#because he's at his BASE LEVEL a really nice guy but he's also fucking awful

[one-winged-dreams]

Like

Man, my dad's a huge dick sometimes and an utter unpredictable lunatic amongst other major flaws

But it makes me sad when he gets excited about me liking music and vinyls as much as he does, because no one else in the family does and they even shame him for it

[utilitycaster]

forgive me if i don’t make sense bc i don’t really know how to articulate this, but taliesin talked a lot about “trying to figure out what punk means in exandria” and wondering what’s there to be angry about. and after the last string of episodes i feel like that it’s a question that he baked into ashton’s character. like yes ashton is punk and they have justified anger but the Rest of their anger is deflective to stop them from interrogating themselves and their decisions further. idk it’s really interesting to me

It is! It's something I really love about Ashton and it's something I think Taliesin was very thoughtful about in his character creation. I think Taliesin is extremely strong in character creation in general, and it's a rare person who can make a character based on a philosophical premise who also feels very real.

That really is the core of Ashton, and I think it's a great commentary. I do still intend to watch The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (winter break perhaps?) but I am broadly familiar with the gutter-punks on which Ashton was based, and again, the punk movement as a whole. There have always been politically-minded punks; but I advise you look up the backgrounds of, say, the average Fugazi/Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, or Propagandhi musician because they are, by and large, middle-class white guys with relatively stable and happy childhoods, and the idea of Ashton as someone dedicated to the Tumblr uwu kindness is punk "look at this perfect baby who doesn't steal pennies how kind and generous to only take literally everything else" archetype was always a massive projection. They've always been far more in the model of the Break Shit, Get Wasted punk than, well, the straight edge and veganism of the above.

(I also think that while it's true that a lot of punk houses did take in anyone and were something of a refuge for many a la Color In Your Cheeks, there was also a lot of Missing Stair Fallacy shit going on in the punk community even then. Ashton is in fact an example of the flaws in that sort of subculture: the Nobodies were there until they really, really weren't, and that's not unusual for that kind of punk friendship. It's found family until you're too inconvenient and dangerous to make it worth it. Taliesin explores this a lot, incidentally; that was very much what he was doing with Molly, and I would love to hear him talk about that kind of surface-level closeness that isn't strong enough to stick because as someone who both participates in fandom and loves to observe and analyze fandom as a phenomenon itself, it's a very real dynamic.)

Ashton has had an awful life. That's the premise. Nothing good has happened to them. There are plenty of valid reasons for them to be angry. Some are people who deserve it (their parents for the fucked up ritual; the Nobodies for abandoning them; Jiana Hexum for exploiting them), some are people who don't deserve their anger but to be fair haven't done anything to deserve their respect either (Percy, the gods), but many have been perfectly kind and reasonable and Ashton has rejected them because they're in a position of authority or seemed too nice. And there's plenty of stuff he's mad about that isn't easily pinned on anyone; the chronic pain is a shitty side effect of one or both of his traumas but no one person is responsible.

Ashton is an incredibly cynical person, and this extends to himself. As I've said before, I think they absolutely mean it when they say that they would have done the exact same thing the Nobodies would do, and this has been used to both cover up the intense hurt that came from their abandonment, but also, I think part of Ashton's own self-loathing comes from the fact that yeah, they are the kind of person who'd have done the same, and that isn't a very good person, and being angry at the Nobodies and Jiana and the world at large has allowed him to avoid looking that truth in the face. Ashton has always bounced between "I'll be the best broken thing I can be" and "what if I could be more? what if I could be what I could have been if things went well?" and also "who the fuck cares" and the reveal, that when the chips are down, he will make an ill-advised and self-destructive choice from that place of pain and anger has really rattled them. He can't keep just being angry and using that to shield himself from difficult questions. It won't just kill them, but it will hurt everyone around them too.

A really ugly truth of life is that even when something is completely not your fault and even when you have been dealt a rotten, unfair hand, often, you do have some degree of responsibility to deal with it ("And if it isn't my fault, I certainly didn't do anything to deal with it," as Ashton says.) The mere act of being angry is cathartic but doesn't actually solve anything. I think that's Keyleth's message to Orym, actually; it's not fair, and you're angry that it's not fair, but you need to use that anger to do things yourself instead of letting it consume you or passing the buck because it sure as hell isn't your turn. Ashton has, since the solstice, been playing tug of war with the idea that this anger has perhaps not been serving him, and he finally lost. Initially they realized a lot of this anger had been self-pity, but then, as they said, one week of thinking their parents actually were something led them to do the exact same dumb cult shit. Instead of stopping and listening to Evontra'vir and Allura, he said "no, I'm special, actually." And to be clear I think their motives were incredibly complicated and well-thought-out on Taliesin's part. It's not just because of his parents, it's not entirely selfish or out of heroics but those certainly did play a part, he did genuinely think it would help but he also ignored a number of warnings that it wouldn't. Again, I think the parallels between Ashton and FCG are glaringly obvious this episode, except Ashton hid their feelings with anger and FCG with a focus on everyone else's needs.

