked up at him, my puffy red eyes, tear-stained and mascara-ruined face, his eyes meeting mine.

We stayed like this for a few moments, our eyes breaking contact for a moment before he spoke up again, “Class is gonna start in a few minutes. Let's go to my car and I can get you cleaned up, alright?”

I nodded, and we got up and walked together to his beat-up truck, grabbing some tissues and an old bottle of water. I sat on the edge of the truck bed, James coming up to me and dampening the tissues with water, wiping my face clean of the stains, his touch gentle and caring, my cheeks heating up slightly.

LATER THAT AFTERNOON

School was done for the day, and now I was at home, hastily getting ready for prom.

I curled my hair, making sure I looked as beautiful as possible. I did my makeup, nothing too over the top, though I was careful to night use mascara, feeling that I would probably end things with Darren tonight.

I slipped on my beautiful dress, one that hugged my features well, the poofy skirt of it flowing amazingly, and I had never felt more pretty as I slipped on my heels, admiring my glam self in the mirror with a small smile. I had never felt so gorgeous as I walked to my car, and drove back down to the school.

Darren was supposed to be my prom date, and I'm guessing he still is unless he's changing his mind and going with Tammy. I tried to ignore the thoughts, hoping that James would be there if anything went wrong.

Something about him made everything feel… right, in a way. He made me happy, even though we'd only been friends for two days.

Eventually, I arrived at the school, the parking lot packed, trying to secure a spot so I could get in without being too late.

Soon enough I found a parking space, getting out of the car and sighing, beginning to walk towards the school and into the gymnasium which had become a makeshift banquet hall, a messy, rushed dance floor in the center, loud music, balloons, streamers, lights, the full nine yards. Couples danced together, some getting too touchy, friends laughed and talked, and then it caught my eye.

Darren and Tammy. Together. Again. Except this time, they looked like they were practically making out, hands dragging across each other, lips locked as she squealed in excitement and pleasure. 

I felt something in me snap, anger. I stormed towards the two, pushing Darren off of her, making him look pissed, “The fuck is your problem?” He sneered at me, pushing me back. The interaction garnered some attention from other attendees as I was pushed back by Darren.

“My problem is you're making out with my best friend!” I yelled back at him, more people watching by the second.

Darren just rolled his eyes as Tammy stayed silent, “You're just a basic whore, there's nothing to you.”

That hurt, deeply, but it only fueled my rage as I let out an annoyed grunt, my anger showing as I slapped my past friend hard across the face. She winced in pain, touching the stinging mark.

He was now beyond pissed with me, and I was even more pissed with him.

“You're a loser! I'm done with you! You think that you're all this and that because you're some fucking dumb jock, but you are just a loser!” I nearly screamed at him, feeling someone tug on my arm and pull me away, saving the three of us from experiencing a rough beating from each other.

I turned back to see who was dragging me away, and it was James. I was annoyed at first, needing to get some final words in, though I couldn't stay frustrated with him for too long, he was just doing me a favor. After we walked toward the back of the gym, he let go of me.

“You should go fix yourself up quickly. Not that you look bad, you look really pretty, but-” He paused himself, taking a breath. I nodded, walking out and into a nearby bathroom, adjusting my slightly tussled dress and fixing my hair.

I didn't look too messy, even after the mini tussle with my now ex-boyfriend. I just had to fix a few things, and I'd look as good as new, and now I do.

I took another breath, walking back into the gym, slightly sad, now alone. I couldn't see James, and I could see Darren and Tammy in a corner. The last two people I wanna be around right now. All of my other friends were messed about with their boyfriends or crushes, flirting with them.

Then it began. The slow dancing. The notes of a slow, soft love song stung my ears, and the sight of all the lovey-dovey couples who couldn't get enough of each other made me sick. I was always a sucker for romance, but I guess when you have no one to share it with, it just seems yucky.

I sighed, watching them all dance slowly with each other, debating if I should just leave or not, I had nothing to do here other than just stand in the middle of the floor, feeling jealous of truly in love couples.

I evaded my eyes from the sight, looking down at the floor, until I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, turning my head to see who it was.

A shy, nervous blonde boy stood beside me, his long curly hair hiding his face somewhat as he held the back of his neck with a hand, “Do you uh.. Wanna be my prom date..?” James asked me softly, his eyes not meeting mine out of embarrassment and nervousness.

I smiled lightly, nodding, “Mhm, yeah. That'd be nice.” I answered, my voice also soft as a small pink crept up on my cheeks.

He raised his head, a sheepish grin on his face as he placed his hands on my waist, and I placed mine on his shoulders as we began to slowly sway to the music, our eyes meeting with a sense of familiarity.

“I'm not much of a dancer, so… sorry,” He muttered with a small chuckle, and I just smiled in response.

“That's fine. You're doing great anyway,” I reassured him, and he smiled slightly wider.

I took him in with my eyes, admiring his fresh, orderly dark grey buttoned-up blazer with matching slacks, and his little blue tie the white undershirt, his whole suit was so fitting on him, he looked very handsome, very cute.

“You look, really, really pretty tonight, I know I kinda rambled it earlier, but-” He complimented me with a smile before I cut him off.

“Thank you, you look pretty handsome yourself,” I returned the compliment, smiling up at him still as we continued to dance slowly to the music, both of our cheeks having a hint of pink to them as we looked into each other's eyes, and for a second, everything felt right in the world. Even though I hadn't known James long, I felt closer to him than I do with some longtime friends.

After another minute of dancing with each other, the slow dance had ended, though we didn't leave each other. We stood with each other, sat with each other, and just talked about so many different things.

He told me about his band, how he played guitar and did some vocal work, and told me all about his favorite bands and musicians, and I just listened with a smile on my face. His voice was calming, and he was such a fun person. I admired him with my eyes, his beautiful features filling my senses. His icy blue eyes fit his features so well, accenting his angel-like hair, and I just wanted to stroke it, he was so beautiful and very caring.

We were in the middle of a conversation about one of his favorite bands, Motorhead.

“They're this like, super heavy rock band, and their front guy, Lemmy, is a total badass! I wanna reach his heights one day. Musics has always been there for me, y'know?” He explained to me, acting almost childlike with his excitement over the topic.

I nodded with a smile, “Mhm, they sound pretty cool. Maybe you can show me some of their music sometime.” I added, hoping he would say yes. I could care less about the music, but I'd love to spend more time with him.

He nodded with a wider grin, “Yeah! Sure, I'd love to show you some of their stuff,” he responded with excitement.

I smiled again, “Good, I like that.”

Another hour or so later, prom had ended, and people began to leave the gym, heading to their cars and leaving with their partners or friends. James walked away, looking for his friend Ron who was his ride to prom and supposed to be his ride home too.

James approached me again, slightly confused and nervous, “Uhm, my buddy, Ron, he was supposed to take me home but uh, I think he took his date home and forgot about me, you mind giving me a ride back to my place? It isn't that far,” James requested, and I couldn't say no.

I nodded, “Sure, I don't mind. You wanna go now?”

“Yeah, let's get out of here,” He responded, and we began to walk out together toward my car. I got in the driver's seat, James next to me in the passenger seat as we began to drive, James giving me directions to his home, the car ride was scattered with random conversations and rapidly switching topics. One minute were talking about class, then TV shows, movies, music, friends, stores, clothes, everything. 

After a good 10 minutes of random talking and directions given by James, we reach his home, my car slowing across the street from his home, giving him a glance, “The house across the street, right?” He nodded in response.

“Yeah, that's the one,” James answered, though he didn't leave the car yet. I watched him as he sat still for a second, his eyes looking down in thought before he glanced back up at me.

“I uh, I had a great time tonight, a lot better than I thought. Thank you for, well-” I cut him off, my wants giving in as I leaned in and gave him a quick, soft kiss on the lips, which surprised him, and also myself. I pulled back, staring at him to examine his reaction.

After he was silent for a couple of moments, I grew worried that maybe I did something wrong, “I'm sorry, I shouldn't-”

James just shook his head, “No, that was.. Good, I've wanted that for a while,” He answered with a small, loving smile on his face, I nodded.

“Good, I.. I liked that.” I admitted, glancing down as my cheeks heated up.

This time he leaned in, giving me another soft, gentle kiss. We pulled away after a few moments, both smiling softly and glancing at each other before James undid his seatbelt.

“Well, I should get going, I guess,” James informed with a small smile, getting up and out of the car.

“Bye, James,” I said with a smile, watching him walk away.

“Bye,” He answered with a smile as well, heading back to his home.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

next fic will be a Dave mechanix fic!!!!

[letmesleep8]

even if I die screaming // elliexreader

CHAPTER 3: Cassiopeia

AO3 | chapter 2 | chapter 4

content warnings/tags: cheating (not on/by ellie); mentions and use of drugs; subtle homophobia; slight discomfort.

notes: hello loves! i'm back with chapter three and it's a bit longer than usual, hope you like it. also, there is a minor OC mention in this one. nothing too much, it's actually such a quick role that i didn't want to waste a character in it, not going to happen often.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

"With my back to the shoreline, I dreamt that he drowned"

 — Georgia, Phoebe Bridgers

January 22, 2039 Winter

Dear diary, 

I've been avoiding Ellie for the last couple weeks since Christmas. The last time I saw her was during New Year's Eve, tried to come talk to me but my mom was there and she had had a couple drinks. I realized it was better for me to not cause any type of scene.

After what she saw on Christmas mama said it'd be better for me if I got closer to Dina since we "have much more in common", of course what she really means is that I should not go anywhere near Ellie. She's also been really trying to set me up with one of Seth's boys, Mike. The older one, I think he's like 18 or 19. I really don't give a shit, I've only been seeing him so she would stop coming to my door late at night to pray for me while I'm asleep. 

Tonight there's gonna be a community get-together at Tipsy and I know for a fact Ellie is gonna be there. And so will Mike, I guess. God, he's so fucking annoying. I mean, he doesn't actually do anything bad, he's just boring and... shallow.

Anyways, I'm going right now 'cause Cat promised to give me bangs. I bet it's going to look awful and mama's gonna kill me. If it does happen I'll make sure Dina burns this journal. 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

The sun had just set, the sky was not too dark. I grabbed the cake I baked for the community party and filled up Stevie's water bowl before leaving out of the door. As I turned to lock the door behind me, I got scared by a voice.

"What are you doing? Were you leaving?" Mike said, making me jump and almost drop the cake. "I said I was going to pick you up, why were you going by yourself?" He smirked, realizing I got spooked. 

"I completely forgot, I'm so sorry", I smiled while trying to hide the fact that I wanted to throw the vanilla cake into his face, I absolutely hate getting spooked.  I could see his smirk getting wider, he probably realized how distressed I was. And I think he liked it.

"Where 'ma hug at?", Mike tilted his head. I could feel my face twitch as I walked down the steps to my front porch. I looked up and put one arm on his shoulder, hugging him. He was quick to put both his arms around my waist, making me furrow my brows. I'm usually really not a fan of physical touch and Mike was always really touchy. After about two  seconds, I pulled away and started walking. 

The walk to the bar was quick and sorta quiet. He asked to hold hands, saying my hands must feel cold. I said I'm fine and stuffed them in my pocket. The lights on the street were beautiful, taking away my attention from him completely. We then got to my mom, sitting beside Seth. He got up, with a smile. 

I smiled back, wide and polite, as always. "I baked a vanilla cake, I hope people like it", I uncovered the cake and handed it to Seth, who seemed impressed. "Well, at least I know ma' boy won't be starving anytime in the future", he said with a grin. I could feel my smile getting smaller by the minute. The boy laughed with his dad.

On the other side of the room I could see my friends, all sitting together on the same table. Ellie included. I think Jesse saw me staring because he waved at us, calling us over. I thought if I should wave back but before I could even come to a decision Mike was headed towards them, dragging me along. 

"Look who's here! I thought you got kidnapped by Santa or something." Dina laughed, elbowing me. 

"Nah, was just doing an internship as a reindeer, but I'm back in town", I scoffed. Ellie was quiet, sitting on the corner chair. "Hi", I waved to her, reluctant. 

"Hey", she replied, her voice low. With the slightest of smiles, she points at my fresh bangs and says: "I like the new cut, suits ya' good." 

I smile and I can see her cheeks get fairly flushed. I open my mouth to respond to the compliment, but get rudely interrupted by Mike: "no shit, you cut your hair?", he's surprised. 

"You didn't notice the whole walk here?" I knew Mike wasn't exactly the brightest but I never took him for being blind too. He shrugs his shoulders and opens his mouth, trying to find an excuse for his lack of attention. Luckily, Seth calls him over to the kitchen for help, sparring us both with this useless talk. "I'll see ya' ", he says as he walks to his dad. I sat with my friends.