[eurofox]

Yakuza 3 review

I heard that this is one of the least popular games in the series. As it’s one of the oldest games I can see why. It’s also fairly short while also poorly paced. I still enjoyed it but less so than that other games. I have heard it was rushed though

SPOILERS:

The good shit:

It’s nice to see Kiryu happy and living his dream

Another great soundtrack, some gems here (clay doll on the cradle is my face)

I actually don’t mind Kaoru’s departure. Kind of refreshing to see a female character choose a career over romance (she was shown to be ambitious) and her fling with Kiryu really seemed like a ‘heat of the moment’ thing than a real relationship. I hear it’s because her VA was a nightmare though. But I wasn’t too bothered with this

Kiryu’s rad shirt

Okinawa is a nice change of pace and easy to get around (it took my 3 games to know my way round Kamurocho lmao)

Rikiya and co grew on me.

Pretty brutal combat, smashing people’s teeth out and shit

Has the best gun based boss in the series with Andre Richardson. Actually LIDL own brand Wesker one of the best Big Bads in the whole series.

The Kanda love hotel fight is comedy gold

Kanda gets a well deserved death

All the E N G L I S H

Hospital battle is great. One of my fave long battles in the series

Daigo’s hurt screaming MINE

Kiry getting Majima to babysit Daigo

Majima has a few shining moments here, especially the lorry rescue

Kiryu’s blog is such a funny idea.

Bullfight was silly, but enjoyable

Daigo’s post coma crackshot is unintentially hilarious

Mine’s boss fight is ok

The Bad shit:

Holy fuck people were not exaggerating with the BLOCKUZA jokes. Having some low level mooks block my every move did not make me feel like the dragon of Dojima. 

That Lau Ka long fight where I just kept getting stunlocked while he made those wacky noises

Looks dated and feel dated. They did what they could I guess but I think this game could do with the Kiwami treatment.

At this point, 4 games in, I’m starting to see re-used tropes.

JESUS CHRIST TAKE AWAY THE FUCKING GUNS FROM DEFEATED FOES

The disrespect they showed Kashiwagi

Rikiya’s death is pointless and was avoidable.

Daigo’s model looks so bad, with his shiny and miss-shapen head, I thought at first he was the white guy who I’d heard was in this game

Evil (or good I guess?) Kazama twin, really?

No hamazaki fight

Shortest game and it starts going too fast once you meet Joji

That duck eating cutscene, minging.

Those damn kids. I get they wanted to build up the relationship with them but it really should have been sub story’s. It just got tedious after 5 hours. Especially as Kiryu says he’s ready to go and still fannys about in Okinawa

ANIKI every 2 seconds is really fucking annoying. I abandoned him in serena

30 minute long exposition scene with the politician

Kiryu’s god awful sideburns

Why is Kiryu so W I D E

Goons with annoying introductions

Having to run around finding shit for that stupid dog

Chase sections

I just don’t really get all the Mine love in the fanbase. He’s not developed enough

Dumb fake out death scene

The plot here is messy, though I kind of preferred it over 3 for several reasons. I’ll go into what I made of it:

It’s nice to see Daigo trying to help Kiryu (He tries, he really does) but why not just relocate that orphanage? They build it back in no time when Mine wrecks it so couldn’t he just ask kiryu to move? He needs the cash.

The whole resort/military base thing needing each other was confusing tbh.

The super secret place Kahiwagi stowed Daigo? The hospital. Damn, they’ll never find him there.

Nakahara and co. are nice, but why do we never see them again?

Why would Kazama never mention his CIA operative twin to Kiryu?

So it turns out Joji never actually shot anyone, just that big meanie Andre while Joji just stood there shaking his head in disapproval presumably.

The CIA couldn’t tell that the head of the evil Black Monday was pretending to be a CIA agent?

Kiryu howls in manly pain for poor aul rikyia who he knew for a year, but gets over the death of his mentor/brother figure Kashiwagi in like a minute. And was machine gunning Kashiwagi really necessary?

Mine’s whole ‘I ❤ DAIGO’ thing comes across a bit psycho-esque. He’s cartoonishly evil, demolishes an orphanage for fucks sake. And his reason for going wild are odd. Daigo’s only been in a coma for a few days and he wants to put him down like a lame horse? He’s not even in ICU, he’s hardly a ‘tangle of tubes’, doesn’t even have a dripstand, just an oxygen mask. Reminds me off that scene in the simpsons when Barney tries to smother homer in hospital when he’s actually fine. Plus he sells out to Black Monday for more money cos of some dumb bullshit about real brotherhood or something. He seems to be more popular in japan so I checked out some of his RGG online stories and he comes across as  obsessive over Daigo, which seems one sided. I can’t tell if he’s actually gay for Daigo. There are plenty of very close platonic male friendships in this series but his doesn’t seem that way.

While I never really got into Mine, I really liked Andre as a villain. His plans aren’t the convoluted mess like the other ‘real’ baddies. He just wants to steal some missiles for money. He is so aggressively American that it’s just funny. Blond, tall and blue eyes, refuses to speak Japanese despite understanding it, his silly phrases ‘ah shit’ and ‘go to hell’, giving up on hand to hand combat and just pulling out a glock. Also his white guy entourage looks like they were rounded up outside an office building in Birmingham. His boss fight is actually fun as he doesn’t block as much. His gun doesn’t constantly knock you on your ass like in Kiwami. Gets his ass handed to him by a guy coming out of a coma and completely ruins Mine’s dramatic speech with his his whining ‘let me go’ ‘wah’ ‘stop it’. Also I got last samurai’d on my playthrough as I hadn’t bought any healing items in Okinawa so the Andre and co killed me in that surprise fight. Overall, great villain.

I can see the issues with this game but it was still enjoyable. Some people might even enjoy the slice of life stuff in Okinawa but I resented how I was forced into it, especially when I wanted to get going to Tokyo for the rest of the story. Plus I can suspend belief for Kiryu’s nonsense when it’s a substory, but it seems silly when I’m looking for dogfood when Daigo is comatose in the main section. Goofiest plot so far but the cool villain redeemed it a bit. And it’s nice that Daigo got a badass moment, even if shortlived, he takes a lot of L’s in this series.So it was ok, but I can see why people are less enthusiastic about this one.

[laceratedlamiaceae]

You know what, fuck it. I'm going to rank every character in ofmd based on how hot they are, in terms of both appearance and personality. I'd like to offer a preemptive apology to Ed and Stede likers because this is not kind to them.

#1: Izzy - 9.95/10

Obviously he's my number one. He isn't quite perfect; I had to give him a 9.9 on looks for his flat ass. He does get a 10/10 for personality though, because he's literally exactly like me and I'm a narcissist.

#2: Calico Jack - 9.5/10

He's a 10/10 for looks and a 9/10 for personality. I love the mustache so much and while the whole frat bro vibe might get kind of annoying eventually, at least he's fun.

#3: Ivan - 9/10

9/10 for both looks and personality. I love men who are quiet and just kind of stand there without really doing anything, and what little things he does say or do are great.

#4: Frenchie - 8.5/10

Frenchie's an easy 9/10 for personality; he's just a chill guy. He's an 8/10 for looks; his beard isn't on the level of Jack's mustache but he still looks good.

#5: Fang - 8.5/10

I love the beard, the headband, the open vest; everything about him is so hot, 10/10. He's a bit too expressive for me; I prefer men who are totally repressed, so he gets a 7/10 for personality.

#6: Mr. Buttons - 8/10

He gets an 8/10 for looks; I love the beard and the long hair paired with the bald spot. It's hard to give him a score for personality but I'll give him an 8/10 because he can talk to birds.

#7: Wee John - 8/10

I love the beard and tattoos; he's an 8/10 for looks. He doesn't really do much which earns him an 8/10 for personality too.

#8: Black Pete - 8/10

He kind of looks like my dad but if I set that aside he gets an 8/10 for looks; I just want to slap his bald head. I kind of love how pathetic it is that he's constantly telling obviously fake stories that nobody believes so he's also an 8/10 for personality.

#9: Roach - 7.5/10

He's good at baking and completely unhinged so he's a 9/10 for personality. He would get a higher score for appearance but he's only a 6/10 because smoking isn't sexy.