"Not noticing a haircut is a man's worst flaw", Jesse jokes. I roll my eyes and reply: "I really don't give a fuck. Anyone got a beer? Any alcohol? Anything?"

Dina whistles and laughs. "For you?! I'm impressed, look who decided she likes beer now!" Dina always liked to mess with me, especially about the fact that I don't usually drink with them. 

"Well, I can't always babysit you all", I mock Dina. "Time to return the favor." Dina lifts her hands in the air, so does Jesse. I turn to look at Ellie.

The auburn haired girl sighed and got closer, whispering: "s'okay, I do have something on me but y'all can't tell anyone otherwise we'll all be in trouble!" She gets up and all three of us follow after her. 

We sneaked out to go Ellie's house, she unlocked her door. "It's a mess, I wasn't expecting to have guests. You wait outside." I leaned against the front door, Dina leaned against Jesse, whispering something in his ear that made him chuckle. Soon after, there she was with a 6 pack of beer. We all walked together, deciding to stop by a creek, as usual. 

Ellie sat on a rock and I sat by her side, she handed me a beer. Jesse and Dina got a beer each and went to sit further, guess they needed some privacy. I took a sip, trying my best not to make a face. I'm really not used to alcohol. I try to break the cold silence. 

"So..." I looked up to the sky. "Do you really just keep a 6 pack hidden in your room?"

She chuckled, not saying anything else. Maybe she is mad at me. I would be. But her being mad would mean that it actually meant something, I don't think it did for her. Did it? Do I? Do I mean something for Ellie? Well, maybe now she sees me as a heartless bitch. I take another sip of the beer, thinking about how Ellie completely despises me. 

"Are you sure you wanna drink it? I know you hate beer." I looked to the side to see Ellie looking at me, smiling sweetly. "I could give ya' something else, if you want, of course." She laughs. 

"What? Oh, sure" I try to brush it off, as she reaches for something inside her jacket. I watch as she takes a joint and a lighter off her pocket and try to play it cool, even though I've never smoked a cigarette before. She lights it up, gives it a puff and passes it to me. I try to mimic her and end up coughing really hard while she laughs at me. 

"You've never smoked weed?", she laughs. "I've never smoked anything!", I reply, still coughing like an old man. "Aw shit, if I knew I wouldn't have done this, you should have told me!". She took it off my hand and smoked it again. 

Ellie blows out the smoke into the sky as I recover. "I can help you if you want", she says with a smirk. I raise an eyebrow, pretending to be innocent. I think I know what she's gonna do, I've seen guys do it in movies. I nod my head yes, "go ahead".

She puts the cigarette between her lips and takes another drag, but holds the smoke this time. She gently cups my face with her hand and slowly gets closer, I open my lips, not sure if I'm just going on with the bit or actually trying to say something. Lightly brushing her lips against mine, she blows out the smoke in my mouth. I closed my eyes and took it, breathing it in, and for a moment I could feel her smile against my lips. She backs away. I can see her rosy cheeks, they match the state of her eyes. She takes another drag to herself, looking the other way. As she turns around I can see the freckles on the back of her shoulder. I look to the sky and back to her, until she notices.

"All good?" Ellie smiles, looking a bit embarrassed. I shake my head.

"Toss your hair to the side", I say. She does so without asking a single question. "Now turn back around."

I take my index finger to meet her back, making her skin shiver. Move it to one side then another, tracing patterns, connecting dots. Constellations. 

"Cassiopeia." I moved my finger again. "Big Dipper." I moved it once more. "Cepheus". I whispered under my breath, by her neck.

Ellie chuckled. "Are you tracing stars on my back?" She got the weed back to her lips, dragging on it once more. Afterwards, Ellie looked into my eyes, close to her neck. She got close and brushed her freckled nose against mine, shamelessly touching lips and blew out the smoke into my mouth again. Our gazes intertwined and our faces closer than ever when I heard Dina approaching. We both backed away.

"Sorry for bothering you two. Mike's looking for ya'." Dina grinned, shaking her head and walking away. I quickly got up, adjusted my hair and walked away too, without looking back.

[stevenbasic]

Growing into the Job, Post 336: A Saturday at Melissa's, p11 (9PM, Randi)

We were kinda sorta still watching the movie, another superhero thing that was in the theaters a couple years or so ago. Sushi had all been cleaned up, and we’d let him start to recover, dialing back on our, uh, whatever they called these things - pheromones. Missy was reclined, he was cuddled up into her and had been put back into some loose clothes after he’d complained a bit. Most of us were still in swimsuits, though I’d put a little tube top on over mine after our last spurt nearly burst me out of my bikini. Fuck, my tits were getting huge. We’d all grown. 

“Hey, has anyone heard from Marisela?” I asked, to no one in particular, stretching my jaw, “She was supposed to be here.”

I didn’t really get a response. I’d been here only a few hours but he’d came like a bunch of times today already. We were all just sort of lazily recovering, enjoying the new size and energy. Some of us handled it differently than others, and though nobody really talked about it too much some of us were beginning to change in different ways. I stretched out my jaw again, which tended to feel a little sore afterwards, and considered Marisela once more. “Should someone call her?”

“I already tried. Nothing,” Josie replied, casually rubbing J's bare foot. I thought I saw the ends of her long brown hair twitching. She’d gone back to watching Black Widow shrink Ant Man down for like the third time, Amelia was checking her nails.. 

Hm. Well, fuck it. If no one else cares I don’t either. These were odd chicks, for sure, this little friend group of ours. That I’d become the responsible one was a laugh, and I tried not to get too concerned about the weird shit that was going on. I figured I’d worry about whatever Marisela was doing later tonight. Maybe tomorrow. 

Scarlett was holding the guy in her hand and scowling down at him while he tried to joke his way out of something stupid he’d just done. I gererally thought superhero movies were fucking stupid but had to admit the effects in this one were pretty amazing. It was one of the first ones, along with the first She-Hulk movie, that really caught people’s attention, big girls and all that. 

“Haha I dunno..!” Missy laughed back, hugging his head back into her boobs, “Maybe! Would you like that, sweetie..?”

We all laughed as a few girls turned to watch him blush and stammer something we could barely hear. Missy, for her part, took it upon herself to gather him in a little closer, bundling him in the thin blanket he’d been given. I didn't even have to look. One of her hands was definitely under that blanket.

I’m sure I don’t have to spell it out for you people, but for all her quirks, we all adored Missy. Josie, Katie, Amelia and I have known her a long time, Shanette even longer. She’s a special friend to have. It’s been a trip, watching what’s happening to her in the middle of all the crazy shit that’s going down in the world and seeing how she’s drawn this hive of girls all around her. This job had been haha really good for her, to say the least, and it had given us all the opportunity to not only make bank, but to become more than what we were before. Some of us were worker bees, some were becoming more like warriors or soldiers, but everyone had their part. I like to think the boss girls were something even more special still. But Melissa, again for all her oddities, was definitely our queen bee…and she seemed blithely happy with this new little boyfriend of hers. It’s good, she deserves to be happy, especially with what her life story has been. And I have to admit he was pretty cute, so vulni and getting more so everyday. It made my mouth water, thinking of it, and my jaw flex remembering the couple times I had him in the car and in his apartment a few months back. Yummy... 

The guy was a hard-triggered mess unable to think with anything besides what was between his legs. Most of the time that didn't seem weird anymore. It certainly didn’t bother Melissa. In fact, I think she sorta loved it. She would've had trouble seeing anything odd or strange about it. Her view of men was certainly different than most people’s, with the way she was raised. That she even seemed to consider this guy as human, let alone someone to care about, was a big step for her. She’d had him tamed through his libido, which was sort of her go-to automatic thing and not a surprise seeing as how she’d treated boys before, but she honestly seemed to love him. 

Jesus Christ I sound like such an adult. The important thing was that she had him by the dick and that was that. Her new thing was that she wanted us all in on the deal. Well, okay, we could become his protectors, his guardian angels or whatever. It certainly felt good, this new kind of energy we were all getting since yesterday. I could feel it in my teeth and jaw.

Watching Black Widow zipping up her top, hiding away and trapping Ant Man in her bra and then having to fight off some robots got Melissa thinking. She and the rest of us sort of chatted about it, and it was obviously making him kinda nervous. I sensed it, and she certainly did too. She spoke up, finally, and sat him up a bit on her lap. It was weird, kinda. How her voice seemed to make the movie go quiet as all the lasers and punching noises faded into the background. We were all - all like, I dunno, dozen of us - turned to her. Attentive. 

”Jay, I want you to tell them what we talked about last night,” she said. Melissa was half-reclined on the couch, her long legs stretched out and taking up a good number of seats. Shanette sat alongside her on the other wing of the sectional.

He was turned on her lap a little awkwardly at the waist, so he could look back down at her. He nodded his head, like he knew exactly what she was talking about, what she wanted him to tell the crowd of us. “Melissa, uh…because of what’s going on with my, uh…health, thinks I need some…protecting.” 

As the words left him I watched Shanette whispering in Missy’s ear. As she pulled back, Melissa shook her head in the negative and spoke up again. “No,” she said to him, “That doesn’t sound right. Try again, sweetie.”

I saw his reaction - he was a little taken aback. But he paused, and rather than argue, he thought for a moment and reworded what he’d said. ”She believes it’d be in my best interest if you all helped her-“

Shanette was whispering in her ear again, and again Melissa stopped him. ”Uh uh uh,” She said, herself stopping to think now, “I know what’s wrong. Try saying it like this ‘I’m starting to have a hard time, and I need all your help. I need you all to become more protective of me.’” Melissa looked at him with those big, golden-green eyes of hers and I could see the gears turning between them. “Try that, honey,” she instructed, already expectant.

You could tell he felt awkward, all those female eyes on him, the center of attention. But, he was able to repeat her word for word: “I’m starting to have a hard time, and I need all your help. I need you all to become more protective of me.” 

When we all gave several half-claps and ‘good jobs’, you could see his face growing redder. He felt happy and self-conscious at the same time, surrounded by a bevy of bosomy bikini girls praising him like he was a shy schoolboy.

“Much better,” Melissa lauded, petting his shoulder and gracing him with that big dimpled smile of hers.

”Melissa, th-that was embarrassing,” he said, plainly, making us all purr in delight. The light of the TV screen silhouetted the shapely figures of Aubrey, Katie and the B-girls from behind, covering J with their shadow.

The room erupted with an “Awwwww..!” as I watched his vulni little eyes settle on his reflection in the glass pool doors. The TV gave off just enough light for him to see his shrunken little self - and I swear he was smaller now than he was this afternoon - surrounded by his big beautiful protectors on every side. He was seated in the middle, a little man on his girlfriend's lap, right where he belonged.

”Don´t think of it that way, sweetie,” Shanette giggled, “think of it as a lesson…”

“...and you just needed some help with it,” Josie chimed. 

“But I´m sure that, from now on, you will pay attention to what every woman says, right?” Melissa finished. She was sitting up straighter, now, and had pulled him slowly closer to her. I could see her eyes light up as he had moved closer to her right breast again. This whole exchange was so, like, enlightening. She obviously didn’t want him to feel as if he had no say in the matter. She wanted him to think that he had at least some power in this relationship of theirs, but she also needed him to know what’s what.

“We’re all excited to help you,” Lakshmi spoke, turning ever so slightly towards him on the couch, that big rear end of hers pivoting and causing something - springs in the sofa? - to groan.

“We want to keep you safe,” said Aubrey.

Melissa continued. ”Does that make you happy?” she asked, “Are you happy you have us, you have me to protect you?”

His voice cracked, adorably. ”s-SU-ure?” he answered, “Yes?” That caused the girls to titter and giggle excitedly, though I could tell he couldn’t make out what they were saying even as they were all - me included - drawing in closer to him. The whole place already looked like a big slumber party from some weird-ass porno.

”So tell me… why?” Melissa pressed. Their gazes were locked, intent on one another.

”Uhhh…” he began, searching for the right answer, “if someone tries to h-hurt me, you’d stop them?”

Melissa shook her head while her words came quickly. “Oh no no no,” she said, “If someone were to try to hurt you I wouldn’t just stop them. I’d absolutely murder them.”

When his smile changed we all felt the electricity. Her own excitement surged and we all began to warm slightly. He was picturing it, we could see, he was imagining what someone with the size and strength of Melissa could do to another human being, and it turned him on. Missy shivered, and needed to squirm her legs below him.

“We all would,” someone else said. I think it was Amelia, at first, but then the others joined in in chorus. 

“Yes, cutie…”

“You have us…”

“Your girl army…”

All our voices were echoing off the high ceilings, sounding louder and louder. I don’t know if the others were noticing it but I was watching him flinch.

“Your big pretty bodyguards…”

“We’d fucking kill them.”

Girls were laughing, and onscreen Black Widow was again arguing with Ant Man, who was complaining from deep inside her cleavage. The robots were crumpled and smoldering, beaten, but she still hadn’t unzipped. 

Melissa continued to smile, satisfied with the enthusiasm of her girls. ”What else?” she asked him, “What else are you happy about?” The smell of our perfumes, the chlorine in our wet hair, and the lingering tang of wasabi filled the room as we waited for him to answer.

”Uhhhh….” he began, struggling again under the attention of a dozen jigglebunnies. He knew there was a right answer, somewhere.

Josie spoke up to help. ”How about this, Dr. J…say this:” she began, “‘Now I don’t only have one girlfriend, I’ve got thirty…”

Lots of giggles.

”Th-thirty?” he stammered, looking over at Josie. 

”Haha yes!” Missy laughed, “Thirty girlfriends! You lucky little guy!”

“So lucky!”

“And soon we’re going to hire more,” Missy added.

“More girlfriends??” someone sang, “OOOOoooo YES!”

“Okay, Fifty!” Josie called.

“Sixty!” offered someone else.

“And the more of us there are..?” said Brittni.

“...the stronger we get?” finished Bobbi.

“A hundred!” called the redheaded Julia, who’d arrived an hour or so ago. She and a couple others were actually standing on the second-floor balcony above us, outside the bedrooms, watching from up there.

“A thousand!!” laughed Stephanie after her, also from the balcony. When’d she get here? I think there were three of our witchy friends up there, too.

Anyway, I felt it myself, for sure - this group of women swelling in strength, excited and energized. We were a unit, a hive, a family - and we were growing. So weird; three months ago you’d have never been able to convince me I’d be hanging out with some of these people. But now, look at all of us. Each one of us that joined the group just makes us bigger and better, makes her bigger and better. Is that what’s making Melissa so strong? I thought, The more of us there are, the more powerful she becomes? I’d seen her, in the parking lot just yesterday, casually pushing one of the construction guy’s pickup trucks out of the way. He’d parked it blocking in her beemer, and she moved the thing like it was nothing. 

“A million!”

Does she even realize it?

There was the patter of strong footsteps as several more girls came in from the kitchen, bare feet and high heels, both. Silvia, Nadia and Kori were here now, and had been swimming and looking for wine in the fridge. Bessie had also arrived, still in her BOOMfood uniform and pumps. Among everyone, the growing, giddy crowd, Missy seemed to draw all light and attention to herself. Look at her, I remember thinking, seeing her holding him so small on her lap, I fucking love her.

“A million girlfriends, Jay, how does that sound?” Missy laughed, “Could you handle all those kisses?”

The girls loved that, and we all smushed in closer. The movie still played, and with the doors out to the pool now left open you could hear the sound of the hot tub from outside the room. The floor was damp in places and there were warmly wet towels everywhere, left by the few who had not fully dried their hair. Some of us - oh yeah, me haha - had their towel around their waist.

“We need you, sweetie, to start getting used to having as much physical contact with the girls as possible,” Missy continued, as the pile of girls swarmed in closer still, some crawling onto the couch, across the ground, gathering towards him with the sofa pillows they had brought to sit on the floor, “It’ll help you bond.”

“Yes, bonding. Lots of bonding,” Shanette cooed, pressing her big breasts together in her overmatched blue bikini, causing his eyes to goggle.  

“I’m going to need my good morning hug every morning,” Josie offered, pushing a pillow up alongside him, between him and the back of the couch.

“Me too, and a good morning kiss,” said Katie, also adding a pillow to support him and leaning in to smooch him on the lips. 

“Bonding…” Shanette cooed again. 

“Everyone will need their good morning hug, and their good morning kiss when they come into the office, okay Jay?” Missy charged, watching his eyes follow Katie’s chest up and then rivet to her brilliant smile as she pushed back her thick blond hair.

“Yes lots of physical contact,” I said, moving in myself towards him seeing how hard he obviously was, with a tent pulling the thin blanket up off his hips, “Let’s try it out…” 

At that I scootched in for my own kiss, my mouth opening wide - though not nearly as wide as haha I could open it - to take his own. The girls were building pillows around him, attempting to make him even more comfortable as I could taste Katie’s cherry chapstick on his lips. I added my own lipstick to his face, my mauveness, smearing it on him. How do you like that flavor, boy? I then heard him grunt, feeling the surprise when he realized the size of my mouth. I chuckled thinking about how he’d react if he realized I could probably swallow his whole fucking head if I wanted. I grabbed his cock through the throw blanket, and we all heard him groan, everyone giggling as his body tensed into spasm.

“Who’s the best kisser, Dr. J?” I asked, giving him another quick peck, this time right between the eyes. Then I licked him up his face, chin-to-nose-to-forehead. “Me?”

“No no no you have to try us all!” Josie squealed, suddenly leaning in aside me to plant her own lips on his. His eyes had closed, so he couldn’t see how her hair, in the strange way it had started to do over the past week, began to swirl and curl, with a movement of its own. One strand reached out towards me, one towards him, caressed his face.

I sat back and Missy, for her part, just watched and smiled as the entire crowd of us moved in for kisses. His face, I could see, was quickly coated with smears of lipstick, the sheen of glosses, pink and red and shiny. Aubrey, Lakshmi, Brittni and Bobbi. Amelia and Katarina and Shanette. Even the new girls Silvia and Kori and Bessie and the rest got in there, everyone taking their turns on his lips, settling for his cheeks and neck and shoulders, back and belly when needed. He was a-glob with lipstick, all over his body, the girls sitting back to apply more to themselves, to each other, when others slid in to take their place on him and his skin. The blanket, which had been across his hips, was gone. If he’d had on shorts or anything underneath those were gone too, and now it was cock, all cock. Huge throbbing cock again, nearly ten inches of it rising from his weak-ass skeleton. As we kissed him - I’d gone in for seconds, thirds - hands were on him, now. The other girls were cooing and clucking, groaning and texting and taking selfies and group pics with him swimming in his harem, drowning in their lipstick, trying to stay afloat as our mouths sucked him into our depths. In all his glory he was now only weakly twitching and he would have long ago collapsed and flopped over were it not for us all, for the pillows around him, and for Missy’s strength holding him up from behind. She, in fact, finally eased us all away to allow him breath, while we all writhed alongside him, buzzing and squealing. She turned him, gently, pivoting him at the hips and - his chin in hand - took him in for a kiss of her own.

If you’ve never seen a man’s brain melt, it’s quite the fucking sight.

Missy drew him into the kiss, and I could see how his jaw stretched and his eyes widened as she was pushing her huge tongue into him. She moved it around his mouth, down towards his throat, claiming her territory and then, drawing breath herself, began pulling the air from within him. His eyes began to flutter closed. She wanted to take him deeper into herself to make him closer to her. Just as I’d felt the pull, the instinct to eat him, the want to suck him right into me, I could see Melissa was struggling with the same hunger. She wanted him. She wanted all of him. She wanted to suck out all his brains along with his come and all his manhood, leaving him a dribbling pathetic husk. She didn’t want to kill him, she wanted him alive to hug and cuddle and care for. But she would take his breath away. She would control his breathing, filling him with her own oxygen and keeping him alive at her whim. Haha she wanted to do more - I could see, I could fucking see how she wanted to just be able to open her mouth wider and wider and wider and just YOMP - but she wasn’t quite that big yet. What she could do is fucking suck the life out of him if she wasn’t careful, and so she released the kiss before he began to suffer any real discomfort.

“C’mon, Daddy,” she urged, “Come for us...”

The other girls, too, cooed their encouragements. I was chiming in myself, my lips the closest to his left ear. 

“Let’s go, you little shit,” I sneered into him, as my mouth all but ate up his ear, “come for us again.”

I was in his left ear, Lakshmi had moved into his right, both of us were purring and slurping and tonguing his brain. Others were between his knees, sliding lips up thighs and around his sac. Hands caressed arms, slid over chest and shoulders. Still Josie stroked him, as Melissa gazed into his failing eyes. 

“Go ahead, Jay, it’s okay,” she said, giving him permission. This was her boyfriend, her new man, the love of her life, and she haha was willing to share. We were all his, and he was all ours. “Give yourself to them, Jay, I want you to…”

“Come for us,” we hissed.

“Come for us now,” I said.

My smile grew so huge around his ear when, yes, finally, we all felt him shudder and collapse, like a dying fucking beast underneath us all, this pride of lionesses. When he finally came the girls - and me, and Melissa - all sang his name and Josie pumped and pumped and pumped. We watched him wither, we watched his jaw fall open and his head bob like a marionette on his neck. Though he’d climaxed countless times today, come still rocketed from his dick in gushes and fell onto his chest, into my hair and Lakshmi’s. And then, as she still pumped, Josie sat up straighter and drew his eyes to her tits. She pulled back her shoulders, thrust her big breasts out, straining straining straining at the top of her bikini and waiting waiting waiting for - oh god, there it was, there it fucking was - the warmth, the strength, the power that swelled and there it was she knew it, we all knew it - we were all just about to-

Josie’s top burst, her bikini snapping apart. Her tits ballooned outwards, and Missy began to laugh as he moaned an ‘oh my god’ in the weakest, most pathetically male voice you could imagine. She had  begun to grow, we had begun to grow, all around him, visibly. He was watching us and he was watching us fucking grow. Staring at Josie’s burgeoning tits and the swirls of her hair dancing about her shoulders, he was staring into his future and feeling his world close in all around him. “Get ready little man,” I whispered into his ear, “your girls are going to eat you alive…”

========================================

thanks in huge gobs to ResistanceIsFutile for his inspiration, contributions to atmosphere and editing on this one.  I’m also using brother Beetlebomb’s render of Dr J…again.

[lily-inmyhead]

LINZIN RANT

Disclaimer

• So I just wanted to start of by saying I don't really post much here, but I felt like getting a little tangent of my headcanons for Lin and Tenzin's relationship.

• This will include young Linzin, their breakup and some of the Linzin we see in TLOK.

• I am a firm believer in the fact the Lin Beifong deserved so much better than what she got in the show. However, I am also a firm believer in the fact that Tenzin also deserved better.

YOUNG LINZIN

• I fully believe that everybody knew Lin and Tenzin likes eachother except them in the beginning.

• It was also a classic case of the will-they-won't-they trope (with Kya and Bumi both having betting pools on it).

• Lin and Tenzin were both extremely close growing up, they were both so similar, they both understood eachother in the pressure to live up to their parent's legacy, and Tenzin would always listen to Lin whenever she would struggle with her mother or Suyin.

• Much to Kya and Bumi's disappointment, nobody was ever able to pin just when Lin and Tenzin crossed the line of friendship, not even them. It just sorta happened neither of them knows exactly when, previously mentioned this annoys Kya and Bumi who have to return all the money from their betting pools.

• Everyone thought Linzin was going to be endgame, Tenzin had even started calling Toph "Mom" and she had accepted it begrudgingly and Lin had started calling Katara "Mom" which elated Katara. (I saw this headcanon somewhere and it resonated with me so clearly and I can't remember where.)

• The two of them were a sort of power couple in Republic City, paparazzi fauned over them and named them 'Power Couple of the Century'. They were adored by everyone, even though the attention at time was too much. (The amount of publicity they gained whilst together led to a messily public break up in which alot of names got dragged through the mud.)

• Tenzin didn't necessarily want a family, he wouldn't mind having one in fact he'd like it but it was never on the top of his list at least not until his father died, he never pressurer Lin into the idea of having a family because he knew she didn't want one, he was happy with that as long as he was with her.

• Tenzin and Lin were hopelessly in love, and were actually a really good couple they worked well together.

BREAK UP LINZIN

• Tenzin and Lin's biggest fault was actually what lead them to each other, their deep need to fulfil their parent's legacy.

• Aang's death and Toph leaving Republic City was where it started to unravel with all the new pressure on each of their shoulders cracks started to show.

• I think the last straw was when the acolytes (pushing my evil!acolytes agenda here) kept pushing Tenzin and Lin and Pema confessing to Tenzin. Lin and Tenzin both mutually decided to end things, they both knew it had to end, however it was Tenzin who had the nerve to voice it first.

• In the break up most if not all of Lin and Tenzin's mutual friends took Lin's side. Even Katara voiced her disappointment in her son's choice and chose to comfort Lin as she knew Toph could not.(Katara knew why her son did what he did but that did not mean she liked it.)

• This is one thing I think Tenzin was done dirty on, everyone voiced their dissatisfaction at his actions; Kya, Bumi, Izumi and even Su had sent him letters voicing theirs.

• Nobody stopped to think how Tenzin was feeling, only Lin. Lin knew what the others didn't, the break up had been much more mutual than it seemed.