#10: Jim - 7/10

They're an easy 10/10 for personality. I love the way they look with the fake beard, but if I'm judging them without it I'll give them a 4/10.

#11: Lucius - 6.5/10

I'm sorry, the sideburns just do not do it for me, so he's only a 6/10 for appearance. He's mostly cool but also kind of annoying so I'll give him an 7/10 for personality.

#12: Oluwande - 6/10

He would look nice if it weren't for the crocs and whatever that shirt is, which drag him down to a 6/10. He's also just too nice for my tastes, so he's a 6/10 for personality too.

#13: Doug - 5.5/10

He looks alright I guess but he's a little too boring for me, 6/10. He's also way too nice and supportive; good for Mary but I could never. 5/10 for personality.

#14: Chauncey Badminton - 5.5/10

I know he and Nigel are twins but the bald look puts Chauncey a little bit ahead at a 8/10. For personality he gets a 3/10, because "guy who's driven homicidally insane after the guy he bullied as a kid kills his brother" is kind of hot in a fucked up way.

#15: Spanish Jackie - 5/10

I'm gay, so she gets a 0/10 on looks even though she does slay in that red velvet. If I was into women she would definitely be a 10/10 though. And of course she's a 10/10 for personality.

#16: Mary - 5/10

Still gay, so again a 0/10 on looks, but we stan a woman who tries to kill her husband so that's a 10/10 for personality.

#17: Evelyn - 5/10

Once again not into women, so 0/10 for looks. And do I even need to say it? Of course she's a 10/10 for personality.

#18: The Swede - 2.5/10

He's a 5/10 for appearance; he doesn't look bad, but he doesn't really do it for me either. I completely forgot about him until I saw him in the background of a gif so I think that's an automatic 0/10 for personality. Sorry :(

#19: Nigel Badminton - -1.5/10

He's awful but he is kind of hot. -10/10 for personality, 7/10 for looks.

#20: Stede - -1.5/10

He's a solid 7/10 for looks but a -10/10 for personality. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but I also despise him and he's literally the worst (besides Ed).

#21: Ed - -499999996.5/10

Yeah sorry, he's last. He's a 10/10 on looks (with the beard; he's a 4/10 without it), but he's a -1000000000/10 for personality. It feels like the writers were deliberately trying to create the most annoying character possible to me personally. I was too distracted by how hot he was to really notice at first but now every time I rewatch the show I start to hate him even more.

[daryfromthefuture]

Dary's big essay on "Back To The Future: The Musical"

I finally saw this show on Thursday! And obviously I want to share all my thoughts :D

(the stage already looks awesome change my mind)

Under a cut because spoilers ahead

As soon as Olly Dobson showed up on stage, it felt so real. Bttf the musical live. How awesome in that? He's an amazing Marty McFly.

The first song, "It's only a matter of time", is definitely one of my favorites. It's partly based on the bttf main theme! And I love that.

Lovelovelove that Jennifer gets more appreciation in this show. Her duet with Marty? Amazing. The fact that she played around with his hair to comfort him after his band got rejected? Yes. That Marty took pics of her during the song? YES.

The next song was "Hello - is anybody home?". While it's beginning sounds more darker (still replaying those chords in my head *shiver*, awesome music) it gets lighter as every family member sings and Dave asks everyone if "they want fries with that". It's a longer song in comparison to the others but also one of my faves! Clearly expresses what Marty feels about his home life.

Roger Bart as Doc is a vibe.

The way Marty stays on side being like "what the fuck is going on here" while Doc dances and sings about the time machine and how "it works!" is one if the best things about this musical

They cut out the Libyans and had Doc die of radiation poisoning after his suit ripped. On his ass.

Marty aka the confused kid in 1955 (bonus: everyone around him is singing???)

The Biff understudy was so good honestly

Goldie Wilson also has a bit of a bigger role - he's got an entire song for himself which is also pretty long and he's completely in the center for a while

George has his own song! "My Myopia". Nice one, but rather not in my favorites. He actually sings this while spying on Lorraine

"Pretty Baby" is a good song but the level of awkwardness. Lorraine, darling, you've literally just met this dude for the first time ever, lay off him. The tension in the audience was fitting

Doc: No, Mr. McDonald, sorry, but I cannot make an investment in Scottish hamburgers. (or something like that)

Doc's FACE as Marty tells him the flux capacitor story- afjafbdkaf

Marty: Doc, you've never let me down in the past! Doc: You mean in the future. Marty: *visible confusion*...riiiight.

The song "future boy" <333

George: "I'm your dentist"

Marty, Biff and the fight on top of the school lockers. Just this scene. Our boy took some sort of light tube and played star wars ("Biff, I am your father." "What?" "Ah, nevermind") and kicked Biff in the ass. Too bad this only impressed Lorraine more.

"21st century" is kinda neat but...kinda unnecessary? I loved Doc going crazy though. Guy felt as if he was on top of the world and he deserves that much <3

Lorraine (to Marty): "Pick me up at seven and take me to heaven~" Doc: *CHOKE*

Idk where exactly that was but this was one of my favorite moments of this whole show. So basically Marty said "this is heavy" and Doc replied with "There's that word again, heavy. Why are things so heavy in the future, is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?" And Marty went "wait, what?" Then there was this: Doc: "wait, what?" Marty: "wait, what?" Doc: "wait, what?" Marty: "...wait, what?" Doc: "wait, what?" Marty:... :/ This was especially funny bc Roger spoke louder each time, pulling Marty's leg that way

George and his awkward but adorable dancing

"FOR THE DREAMERS". THIS SONG. I WAS IN TEARS. AW. ALL THE FEELS <3333 The moment Marty went up to Doc, touched his shoulders from behind and said "But I know who you are, Doc. And this dream of yours, it will come true, I know it will. Because I really do believe in you" *sobs* aaahhhhh

Doc hiring Goldie Wilson to attach the cable to the clock tower bc our science boy is afraid of heights 😔

The whole enchantment under the sea dance was done so well?? Like...the decoration, the atmosphere, the set up? Many kudos for this!!

The applause in the audience when George punched biff!

Marty in the trash can instead of the band's car trunk...

I swear I wasn't the only one in the audience who sang Earth Angel with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters. Maybe I was. I was completely feeling it ok

Voice controlled DeLorean

THE HUG. Short but sweet af!! Marty and Doc love each other sm you could feel the energy between the actors!!

Marty: *wants to change destination time* Car: Voice not recognized. Marty: *second attempt* Car: Voice not recognized. Marty: * best imitation voice* Great Scott! Destination time set to 1:20 AM!! Car: *unimpressed* You are not Doctor Emmett Brown.

"For the dreamers reprise" <3333 THIS ONE'S FOR THE DREAMERS *struggles with cable* ...LIKE...*connects cable* MEEEEE

The cheering in the audience as Marty is successfully sent back to 1985! The way Doc dances away from the stage!

Ayyyy...Marty baby. Couldn't save Doc, hm?

AND THIS. THE BEST ADDITION TO THE MUSICAL. THEY HUG AFTER THE WHAT THE HELL LINE!! YESSSSSS Everyone cheered and clapped! And I cried lmao

Marty boy you have a bed. You don't have to pass out on the bench.

George McFly day? Sign me up!

The way Jennifer's uncle with the record company from LA was named Huey

The car fucking flew. And did a turn. Marty and Doc were upside down in a flying car.

The theatre was vibing to back in time!

This:

Aaand that was it! The show was fantastic. I loved it! Definitely worth the 10 months wait :,D

[the-horsemen-ride]

I wanna know more about War, so if you’re still doing 4 headcanons, war please!

Canon-based: He’s an absolute pussy. Little to no pain tolerance in his base form and can’t regulate or hide his emotions for shit. Also the type to cry when angry. He’s very self conscious about it and teasing him about it would piss him off.

Unless he’s in his Ultra Form or super pissed he usually doesn’t go through with any threats he throws out there. However he has one hell of a temper and outside of runs or anything that has to do w/ the kids he can do as he pleases, so don’t underestimate him.

He gets in over his head a lot with how impulsive and stubborn he is. Whether he jumps ship when the going gets tough or not depends on just how strongly he feels about whatever. He’s ditched the other horsemen once or twice.

Funny: Whole slew of Horseman antics here. With his violent tendencies, stubbornness, poor impulse control and desire to have the last laugh, this guy has gotten into some pretty wild situations. Florida Man levels of madness and he’s not even from Florida! I’ll come up with a list sometime but he was in the Emu War, he’s ended up on the other side of the country running from authorities, gotten stuck in the walls…

Not too angsty but ymmv: War does actually have like. Combat experience. He’s participated in a few actual wars one way or another - either trying to join any militaries under the excuse of “I just have a skin condition and I’m tall I’m not some sort of half angel half human freak” and trying to go along w/ shit before inevitably being discharged bc he doesn’t know how to act or just being a neutral force causing problems on purpose.