• The break up was unnecessarily public with both Lin and Tenzin's names getting ran through the mud(though admittedly Tenzin more so). Tenzin however, was fine to play the bad guy as he announced his engagement to Pema not long after. He knew he had to take the blame, he felt at fault and was partly at fault, beside his name could recover, Lin was freshly chief of police, had big shoes to fill and was a woman all things the media would latch onto to pretty much destroy her career. Tenzin was protecting her and only Lin was aware of it and she was somewhat greatful.

• Another stolen headcanon is that after the break up they both need a change, so Lin cuts her long hair and Tenzin grows a beard.

TLOK LINZIN

• The two are reluctant to work together but still work seamlessly when forced to.

• Lin and Tenzin have kept up a cordial relationship. One thing do no matter the time after the break up is meet for tea every Wednesday afternoon, it was a habit they got into whilst together and never got out of.

• The two still love eachother but at this point both know it's practically impossible.

• Tenzin has a key to her apartment still. He only uses it when she is sick or injured.

• Often times Tenzin is the only one who can force Lin to go to the hospital when she needs and sometimes her subordinates will even call him in if they get too worried about her.

• They also somehow end up co parenting the Krew.

THE END

• Thank you if have managed to get this far into my rambling congratulations 🎉.

• These are just my thoughts on the ship and are NOT canon.

• Justice for my babies they were both done so dirty.

[ilions-end]

finished euripides' iphigenia among the taurians (david kovacs translation)! thoughts that might be even more disconnected than usual because insomnia's a bitch:

the parallels to euripides' helen are everywhere, but the biggest similarity for me is that both are variants of their respective myths that i'm personally NOT that into narratively because it feels like they soften or remove the more uncomfortable elements of central mythological conflicts (what if helen never went to troy/what if agamemnon didn't actually kill iphigenia) .... which is why it's aggravating that THE PLAYS THEMSELVES ARE SO ENJOYABLE. euripides you SNEAK why did you make them engaging!!

like how it forces me to recontextualize iphigenia -- no longer a noble but helpless child, but a woman with guile and initiative. how euripides places her in a story where she can and must use what agency she has! it's so interesting

the age thing is actually really wild to contemplate because in most scenes, iphigenia is demonstrably the eldest. she last saw orestes when he was a baby and they make a point of how pylades wasn't even born yet at the time of iphigenia's sacrifice

the dynamics have all shifted, she's enslaved, she's a victim, but also the one with enough knowledge and initiative to find a solution and save everyone when the men's violence has failed!

i kept thinking about how the play handles blame. like how iphigenia pretends to hold ALL greeks accountable for her fate and deserving of punishment, and you'd ASSUME she hates her father, but in her heart she only blames helen, menelaus and odysseus. she can't bring herself to hate her mother even after learning about the events of the oresteia. likewise, she seems to be unsure WHO she is really sacrificing humans for, if it's artemis or the taurians, and if she can be deemed culpable when she's forced to perform them.

orestes slaughtering the cows thinking they're furies, ahh!! extremely ajax-coded. and it seems he has recurring episodes but always comes to his senses again, painfully self-aware that he's had a recent lapse of cognition. not just ajax-coded but a surprisingly realistic and empathetic observation of psychosis. i keep thinking about that.

"But the other foreigner wiped the foam from [Oreste's] face, protected his body, and shielded blows [...] as they fell, and helped his friend with loving attentions." PYLADES PYLADES PYLADES THE MAN THAT YOU ARE <3<3<3

i kept assuming this play was set sorta mid-oresteia seeing as orestes is still pursued by furies, but they made it clear this is AFTER his trial and apparently some furies just didn't accept the verdict and was like "you can do what you want, i'm gonna keep torturing him" to athena?? that's hilarious

i LOVE how snippy and dismissive orestes is when iphigenia first questions him. usually a scene like that would be (intentionally) frustrating because you WANT THEM to realize who they're talking to SO BAD, but orestes being understandably grumpy and unhelpful talking to the priestess who means to kill him is so enjoyable on its own.

AND THEN THE REVEAL WAS SO SATISFYING!!! pylades just turning around and giving orestes the letter immediately. PYLADES YOU'RE SO FUNNY I LOVE YOU

it's so heartbreaking to compare orestes and electra's reunion in the libation bearers -- how instinctual their recognition of each other is -- with how challenging it is for iphigenia and orestes to believe that they have that bond and are who they say they are. and i know those are different authors and different sibling dynamics but i love how the more plays i read, the more emotionally involved i become in these characters!!

i fucking lost my mind at how the minute orestes and pylades were alone together, orestes asks "Pylades, in heaven's name do you feel the same as I do?" because my immediate read was that he was asking WHAT ARE WE and that they were gonna kiss about it. (they do in the production i have playing in my mind)

"O daughter of Leto, bring me, your priestess, safely back to Hellas from this barbarian land! Forgive my theft! You too, goddess, love your brother; you must expect that I love mine." OMGGGG i got goosebumps that's so GOOD!!

[baddygab-bi]

This episode explicitly put space between Buck and Eddie, let me explain.

1. “What were you doing before you came over?” it’s a Saturday. Chris was at a friend’s. The writers could’ve said Eddie was hanging out with a friend, could’ve been hanging out with Buck. But they didn’t.

2. “Me and Chris, we’re a team” Explicitly Eddie only mentioned the two of them, though Bobby knows how much Buck is around the two of them. He didn’t have to leave off Buck, but the writers didn’t want to include him in the statement, since Bobby talks about having an important work/life balance and it could be twisted beyond what the writers were aiming for.

3. “I don’t want you to be alone anymore.” Eddie could’ve said he isn’t alone. He could’ve said he has his 118 family. That he has his friends. That he has Buck around all the time. That he’s not alone. But that wasn’t what happened. They had Eddie agree he is alone so they could set up the romantic interest.

Why are they putting space between them? Because if they are working towards one or the both of them having actual, long lasting love interests, they have to make it clear where the other man stands in their life. For Eddie, as of right now, regardless of anything else, based solely on what we see on screen, not digging into beer bottles in a fridge or magnets… For Eddie, they’re saying Buck isn’t as major a person in his life as previously thought. Now, as a viewer and a writer, I don’t like this. Since they do have a very solid best friendship, but the writers of the show all seem to sorta have a different idea of where things are gonna go led by a showrunner who is very explicit in her dislike of Buddie. Yet, I think this episode had multiple opportunities to drop even a single hint of Buck and Eddie being a thing if they wanted to.

At this point, it’s not “keeping them separate to have them grow means they’ll be canon soon” or “they can’t say anything because it’s a slowburn and that means nothing can be shown for a long time”

The exclusion doesn’t mean romance. Maybe it could’ve at one point. It really felt like it was leading somewhere. But now, exclusion just means exclusion. I think the show’s being super clear about things without being explicit, because they know the backlash. They’ll lose more fans and face more anger by keeping Buck and Eddie apart than by putting them together, so they’re going to keep things ambiguous for as long as possible. I know people are probably writing posts about how Eddie didn’t mention Buck at any of those times because “It didn’t need to be said, everyone knows how important Buck is. Everyone knows that Buck’s there.” But like… This is a TV show. 60% of the audience likely doesn’t read fanfiction or blogs, they get their info from the scene. They know what the characters are telling them. They aren’t reading into every line. The writers are writing for them. So, it does have to be said. If they wanted any sorta of hint drop, they’d make that explicit. They had many times tonight they could have. It’s super disappointing that they didn’t, but can’t change that now.

Also, am I the only one who didn’t love the “I don’t panic” call back? Because… he did panic before. He had panic attacks. Whether you say it was due to Ana (which is how it started) or his PTSD (which I think the show wanted it to be), he did have panic attacks to the point where he broke down and saw a therapist. He thought he was having a heart attack due to his panic attacks. They used the callback as a funny line, but to me it sorta erased the progress of having a strong male character actually come to terms with the fact that it’s okay to panic. It’s okay to need help. The callback just felt cheap and I didn’t love it. Ryan shoving pasta into his mouth was funny though.

[bsdtakanenohana]

My Opinion On Every Single Bungou Stray Dogs Ship

Part Two- Het Ships II

Whether or not you wanted another one I’m scheduling these in advance so buckle in for some more fun.

Part One

Ayamura/ Yukito Ayatsuji x Mizuki Tsujimura: Like I said last time, I haven’t read Another Story so I don’t feel qualified to rate these ships. -/10

Chuuaki/ Chuuya Nakahara x Akiko Yosano: I saw someone mention this ship once before and I thought it was crazy. But then I somehow stumbled across this fanfic on AO3 that was like a The Mummy (1997) AU of BSD and Yosano was the Evie character and Chuuya was Rick and every other character and the story we know was fitted into this Mummy AU and I never finished reading it but it was GOOD. So I don’t think this ship is as crazy as it seems at first glance. They wouldn’t work long term (outside of that fanfic AU) but they’d probably be real good for a year or so (but also in an AU where one isn’t in the PM & the other in the ADA bc the majority of PM character x ADA character ships wouldn’t even go on a first date or last after the first date). 4/10

^Chuuya upon hearing people do in fact ship him with women

Chuuan/ Chuuya Nakahara x Yuan: When I first watched the anime, whenever anyone would post screenshots of the arcade scene a lot of comments were hating on Yuan for daring to touch Chuuya or whatever nonsense they came up with automatically assuming she was “getting in the way” of SKK. So clearly y’all sensed something was going on. I don’t think there was though. Maybe she had a crush (who wouldn’t), but ultimately they wouldn’t work out (she was literally part of the coup). 0/10

Chuuhigu/ Chuuya Nakahara x Ichiyo Higuchi: Another random ship. We’ve never seen them interact even though we should since Chuuya is the executive Higuchi reports to. I don’t see it working/happening or even a reason why others would like it. It’s not so random it’s ridiculous, it’s not exactly problematic, it’s not close to being canon, it’s not “two characters who never interact but have a lot in common/would have great chemistry”. It’s two people who work together with nothing that would draw one to the other, not even hate. 2/10

Chuukou/ Chuuya Nakahara x Kouyou Ozaki: I see why people would ship it since they have a positive platonic relationship in canon, but because she’s kinda who took him in in the Mafia, I prefer an older sister/younger brother relationship for them. (While Chuuya calling Kouyou “ane-san” is a nod to the fact real life Japanese mafiosi refer to the boss’s wife as “ane-san”, she’s not the boss’s wife and “ane” is the term used to talk about one’s older sister.) Not everything has to be romantic people can just be friends. 2.5/10

Chuunao/ Chuuya Nakahara x Naomi Tanizaki: I know y’all are trippin’ 💀 Where did this even come from? This is the wrong redhead Naomi is interested in LMAO. 0/10

Dazagin/ Osamu Dazai x Gin Akutagawa: The tamer Dazaku lol. I honestly didn’t know what to think of this my mind kept going “?” so I checked AO3 and everything was Beast AU smut. 0/10

You guys embarrassed her

Dazano/ Osamu Dazai x Akiko Yosano: I never thought of them as a ship until I saw a picture of two cosplayers of both characters in a romantic pose and then my eyes were sorta opened and I went “why haven’t I seen anyone talking about them as a pairing?” It’s such an interesting concept, they’re like the two Agency members we never see interact (well I think there’s a few other combos we never see interacting even in the background) but they have some similarities but also enough differences that I think would give them chemistry. Underrated. 5/10

Dazanao/ Osamu Dazai x Naomi Tanizaki: Apparently Naomi was trained by Dazai at one point, I forgot if we were told for what. So I’d like to see more of their platonic/professional relationship. 0/10

Dazasaki/ Osamu Dazai x Nobuko Sasaki: Really? Ok. 1/10

Osamu Dazai x the Cafe Waitress: I know the anime made her younger but in the manga wasn’t she the cafe owner’s wife? #adulteryisntcool -2/10

The punishment for attempting to participate in cheating^

Dazawells/ Osamu Dazai x Herbert George Wells: Dazai is getting shipped with every single woman he interacts with, I’m sure this list is going to get crazier when we get to the yaoi section. I don’t know what to say. 1/10

Fitzcott/ Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald x Louisa May Alcott: No, she’s closer to his daughter’s age than his, and he’s married and loves his wife, and she likes him in an admiring way not because she’s attracted to him. -2.5/10

[crazy-lazy-elder-sims]

Thoughts on wendsday i just finished it im so glad i took some time away from being busy to watch it ! I inflicted my thoughts on my discord friends even thou no one asked so here i am inflicting you with my thoughts even thou no one asked lmao (Spoilers ahead!)

In general:

I absloutely loved the show even if it wasn't exactly accurate or true to the original characters. Its still very complex and has amazing story telling, thou im not sure diminishing the addams "kookienss" was good or not. I suppose sincei always saw the " from inside of the family to outside world" pov it seemed like the addams were the most " absurd and different" thing in thier world but now we have a " the outside world looking at the addams" pov its very different how the world sees them than how they think the world sees them which i geuss is very realistic for anyone thats "different" in any sort of way.

On Wednesday:

Anyway im conflicted alittle about Wednesday halfway she sorta became a veronica mars type of character and it wasn't really on brand of her to just stop enjoying the murder and evil and just become angry vengeful instead. I like that in the end she understood that her kookiness wasn't the problem its that the people around her were different and didn't consent/ sign up to that as she never asked just assumed they would be okay like her family is okay with her.

The rest of the characters:

The rest of the characters are all amazing i love how fleshed out everyone is even minor characters like yoko or the ones who dont get lines at all still alot of backstory and character.

My absloute faves are bianca and Xavier i was team Xavier from the start lmao i genuinely shipped them together cause like the first person to make her smile was him like come on now lmao also i hope they explore more how connected he and Wednesday are i loved that his art and dreams totally backed up her visions also the whole raven thing he keeps drawing is 👀👀👀

Im absloutely interested in Bianca's story i hope that we get more of it soon and not just a few scenes here and there.

Pugsly is such a cute weird lil kid lmao i usually dont like him but here i liked him alot. Gomez was perfect and i could see alot of him in Wednesday. Morticia at the start was just off even if her dialog was great by the second vist i could see they made her more deathly paler and her mannerisms was adjusted a lil and she became Allright. Im not sure about the lil backstory the addams had because source material wise i thought they met at her sister arranged marriage to gomez but alright i guess they went to school together 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hated Tyler from the start cause of the way he spoke without moving his mouth it was wierd like he was constipated lmao kinda thought halfway he was the monster because he just looked like him alot lmao

I still have no idea why Enid's name backwards is Dine or if its even relevant at all but i love her character she is kooky in her own way reminds me of the sub genre of Alternative fashion like pastel goth or pink lolita still very Alternative but colorful i love it

On the set, coloring and costumes:

Genuinely always my favorite thing about burton movies ( f him thou glad i pirated this) but im so happy to see some directors still use real sets and not shy away from the clutter and details i had to pause several times in one scene to take it all in and notice all the little details its amazing.

The most fascinating thing about this this the use of color ( not just lighting) but the different sets rooms having specific color themes like the window in Wednesday's room alone is the most beautiful piece of story telling ever in every scene but also somthing like the therapists office being completely biege is an amazing touch.

The costumes are okay there were moments that stood out but nothing crazy Wednesday's raven dress was ofc incredible but i like her last dress in the last scene too love the lace collar! But also the rest of the costumes were beautiful too. Im still trying to figure out the materials of Morticia's dress and how its constructed lol

And i think thats all ! I hope they really do make season 2 and stick to it (pointing a gun at netflix rn)

[roxannarambles]

teal mask fixit-fic on the fly part 7

(Current story so far: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6)

Kieran went to bed that night happier than he'd been in a very long time. Things had been a bit up and down for him, but ultimately it seemed he'd managed to make not one but four new friends that day. The misunderstanding he had towards the end of the evening had been cleared up later by Arven, when he'd explained they hadn't been saying mean things behind his back-- they were just planning a picnic for the next day and they'd wanted it to be a surprise. So it all turned out, in the end. Kieran slept in the following morning, because his sister had told him that his exchange student partner, Juliana, liked to sleep late anyway so he could take his time.

When he did get up, he ate breakfast quickly, feeling impatient and eager to start the day. He had tried his best to sleep in, but was only able to sleep in a little; he was just too excited. As he headed to the door to leave, he could hear his sister shouting at someone in the front yard.

"Juliana, you took your sweet time-- Kieran should be up soon, at this rate! Wait, why is she here? What part of 'keep this secret' did you not understand?!"

Kieran paused by the door, feeling very confused. Why should it matter if he was up? Didn't Arven tell her that he knew about the picnic now? He decided to continue listening.

"Sorry. Bestie privileges, I tell Nemona everything. But you don't need to worry, she won't tell anyone else."

"Ugh. Whatever. Is Arven coming? We need to get started here, grandpa doesn't have all day."

"Yeah, he was right behind us--"

"Heyya."

"What-- Arven, why is she here too?!"

"Yeeah, um . . . about that. Juliana and Nemona and I were talking and Penny sorta . . . overheard us. So."

"Sorry."

"We figured she may as well come too since she's in on it now."

"Great. So now I gotta deal with every one of you Naranja Students. What a headache. I guess people in Paldea have no grasp of the word 'secret.'"

"Hey, no one in town knows, all right? Chill."

"Look, did you bring the . . . 'thing' or not? Just hurry up and show it to grandpa."

"Yeah, yeah."

Silence, followed by;

"ARVEN THAT'S NOT THE THING, STOP SCREWING AROUND!"

A smattering of laughter.

"Okay, jeez, don't have a cow. Here."

"Where-- where did you get this?!"

"At the festival last night. Arven saw some kid who looked lost, but I realized it was the Ogre!"

The awful, dreadful suspicion coiling silently around Kieran that something was very wrong suddenly snapped and crushed him like a vise-- and now he felt like it was difficult to breathe. They . . . he . . . he'd been right all along. They were keeping something from him . . . something incredibly important . . . something they knew would mean so much to him . . .

He huddled against the door so he could better eavesdrop on the conversation. The awful thoughts churning in his mind were so loud that it made it difficult. He was so stupid to think he'd finally made friends . . . of course something like this would happen. Something like this always happened. He was always going to be shunned and alone . . . even his own family was excluding him . . .

He shook himself. He had to focus, and learn all he could.

Later . . .

It was a beautiful summer day in the land of Kitakami, and only the second day of Juliana's trip out here. It should have been perfect. She was wandering the vast open nature with her exchange student partner, in idyllic scenary, and later tonight they would have plenty of time to return and enjoy more of the local festival. They only had one more spot to visit for their orientation assignment.

Yet, somehow, things felt off. Kieran was acting strangely. Mind you, Juliana had only known him since yesterday, but still; in that time, yes he'd been very shy, but once they'd battled and he'd started talking to her about the Ogre, he'd warmed up to her a fair bit. At least, it had seemed that way. But today he'd hardly said more than a peep, despite Juliana talking to him. She thought perhaps he was still sore about last night, when he thought they'd been talking about him behind his back. But Arven had assured her that he'd patched up that misunderstanding with Kieran for sure. So it really didn't make any sense.

Unless . . . somehow, he'd heard them all talking this morning?

Juliana glanced to Kieran, who had apparently been looking at her, because he quickly looked away and cast his gaze downwards at his feet as they walked. Trying to break the awkward silence, Juliana asked,

"You said this place is called Paradise Barrens, right?"

The boy nodded silently.

". . . heh, pretty dramatic name," she chuckled.

There was silence as their feet scuffed along the dirt path. Eventually, he said,

"It's a very barren patch of land. People think it's because the Ogre spent a lot of time there. Spoiled the dirt where he walked or something."

"Oh."

After another pause,

"I think it's just 'cause of the nearby volcanic activity."

She smiled.

"Hey, that's good thinking. You're a clever kid, Kieran."

She glanced to him, but he didn't seem to care about the praise. He just sort of frowned and shrugged.

"Not a difficult observation to make."

Eeesh. Juliana sighed quietly. She was willing to bet her friends were having a way better time than she was.

Meanwhile . . .

The silence was starting to grate on Carmine's nerves.

At first, when she realized she had to partner up with Nemona again to finish off the dumb orientation assignment-- because her partner had wasted so much time yesterday goofing off so they didn't finish it then-- it filled her with dread. She just knew that motormouth would be going all morning long. Yet when Carmine stomped up to join her partner for the day, it seemed her barely-contained disgust was actually noticed, for once. And Nemona remained uncharacteristically silent, simply letting Carmine take the lead on getting the assignment finished up. It was blissful, at first. They reached the second sign, took a photo, then started out on the hike to the third sign, making very good time.

Yet after a while, Carmine started to feel . . . weirdly uncomfortable with it.

Eventually it bothered her enough that she found herself actually attempting to initiate conversation.

"S-so, uh . . . apparently you're something called 'Champion Rank,' huh?"

She had done air-quotes as she said it, and it had come out a lot snottier than she'd intended. Nemona glanced to her.

"Y-yeah, I am."

There was an awkward silence. Nemona looked anxious as she added,

"I'm sorry I didn't mention it sooner, but I-- w-well, in the past when people find that out, they tend to not wanna . . . fight me. I guess they get intimidated or something. So that's kinda why . . ."

"Oh. Well. Uh. Hah, I mean, I totally get that!" Carmine said, waving a hand,

"Like, same here, you know, people are constantly intimidated by how good I am once they see me fight, so. Yeah."

Nemona's expression shifted into a relieved smile.

"So you understand what I mean."

"Yeah, totally."

Carmine paused, growing lost in a thought for a while. Eventually, when she spoke again, her voice sounded softer and a little more sincere.

"I . . . kinda do get what you mean, though. Like, don't get me wrong, Kitakami is an amazing town and I'm proud of it, but . . ."

She sighed.

"It is . . . small. And there's only so many kids to battle around here, and once you've risen to the top here, well. There's kinda . . . nowhere else to go. Kicking their butts stops being all that satisfying. That's why I applied to Blueberry Academy."

Nemona replied eagerly,

"Yeah! I was the same with Naranja."

Carmine flicked her a look and then gazed ahead again at the path.

"Was it . . . what you wanted? Naranja, I mean."

Nemona fiddled with the zip of her bag as she pondered.

"Mmm, well. Yes and no. I learned a lot, and had a lot of great opportunities there. I don't regret any of it. But I also still felt kinda aimless there, for a long time. It's only been really recently that things have been falling into place for me."

Carmine raised a brow.

"How so?"

Nemona smiled; there was something indescribably affectionate and soft in the expression.

"I finally made some really good friends. Including my best friend and my rival for life . . . someone who appreciates me for just me and who can really meet me where I am."

Carmine's brow crumpled into confusion.

"Your rival? You mean the person you wanna destroy?"

Nemona laughed.

"I don't wanna destroy Juliana."

Carmine gesticulated as she spoke in exasperation,

"Why not? If she's better then you, then you should try to beat her, that's the whole point of battling. Is she better then you?"

"We're rivals. We're equals."

Carmine snorted and rolled her eyes.

"That's just a cop-out. There's always a winner and a loser."

Nemona looked at her, and there was an amused sort of glint in her eyes. It was annoying.

"Lemme ask you something. Was it what you wanted?"

"Huh?"

"Blueberry Academy, I mean. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Carmine scowled deep.

". . . you're just changing the subject."

Nemona's annoying smile had not faded. She said,

"Maybe I'm not. Maybe what you're looking for is a good rival. Not somebody to destroy, but somebody to help you grow."

Carmine was quiet for a while.

Then, she said,

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Meanwhile . . .

"ARVEN JUST DROP THEM!"

"NO I WILL NOT!"

"ARVEN WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"YOU'RE BEING DRAMATIC!"

At the moment, Arven and Penny were taking a brisk jog, Arven's arms laden with a huge pile of Liechi berries, so Penny was running somewhat ahead of him. A few yards back, an entire pack of Poochyena and Mightyena were running after them.

Arven had been lucky enough to come across a bush packed with the rare berries and of course he knew he had to stop and pick them. He'd stuffed his bag and then his arms with berries, knowing they were perfect for their picnic and then for freezing so he could use them back home in some desserts he wanted to try his hand at.

Unfortunately, it seemed the large number of Poochyena in the area were also fond of the berries. He'd tried just shooing them away, but more and more kept gathering and watching them. It wasn't until the Mightyena arrived that they'd grown bold enough to attack, and by then, their numbers had grown a bit overwhelming for just a pokemon battle. Arven and Penny had to just make a run for it.

The dogs were very persistent, though, as it turned out.

Penny started to grab the berries from Arven and chuck them behind her as they ran. Arven gave an outraged,

"HEY!"

"ARVEN THE DUMB BERRIES ARE NOT WORTH BEING MAULED FOR!"

"WE JUST NEED TO MAKE IT TO THOSE TREES!"

Penny reached to grab more berries and Arven jerked, trying to shield his cache from her.

"ARVEN-- YOU FAT GREEDENT--"

"YOU-- YOU PIPSQUEAK, YOU TAKE IT BACK!"

Later . . .

It was early afternoon when Juliana and Kieran finally reached the Paradise Barrens. The hike hadn't been too bad, but it was definitely a lot more walking than Juliana was used to. Especially since she was so accoustumed to Koraidon's help with transportation. She hadn't used him here, though; she worried the pokemon might intimidate the locals.

"So . . . I guess this is it, huh?"

She could see the signpost up ahead with its red, triangular roof. It stood beneath a large outcropping of rocks. She glanced to Kieran, but he was as quiet as he'd been all day. She muttered,

"Guess I'll go check it out . . ."

Once she'd reached the sign, she leaned down to read; however, before she could, a voice called out.

"Wow, you guys are so slow."

Juliana turned and frowned. Carmine arrived on the scene, followed closely behind by Nemona.

"What do you mean? We got here first."

"Yeah, but me and Nemona had to visit the second sign before heading over here, yet we got here at pretty much the same time."

Juliana sighed, answering,

"Okayyyy well, excuse me for enjoying the scenary."

Ignoring Carmine's general crankiness, Nemona chirped,

"Hi Jules! Wanna see this weird rock I found?"

"Yeah, always!"

The rock was indeed weird, very lumpy and a pale shade of pink.

"Haha, it kinda looks like used chewing gum."

"Oh my god you're right it does."

The slap of feet on the ground made them all look up and turn, as another pair of students came round the bend; it was Penny and Arven, panting and sweaty and looking like they had just run a marathon. Their clothes were stained in red berry juice and they were disheveled and dirty.

"Uh . . . you guys okay?"

Penny reached the group first. She stopped and sat on the ground, groaning miserbly as she sunk down.

"No."

Arven reached them next and stopped, his arms braced on his knees as he panted for breath, messy hair hanging in his face. There were some scratches on his face and arms too, Juliana realized.

"Seriously, what happened to you two?"

"What happened was this genius thought it was better to try and outrun a pack of Mightyena than just hand over a few lousy berries," Penny snarked bitterly.

"There were only like THREE Mightyena, the rest were Poochyena," Arven shouted back, which took too much breath so then he went back to panting.

"Yeah, well. I don't think it mattered much when there was that many of them," Penny said, taking off her glasses to wipe the smears off.

Juliana gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Well, um, at least you made it here in one piece?"

"I guess, but we lost the berries so it was all for nothing."

"Not all of them! I still have some in my bag," Arven announced proudly, patting the oversized pack that he brought everywhere with him.

"Great. That means it was sooooo worth it," Penny deadpanned.

"See if I let you taste the desserts I'm gonna make--"

"Okay! Enough! Jeez, you guys argue more like you're enemies than friends," Carmine interrupted.

Juliana cleared her throat.

"Okay, well. We're all here, so I guess we could just take one big group photo with the sign?"

Carmine shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get this done."

They all gathered around, posing for the camera. When they finished, nobody seemed to know what to do next; reading the sign didn't take long.

"So, um, what should we do now? There's still a lot of time left today."

"Hmmm."

"Ugh, I don't care what you guys do. I'm headed back."

Juliana asked,

"Wait, Arven, didn't you have the . . . you know, the picnic?"

"RIGHT! Yeah! Uh, yeah! The picnic."

He gestured at Carmine, who was already leaving.

"Don't go, Carmine, we have a picnic planned! It'll be nice."

She hesitated.

". . . fine. Only because I'm hungry."

"Great! I saw the perfect spot for it on the way out here. Everyone follow me, it's not too far."

It looked like Kieran had been trying to slink away from the group, but Carmine spotted him and grabbed his shoulder.

"C'mon, Kiki, where you going? You wanna have lunch with all your new buddies, don't you?"

He sighed and mumbled,

". . . sure."

The spot Arven had picked out was back in the Wistful Fields, tucked away behind a hill. When they reached it, Juliana's face lit with a smile.

"Oh wow, it's so pretty here!"

Nemona agreed enthusiatically,

"Yeah, this is so cool!"

All around were soft grasses and wildflowers, and in the center was a large pond, lots of Lotad floating in the waters as Yanma flitted about overhead. Planted throughout the area were what looked to be dwarf trees, all of them hanging heavy with hundreds of little purple blossoms. They had a magical, dreamy sort of ambiance. Ghost-type Oricoro hung around the trees, filling the air with their exotic calls.

Carmine commented,

"Yeah, this is Wisteria Pond. Honestly not a terrible place for a picnic. So good job, I guess, Arven. I'm surprised."

Arven smiled proudly, but then his smile slipped.

"Wait, why are you surprised?"

"When did you even manage to notice this?" Penny interrupted.

"While I was climbing that tree when the Mightyena bit me!"

"Ah."

They headed over to a cluster of the purple trees, where Arven laid out a picnic blanket and began to set out food; sliced fruit, berries, vegetable sticks, deviled eggs, cookies, so forth. He also began to assemble some mini sandwiches. Everyone gathered round to enjoy the late lunch.

"Wow, Arven, you went all out. How do you even fit all this in your bag?"

"Talented packing, of course. I'm not the picnic master for nothing. Here, who wants another sa- uh, one of these?"

"Oh, what kind of sandwich is it?"

"--NO, don't-- don't use that word--"

A pokeball suddenly opened from Juliana's bag, deploying a large, bright-red lizard. The Blueberry Academy students gasped in surprise. Arven sighed,

". . . just great."

"What the heck is that?" Carmine asked, watching as the huge creature sniffed enthusiastically at Arven.

"It's a menace and a pest, is what it is," Arven groused, pushing Koraidon's snout away. Juliana rolled her eyes.

"That's my ride pokemon. And don't listen to Arven, Koraidon is the bestest boy in the world. Just give him a sandwich, Arven."

"No! There's plenty of berries here, it can eat those just fine."

"He can have one of my sandwiches," Nemona said, holding out a mini sandwich. Koraidon gulped it down quickly and made a happy little trill.

"Nemona, I am not giving you another one just because you gave yours away."

"He looks strong. Why didn't you use him in battle?" Carmine asked, eyeing the pokemon warily. Juliana shrugged.

"Eh, that wouldn't really make for a fair game. Besides, he likes running around and eating way more than he likes battling."

Koraidon turned to sniff at Carmine, looking at her sandwich with envy. She recoiled a little, uncomfortable with the attention.

"Koraidon, c'mon, leave her alone. Don't be rude."

"Here, Koraidon. You can have this."

Penny fed Koraidon one of her own sandwiches. Arven cried out in dismay.

"You guys! I worked hard on these! Koraidon doesn't even taste them, he just swallows them whole!"

Nemona countered,

"You don't know that, I bet he can taste them."

Juliana fed Koraidon a sandwich too. Koraidon gulped it down and then rolled onto his back. Juliana rubbed his belly, chuckling.

"Ooh, who's a hungry baby boy? You are! Yes, you are!"

"Don't worry, Arven, I'm not throwing away my sandwiches," Carmine said, shifting so she sat further away from Koraidon.

"Thank you, Carmine. At least someone appreciates my hard work--"

She added, "--although, this chorizo isn't really spicy enough."

Arven sighed.

"I-- ugh."

"Of course we appreciate your work, Arven. It's just that Koraidon appreciates it most of all!" Nemona said. Juliana laughed.

After a leisurely lunch, the teens spent the time just lounging and fooling about. Nemona and Juliana decided it was the perfect spot to practice their pokeball throws, so they spent the time chasing after the many bug and grass types that were crawling and flying around, Juliana coaching Nemona on how to improve her form. When they'd practiced enough on the easier targets, like Swadloon, Cutiefly, and Petlil, they moved on to the nimble Yanma that were circling the pond. This evolved into a full-blown catching competition, before long. For a while Penny joined them in this contest, but she eventually tired of running around and chose to sit in the grass and just watch Juliana and Nemona's hyper antics, to cheer from afar.

Koraidon wandered over to where Penny sat and she rolled a ball for it, and they engaged in a lazy game of fetch. After a while, Penny noticed that Kieran was watching her, off alone in the grass, and she waved for him to come over. He looked very reluctant, but approached anyway, sitting down closer to her but still fairly distant. She asked if he wanted to throw the ball for Koraidon; he seemed very conflicted. He did eventually agree, though, and Penny tossed him the ball. The large pokemon made him nervous at first, but before long, he warmed up to it; one time when Koraidon returned the ball, it trilled happily and licked Kieran's face. The boy laughed, for the first time that day; when he looked to Penny, she was smiling warmly at him. He seemed to catch himself, glancing away from Penny with a tense frown. Unaware of the boy's sadness, Koraidon continued to lick him; he pet the lizard with a distracted sigh.

Arven had been dozing on the picnic blanket under the trees, during all this; his earlier skirmish with the Poochyena had worn him out a lot. It didn't exactly help he was always carrying such a heavy bag with him. Carmine hadn't really been in the mood to fool about like the others, it seemed, so she was sitting under the trees near Arven, fiddling on her phone. Once Arven had woken from his nap, he asked her if she wanted dessert. She shrugged and accepted the offer, and he shared with her some mochi made with Mago berries. It was a pretty shade of pink and was light and sweet with a nice tangy edge.

"What d'you think?" he asked.

She nodded, eating another one.

"They're really good."

Arven puffed his chest a bit, grinning.

"Thanks! The key is letting the Mago berries stew a while as a compote."

Carmine raised a brow.

"Wait, you made these?"

"Yeah!"

"Huh. That's . . . kinda cool, actually."

Arven looked thrilled with the praise. Carmine continued,

"Usually gramps makes mochi and that kind of stuff. Didn't really expect someone like you to know how to do it."

"Someone like me?"

"Hm, yeah. Guess I think of it as more of an old person thing to do."

Arven deflated a bit.

"Aw, man . . . you coulda just said they were good and left it at that."

She snorted.

"They were good. Good job, gramps."

"Ugh," Arven grumbled. She chuckled at him, and the conversation lapsed into silence for a time. Eventually, Arven commented,

"Your brother seems to have cheered up a bit."

They watched as he played ball with Koraidon. Carmine grunted.

"Guess so. I dunno what his problem has been today. Teenage angst or some crap like that, maybe."

Arven frowned.

"Well, he could have his reasons."

Carmine sighed as she laid back,

"Who knows."

After hesitating, Arven said,

"I still . . . feel kinda bad about . . . hiding the truth from him."

Carmine shot him a glare.

"Did you tell him? Don't you dare tell him."

"I didn't! I won't. I'm just saying . . . I feel bad about it."

"Well don't. There's no reason to. You heard gramps, Kiki's not ready for the truth. Let his own family worry about him."

Arven looked away, sighing.

"All I mean is that if it was me, I think I'd feel pretty bad if I found out my family was keeping such a big secret from me."

Carmine scowled.

"You act like I don't care about him. We're doing it for his own good, I told you-- I know my brother, he'd probably try to do something crazy if he found out. You want me to put him in danger?"

"No, of course not. Just . . . look, never mind, I was just thinking outloud."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Eventually, Carmine spoke again. Her voice lacked the usual hard edge; it sounded softer and more self-conscious.

". . .we'll tell him when he's ready."

Arven looked to her. He nodded, smiling faintly. She glanced away awkwardly, instead watching the other teens fooling about near the pond. After a while, casting around for a change in subject, she spoke in a slightly exasperated tone;

"Are those two like, girlfriends or something?"

Arven blinked, confused, looking to where she had gestured. It seemed Juliana and Nemona had worn themselves out with their pokemon catching contest and wandered back to the grass to collapse, exhausted, under some of the purple trees. Juliana was reclining against Nemona like she was her personal couch, and they were talking to each other and giggling, the purple blossoms drifting down softly on their heads.

Arven laughed.

"I dunno. Maybe. Wouldn't surprise me, I guess."

"You've never asked?"

"Hah, no. That'd be way too awkward. Also, I don't really care, I mean, that's their business."

Carmine seemed disappointed at his unwillingness to gossip. With a smirk, he added on,

"Why? Were you hoping to date one of 'em?"

She made an outraged noise and responded instantly,

"Oh my god, no. Gross. I can't stand those two. So loud and hyperactive and saccharine and . . . annoyingly good at battles . . . "

She'd muttered that last part very quietly, then huffed.

"Perfect for each other."

Arven just laughed.

"Yeah, that's true."

"Why are you even friends with them?"

Arven crossed his arms and smiled at her,

"They're good people."

Carmine was unimpressed with this response. Arven carried on casually,

"You are too, though. I can tell, beneath it all. You just got that tough guy act going on."

"Ex--excuse me?!"

Arven chuckled.

"Tough girl act, I guess? Whatever. I used to be the same, you know."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Undiscouraged, he said,

"I mean I was all gruff and distant and stuff like that. I didn't wanna have to rely on anyone. But after I made some real friends, I realized I didn't actually need the tough guy act anymore. That actually it had been pushing people away for no real reason."

Carmine rolled her eyes. Arven continued,

"So I'm a bit more chill now! Or, uh, I try to be, anyway. Friendlier, ya know? And more willing to rely on my buds for help from time to time!"

Scathingly, Carmine replied,

"That's great, Dr. Feelings, but I don't need you trying to psychoanalyze me. Maybe I just happen to be tough, did you consider that? Maybe I don't need to rely on anyone to get by."

Arven chuckled,

"Oh, I'm sure you don't. I never said otherwise."

She cast him a puzzled look. He said,

"But it's not about what you need. It's about what you want. Don't you want something more satisfying then just getting by?"

She glanced away, grumbling. After a bit, she snipped,

"I'd have no problems getting tons of friends if I wanted to."

Arven sighed. Eventually, in a patient tone, he told her,

"Well . . . if you're wanting a friend, I wouldn't mind being one of them."

She glanced to him. The calls of the Oricoro filled the silence as she hesitated.

She looked away again.

". . . fine. If you'd really like that, I wouldn't deprive you of the honor."

"Cool," Arven said, smiling at her.

After this discussion, Arven decided he'd head down and see if anyone else wanted some mochi. It was while the gang were snacking on mochi that Kieran decided to appear; he marched up to Juliana and Nemona, looking nervous but determined.

"I'd like to challenge you to a battle," he announced, pointing to Nemona. Carmine looked immediately surprised and concerned. Nemona looked thrilled.

"Of course!" she said, jumping to her feet eagerly.

"Wait, wait. Her? You sure you wanna do that, Kiki?"

Kieran nodded.

"Y-yeah. Juliana battled me before, so I figured I could battle Nemona too. I wanna get stronger."

"Yeahhh, but still, maybe it'd be better if you found some weaker trainers to beat up first--"

"No! I wanna get strong, and I don't want to waste anymore time. Please, Nemona? Will you battle me?"

Nemona gave Carmine a hesitant look before answering kindly,

"Of course, Kieran. I'd love to battle."

Carmine grunted,

"I'm just trying to look out for you, bro, but whatever."

Struck with inspiration, Nemona suggested,

"Hey! Maybe everyone else can have a battle too at the same time. It's such a nice place for one, and we haven't had many yet!"

Carmine frowned and her gaze shifted away as she made a reluctant humming sound. Nemona quickly added on,

"Uh, if people want to! Only if they feel like it, no pressure, of course."

"You already fought me and Nemona so you could give someone else a try," Juliana suggested gently. It seemed Carmine was not as gung-ho about battling as she was earlier; perhaps being crushed twice in a row dampened things for her.

"I could fight you if you want," Arven offered casually. Carmine looked at him. After a long pause she asked quietly,

"You one of these Champion-Rank students too?"

"Uh . . . no," Arven said, looking a little bummed out. Carmine answered,

"Okay, well, I guess we could battle."

"Oh. Uh, okay."

Juliana flashed a smile at Penny.

"Guess that leaves you and me!"

"Oog. Okay, but I know you'll kick my butt."

Juliana laughed.

"Nah, it's fine, we don't need to go all out. We can just mess around with the pokemon we've caught here, how's that?"

Penny agreed to that, and the teens went to battle their respective partners. Juliana and Penny had fun just messing around. The result of Arven and Carmine's battle was made quite obvious when they'd finished and Carmine had cackled in glee and gloated about her victory. The result of Nemona and Kieran's battle had not been to Kieran's liking, though.

"It's always like this, I'm always too weak," he was lamenting, while Nemona desperately tried to reassure him that he'd done a great job. He quickly went to Juliana and begged for her to battle him, too. She was reluctant but he was very persistent, so she gave him a battle as well. Once again, he was incredibly frustrated with the results.

"Kiki, c'mon, you're being too hard on yourself," Carmine said, but Kieran wasn't listening to anyone.

"Forget it, I'm going to go back home now."

"You're being a real sore loser, you know. You don't have to leave!"

Juliana opened her mouth to comment on the amazingly hypocritical statement coming from Carmine but decided not to get in the middle of a sibling squabble. Kieran said,

"I have stuff to do anyway. I'll see you all later."

He left without another word. They awkwardly watched him go. After a bit, a worried Nemona asked,

"Should I have . . . gone easier on him? I wanted to, but he begged me not to hold back . . ."

Juliana was about to comfort her, but before she could, Carmine shook her head, saying,

"It's fine. He's been acting weird all day, it wasn't your fault. I don't know what his problem is."

[cocogrrrl]

3bb - it'd be a waste, sorry

(part of "my princess (choose your own adventure)") no cws wc: 627

“I’m sorry,” you sighed. “I just don’t want our moms’ hard work to go to waste.”

“That’s fine. I completely understand.” He said, giving you a reassuring smile as he rubbed your hand with his thumb.

“Thanks.” You returned the gesture, resting your head on his shoulder as you let the rest of your ride be filled with the rumbling of the carriage.

Once you got there, you were arm-in-arm with Kyle as you entered the big, gold-plated doors. You were greeted by many familiar faces, some you’ve seen recently and many you haven’t seen in years.

“YN?” You heard a voice call you out of nowhere as you and Kyle were chatting by the sides.

“Hmm?” You turned to look at the person. “Marj!” You smiled, running up to her to give her a big hug.

Marjorine is your childhood best friend. Though you didn’t see her all the time, you two were always sure that you’d see each other during events like this. However, recently she became a lot more busy because of coronation preparations, so it’s been months since you last saw her.

“I missed you!” She smiled, squeezing you so tightly that you thought you were going to pass out for a second. “Are you with your parents?”

“No. I’m with Kyle, actually. He’s from Larnion.” You said, pulling him by his hand beside you as he waved.

“Kyle? Why are you with Kyle? Wait, wait, wait,” she paused, trying to think as to why you two had gone here together. “Are you two together?!”

“Sorta,” he answered, awkwardly laughing as he squeezed your hand.

“Yeah, we’re in an arranged marriage.” You added.

“Oh, I know Kyle, though. We used to attend the same boarding school when we were younger, actually.” Suddenly, she leaned next to your ear to whisper something. “I never got super close with him, but you’re a lucky woman, YN! Kyle’s a good guy. I’m sure of it.”

“Marj…” You shocked your head in embarrassment as Kyle watched you two, amused. She leaned back, returning to give Kyle a thumbs up.

“Sooooo,” she hummed. “How’s marriage planning going?”

“We actually just met today.” He said. “The marriage is in three months, and it seems like our parents have already planned out the whole thing already.”

“You’re still totally invited, though. I’m gonna fight for that maid of honor sport just for you.” You smiled, rocking on your feet.

“There you are, dear. I was looking all over for— Kyle?!” A new voice popped up. It was Marj’s secret partner, Kenny. You’ve met him a couple times since Marj would occasionally sneak him into events like these, even if he was a townfolk.

“Kenny?” Kyle lifted his brow in confusion.

“You all know each other?” You looked at the three of them.

“Yeah, we all went to the same boarding school together…” Marj explained.

“Kenny, you’ve been with Marj this whole time?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah! For about, like, four years now, actually.” Kenny pouted, wrapping his arm around Marj as she snuggled up against him. “You’re with YN, I assume?”

“Arranged marriage,” you pointed out.

“Hey,” Marj smiled like she had an idea. Knowing her, she most likely did. “Why don’t the four of us hang out tonight? You know, like a double date?”

The three of you looked over at each other. Kenny seemed as down as Marj was, and Kyle seemed to just go with whatever you chose. You, of course, really wanted to spend time with your best friend.

“Yeah, I think that’s a great idea, Marj.” You said, trying your best to contain your excitement even if you felt it bubbling up your body.

“Ahh, then let’s go!” She giggled, wrapping you all into a hug.

[chipsncookies]

Ep 14 sorta review (copied on twt and i post this here since im shadowbanned on there 😢) pls excuse the grammar and the length i have too much thoughts

Ok i finally watched it with subs!! Now I understand things better.

First things first we have new reaction image

Roy's part is straightforward, im glad he's so supportive and helpful to wattrell, and eventually captured it. murdock giving him a pokeball to catch it is so sweet, he knew it was coming!! Also him and liko going shopping and having ice cream together is cute, and him thanking her for letting Dot make sandwich is heartwarming :'). But never thought his comment about wanting a certain spice will backfire...

In last ep i thought spinel was ready to act when he came out in disguise, but no he was still trying to gauge the rvt's strength. I wonder if he's trying to lull friede into a false sense of security since the signal problem has been addressed (speaking of friede, rant incoming)

Friede oh my gosh. after watching the ep i can't blame friede 100% since liko went to town on her own without company, but it's still irresponsible for friede to not tell his team what happened.

He knew something was wrong but he chose to ignore it in favour of focusing on takeoff. If he'd told the team about it they'd be on high alert and less likely to do things on their own. It reflects badly on friede's leadership (and cpt. Pikachu as well?). Him not telling liko he's hired by her mom was funny before but it's harmful now. And given how he just met liko's parents.. this stings more 😬

That said it's also a risky gamble for spinel to attack friede because what if friede is responsible and told his team to be on alert instead, did he know friede won't tell? 🤣 and Liko really need to be more careful, i think she's been under protection so much she got careless. If there's a silver lining i think this incident could be a learning opportunity for rvt, they've been getting Ws so much they got overconfident.

Onto Spinel, DID HE REALLY NEED TO ASK THIS?? THE AUDACITY?;"?#!'

He just love mocking people isn't he? Even in disguise his personality shows through 🤣😭 alternatively he could be making sure liko actually lost her memories, but knowing how smug he is it's hard not to read it that way.

He succeeded getting the pendant but it's clear he didn't care about liko, going as far as wiping her memories (he's being safe but it's overkill imo) and leaving her in levincia.

Did he not know the pendant won't activate without her?

He saw what happened back in arboliva forest since he's been spying on them, but it seems it didn't register to him (possible spinel L?). I think now is a good time to confirm if that testament is true.

Also reminder, it was amethio who made this observation and decided to get her along with the pendant, at the expense of his time and gibeon's patience (lol). He made this conclusion right as it happened. So both spi and ame have seen the pendant react to liko, but only ame made the connection (possible amethio W?). This also highlights amethio and spinel's difference, ame is more observant and will deviate from orders if he deems necessary, meanwhile spinel is more focused and follows orders as is. I love this tbh it makes them more interesting.

Liko's memories got wiped right after the ep where she reminisces and being thankful about her adventures and new friends feels kinda cruel lol, poor girl... Not only liko, sprigatito also lost its memories, but seeing the preview, they somehow stayed together until night and then they saw the moon together. This is a callback to the scene where she trained with sprigatito back in ep 1! I think this is an important milestone 🥹💖 i hope they remember.

Overall, it's insane how the story goes from high (roy helping wattrel and catching it) to low (likos pendant got stolen). We (or at least me) were on a rollercoaster of emotions the entire ep, it's amazing. Story-wise I love that this anime is constantly challenging the status quo by having the pendant actually got stolen and liko got attacked. It keeps me on the edge of my seat bc i don't know what to expect, because anything can happen!!

Ok i think I've finished talking abt ep 14 dang that was long🤣 That said, in next ep preview...

Is this spinel? Is spinel still there ?? I thought he leave already??? He's risking his position if he stayed there for long, what's stopping him from leaving already? He didn't need to worry about them finding liko anyway since she's not important to him, he already got the pendant so why is he preventing them from finding her? But maybe it's not spinel but someone else. Maybe even pokemon, we can never trust previews 100% lol.

The ep title doesn't really give a hint since apparently it focuses on Dot and quaxley? Iono will also appear, but I can't tell what's the correlation between the two, other than they're both influencers. They're definitely going to find liko, so maybe dot will ask for iono's help? Her gym test does revolve around looking for people after all. But 'someone getting in the way' makes me feel nervous.

That's all my thoughts, this was a great ep, explorers fans are fed well, see you next week!!

[bonefall]

Better call Mapleshade AU:

Firestar: "The Defence calls Mistystar forth in Mudfur's Trial."

Mistystar: *forcibly summoned by Starclan from her peaceful dream.* "Wha--"

Firestar: "Hey Misty."

Mistystar: "Firestar, what--"

Mapleshade: "Yeah yall know each other that's great. Mistystar, did Leopardstar mention knowing Runningnose?"

Mistystar: *blinks, then looks around at the assembled cats, spotting Mudfur, Leopardstar, Runningnose, and what seemed to be an Oak tree with a suspiciously broken tail like branch, all of whom were either surrounded (in Mudfur's and the Oak tree's case) or covered in flaming bramblethorn vines (in Leopardstar's and Runningnose's case)* "What--"

Firestar: "Don't worry, it only hurts them if I will it."

Mapleshade: "My question, please?"

Skystar: "We did just zap her here, Maple. Fire has been taking part of these trials since he was an apprentice. Let her get her barings."

Mistystar: "Uh... Firestar what's going on?"

Firestar: "Well, Starclan has trials. I've been apart of them since Bluestar gave me my name of Firepaw. Names have power in Starclan-I can summon rings of fire around defendants to hold them there so they don't run off. I guess that happened a few times. Also, Mapleshade and Skystar think it's funny when I set the bramblethorn vines-that hold dark forest cats-- on fire too. I've only done it a few times, though!"

Mistystar: ".....Uh..Leopardstar didn't mention anything to me about knowing Runningnose, but I did see her talking to him when I was an apprentice...she talked to him alot, during gatherings. I mentioned it to my father, Oakheart. He said he'd talk to her about it, and she stopped." *she said, ignoring the last of Firestar's information.*

Mapleshade: "Did you notice anything else? Perhaps Leopardstar helping Mudfur with herb gathering?"

Mistystar: "No. She never really helped Mudfur. Especially after Sunfish died. The only times I saw her willingly in Mudfur's den was when she was getting herbs for Crookedstar."

Mapleshade: "When did Crookedstar start needing these herbs? Do you remember?"

Mistystar: *she looked thoughtful.* "He caught whitecough after father died. Mudfur delivered him herbs the first few days, but after the gathering where Leopardstar was named our deputy, Leopardstar started getting them and taking them to Crookedstar."

Mapleshade: "I see. The defense calls Brokentail to the stand."

Oak tree: *the large tree gave a shudder, and then moved to the front, Brokentail's face appearing on it's bark.* "Yes?"

Mapleshade: "Was Mudfur aware of your talks with Leopardstar, Tigerstar, and Runningnose?"

Brokentail: "No. Leopardstar made it quite clear that he was to never find out that she was talking to us four, either."

Mapleshade: "How do you four know each other?"

Brokentail: "Runningnose and I were shadowclan apprentices together. We met Tigerstar and Leopardstar as apprentices at a gathering. All four of us sorta became friends over our ambitions to lead our clans. We had plans to install Runningnose as Windclan's leader, and with myself leading Shadowclan, Tigerstar leading Thunderclan, and Leopardstar leading Riverclan, we thought we could shape the warrior code to our wims."

Leopardstar: "Why isn't he in the dark forest?!? Why doesn't he look demonic?!? He killed countless kits! I only killed adult cats!"

Skystar: "Yeah, that's my fault. I cursed the four clans for kicking out my clan, Skyclan, and Brokentail is that curse made manifest...so. he's not evil, persay...more like a force of nature. Also Feathertail and Stormfur were apprentices. At most, they were young teenagers no where near adulthood. Firestar, turn up the heat on her, will you?"

Firestar: "Oh...sure thing." *the flames grow hotter around Leopardstar and the dark forest she-cat hisses, her snake tail wiggling in agony.*

I LOVE when StarClan cats get special powers based on their lives, especially as their lives get mythologized. I'm glad you picked up the bramble-chains idea too

[makibeni]

Ch. 11 -Welcoming Spring With You in My Arms

The last throws of winter blew a chill wind through the air, nipping at the early budding trees that took root in the heart of this urban sprawl. Makima stood in a park, where Kobeni told her they'd meet. It was small yet scenic, secluded behind a concrete jungle of apartments and old, half abandoned office buildings, a beacon of verdant greenery in this otherwise grey and dreary corner of town. It looked surprisingly well maintained, the path she had to take to get here wound through alleyways and hidden turns feeling almost purpose built to misdirect, like a forgotten trail to some abandoned ruin long since lost to time, a little secret now shared between her and the one her heart desired. She took another look around after glancing at her watch, scanning for her companion, her heart slowly filling with longing. Makima normally had an unparalleled grasp over her emotions, but for some reason spending even a moment more than promised deprived of Kobeni drove her near to madness. Luckily, before the worst could come to pass, she saw her, waving her hands and happily bouncing towards her. Kobeni was wearing a long, grey winter jacket over a light blue dress top and a fluffy pair of boots, a discordant set of hand me downs put together as best she could for an outing she never really expected to go on. Makima returned her wave by raising her hand and meeting her half way with a relaxed saunter.

"This park is pretty out of the way, how exactly did you find it?"

Kobeni let out an anxious giggle and poked her fingers together.

"I-It's kind of embarrassing actually... t-the other day when I w-was late to work, I tried taking a shortcut and~ well I got sorta lost..."

She looked up at Makima, trying to to gauge her reaction. She still saw her as her superior, and expected some sort of admonishment as recompense for her transgressions, even though it was Makima herself who permitted them in the first place. Unsurprisingly, though perhaps not to Kobeni, Makima seemed entirely unconcerned with her anecdote beyond the general interest she seemed to always have with regards to Kobeni's affairs. After breathing a shallow sigh of relief she pressed on.

"I ended up finding my way here and thought it looked so pretty I... I figured you might like it too... I w-wanted to share it with you..."

What she said wasn't untrue, but something about it didn't feel quite right, was this really how a subordinate was meant to address their betters? Was this even how friends spoke? She didn't exactly have much of a basis to answer that question given her overwhelming lack of experience in the topic, but more importantly she didn't want it to hold her back anymore, especially not with Makima.

"I u~um..."

She was just hanging out with a friend, she thought, so then why were her nerves were getting to her so badly? In an act of desperation she closed her eyes and spun her head to the side before blurting out the rest of the sentence.

"I made us some f-food! I t-thought we c~could eat it together, i-if you wanted to"

After a moment of silence she opened her eyes, greeted by Makima's outstretched arm. She replied her with a face feigning confusion to try and hide her embarrassment, the blush on her cheeks betraying her deception.

"I'd like that, but you're shivering, let me warm you up first"

Kobeni's face went bright red as she yelped out a gasped cry of barely audible embarrassment, partly wishing she could just close her eyes again. She was shivering from the nerves, not the cold, but she couldn't refuse Makima. Squirming all the while, she reached out her arm and soon found herself nuzzled up against Makima's side. There was nothing unpleasant about it, to the contrary, the feeling of their bodies pressed up against each other, sharing each other's warmth, the intimacy that filled her heart with glee and nearly made it skip a beat... So why then was she still so anxious? Why could she not free her gaze from the ground beneath her feet? Why was all the progress she'd made so easily erased? She winced and bowed her head in shame, eyes shut tight, doing her best to keep in step with Makima, and hide away from herself. The person she'd come to rely on so dearly was standing right beside her and she couldn't even muster up the energy to utter a single word, torn apart from the inside, between the fear of asking for help for something that seemed so insignificant and the very real anguish it was causing her.

Makima suddenly stopped and Kobeni fearfully began to open her eyes, preparing for the verbal degradation at her pitiful state, but one that never came. She cautiously lifted her head to meet Makima's eyes and saw her looking upward with a beaming smile on her face.

"You were right, this place is beautiful"

Kobeni turned her eyes to see what had captivated Makima and saw them, the first flowers blooming on the cherry tree, unfurling their petals and signaling a new season of sunshine, as one last gust of wind sent them dancing through the air around them. The worry in her heart melted away as she remembered why she'd come here. How relieved she'd felt when she'd stumbled into such a magical place last time and how desperately she wanted to share that feeling with Makima. For the first time in a long time she managed a genuine smile, one that Makima made sure to savor. They stood in blissful silence, mesmerized by the reverent ballet of flowers in bloom as Makima nestled hear her head on Kobeni's shoulder and the two of them welcomed the spring together.

[radi0activesmile]

Thoughts under the cut!

1. I’ve loved Andrealphus since the moment they dropped a picture of him, so I’m psyched we got to see him finally. HOWEVER...

The fact that they dropped that image of him months before season 2 dropped, and Stella name-dropped him in episode 1 of season 2 making him out to be this big threat that Stolas did not want to anger... seems like they were building up a lot for a guy who was just sorta... there. 

2. I think if this episode had been longer (it’s like seven minutes shorter than Exes and Oohs) that would have helped a lot. If scenes had like 30-40 more seconds in them, I think it would have flowed a little better. Like. Andrealphus was clearly trying to accomplish something by playing up Stolas cheating on Stella, but Striker came in before we could do it. Maybe we could have seen how easily he can get under Stolas’ skin, or maybe he could have said something to help us understand why Stella uses him as a threat. 

3. I like the idea of Millie and Moxxie going to take someone down without Blitz, but I wish it was someone other than Striker. Not that they didn’t have personal beefs with him, but when we last saw Striker, we kind of got the idea that he had almost convinced Blitz to join him, and I think that emotional scene at the end would have been waaaaay more effective if Blitz had been there to save Stolas, and Striker had offered that same deal, and Stolas could get to see Blitzo falter again. 

4. I think this episode suffers the same way Seeing Stars suffered in that, I get why they wanted Blitz to be away from the main plot, but I think the way they got him away... needed some work. Maybe if they’d been on a mission and Loona had been really hurt, and that’s why he needed to take her to a hospital? I know Helluva’s a dark comedy but the tone shifting so drastically from ‘haha dog getting shots’ to ‘man is getting tortured to death’ was a biiiit... extreme? 

5. I do like us getting to see how other hellborns treat imps... and seeing Blitz nearly lose it when someone mispronounces his name is a nice callback. 

6. Shoutout to the boyband imp. I love him. 

7. With how rushed things already felt, I don’t... really understand the scene where Millie and Moxxie stop at the gas station. Seemed like that time could have been better spent developing one of the other scenes. 

8. I’m all for Stella being a jaded girl boss who wants her husband to suffer for cheating on her (which he did, no matter how he tries to justify it, and no matter how loveless the marriage was, he did cheat on her) buuuut why was she okay with Striker shooting him last time? This seems like something she would want done quickly-- and quietly. She’s a noble with an image to think of, right? 

8.5 Then again, they’re clearly trying to paint her as someone who isn’t thinking this through (even though she clearly did think it through the first time she hired Striker? When she waited until he was an entire ring away from his castle and his guards? And could easily pin it on someone else? Rather than getting him abducted in public and not even pretending to be surprised?)

9. Really hope we get some Striker backstory, ‘cause the man’s clearly got some issues with nobles/overlords and I’m dying to find out who hurt him so badly. 

10. There’s so many scenes I wish were longer, but the Loona getting a shot scene could have been cut by a loooot. 

11. Did... did the person who wrote the scene between Andrealphus and Stella forget they’re siblings? Did they think Andre’s her sassy best friend? Because he does strike me as the type of guy who talks like this... but not to his sister. 

12. I like that they’re seemingly painting Andrealphus as this deep thinker who’s out here playing the long-game, but I don’t like that they had to make Stella so oblivious to the obvious to show that. Don’t tell me this woman, who has been plotting this for months (probably over a year) was so blinded by wanting Stolas dead that she didn’t consider anything else. She was raised a noble. Her marriage was arranged in childhood. Don’t tell me she isn’t very aware of what would happen to her status if he died. Don’t tell me she didn’t think of a way around that waaaay before she found an assassin. Why is she a whiny child all of a sudden?

13. STOP. CALLING. YOUR SISTER. THINGS. LIKE. THAT.

14. Edward Basco does an amazing job as Striker and I love the level of so done with these blue blooded dumbasses he brought during that phone call. 

15. That fight scene is absolutely gorgeous. 

16. I’m so confused about how Blitz got Loona into the car and into the doctor’s office only for her to suddenly put up a fight? I get her being freaked out but knowing it’s something she has to do to keep herself alive, and I could see her fighting Blitz the entire way there. The sudden flip just seemed... again, tonal shift. 

17. Love Doctor goat’s design though. 

18. Music is a bop!

19. So M&M get no credit for absolutely saving Stolas’ ass huh?

20. Stolas’ doctors being legit Plague Doctor demons is fantastic and I have no complaints. 

21. He can get hurt?

All jokes and gripes aside I really do like that line. Blitz clearly has a fear of people leaving him either by choice or by being taken away by death, and I bet thinking Stolas was this immortal being that, while annoying, he was likely comforted by the idea that Stolas physically can’t be taken from him. Then suddenly that security is jerked away from him. No matter what other feelings I have about this episode, that was really well done. 

22. Glad we’re finally getting some clarification on what’s been up with these two since Ozzie’s. It looks like Stolas is trying to give Blitz space and prove their relationship is not just you wanting me to fuck you and Blitz is being dismissive and guarded. They’re acting like nothing happened when they’re in front of others but it seems we’ll eventually get them talking about what happened that night. 

23. Why do you insist on hurting me with these character breaks after looking at phone endings, Viv?

All in all, I didn’t hate the episode. It absolutely wasn’t one of my favorites, and I don’t think it was a good follow up at all to Exes and Oohs, but it wasn’t terrible. I’ll admit my hopes and expectations were high AF because I’ve been dying to see Andrealphus and also dying for Striker to come back. 

So far, in season two, I’ve:

Really enjoyed episode 1

Had... thoughts about episode 2.

Loved episode 3.

Thought episode 4 was meh. 

Soooo, if the pattern keeps up, episode 5 should be great!