So he’s genuinely seen some shit and his immaturity is less “genuinely inexperienced or sheltered” and more “growth stunted by trauma” though the former sort still rings true a little considering he’s never had like. A normal relationship with anyone ever and his childhood was kinda lonely and he never really. Developed like he should have.

Oh and he’s self aware about. All of it. Death would deny some of his issues and Conquest doesn’t realize the extent of how awful he can be but War fucking knows. He won’t change because he thinks he can’t. He’s tried (with varying degrees of effort) but for one reason or another shit is just the same.

He’s my favorite I get to make him unrecognizable: Surprisingly very... sharkish. His right eye (the one that has always been his) looks like that of a shark and most of his skin has the same sandpaper-like texture. I’ve considered giving him gills, I just don’t want his design to be too cluttered- or obvious that he’s my fav. Self indulgence is nice but I don’t wanna seem TOO biased, especially since I’ve barely changed the others.

[csykora]

A thought about meaningful change

I don’t want to distract from the most recent thing Benn did. I’m going to be talking about several different things, and some might seem smaller than others: I know. I’m not saying that the newest thing isn’t important enough on its own or that everything’s on the same level. But I think patterns can be useful.

(I have also made myself sick with nerves a couple times so I’m posting this as is: sorry for typos, and while I’ll stand behind my ideas there may be some sentences that are a little long or awkwardly worded).

Back in 2015, Jame Benn and Tyler Seguin were doing a radio interview.

Some of you might be thinking, “You want to talk about THIS, AGAIN?” Yes. More of you are probably thinking, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Yeah, that’s what I want to talk about.

cw for discussions of sexual harassment, incest, homophobia, bullying, misogyny and transmisogyny, transphobia

So during this interview, one of the radio hosts asked Benn if he and his brother were ever road roommates. Benn said no, and the host commented that Henrik and Daniel Sedin probably roomed together.

“Well yeah…that’s the Sedins,” Seguin said.

“Who knows what else they do together?" Benn said. Everyone laughed.

“Seriously,” Seguin said.

"Dude, it's creepy," the radio hosts said, "In fact, it's a good example to future brothers in the NHL on how not to do things." Then they reassured Benn, “In no way am I implying that you have a Sedin-type vibe going about you.”

Benn and Seguin laughed. The conversation continued, calling the Sedins creepy for wearing similar facial hair, leaving nearby and spending too much time together.

When asked pointblank, “Are the Sedins weird?” Benn answered, “I don’t know. I can’t say.”

To finish the sentence he didn’t: he was implying that the Sedin brothers fuck each other.

Now, these were shock jockeys. They were almost certainly hoping Benn and Seguin would say something homophobic. That said, even shock jockeys pre-screen an interview. They’re not going to invite just anyone on the air and try this with them, because all it takes is someone saying, “I don’t know what you mean,” or “No, I actually respect Dan and Henke a lot as my colleagues” to ruin that set up. If a shock jockey thinks you’re a mark, you’ve probably said something off-air that made them think you’re a mark. And if they dug a pit in front of him, Benn is still the one who decided to stick his dick in it and make things overtly sexual.

After, the Stars stated that Benn had “reached out” the Sedins to apologize. Seguin did not reach out but was “included” in whatever Benn wrote or said. Neither of them gave a public explanation or apology. As far as I can tell the Sedins never commented on whether they received that message, what sort of apology it was, or whether they accepted it. Henrik Sedin’s only comment was, “I think it says more about them than it does about us.”

Ways that homophobia is working here:

-the idea that two men having any degree of physical or emotional closeness, even family members, is suspicious.

-Benn roomed with his brother. Course he did. The hosts spell out what he was afraid of: that the other men in the room might think he had the wrong vibe. He was so afraid of them thinking he had unmanly vulnerabilities like liking his own brother that he misrepresented the situation and pushed someone else forward.

-the idea that a man having any relationship to another man’s physical body or appearance, is suspicious.

Dressing or looking too similar to another man—which means you’ve paid attention to how another man’s body looks in order to copy him, like you’re trying to take ownership of his body, which = fucking him—is a really common accusation. Gay men are seen as lusting after and trying to copy other men’s real masculinity for themselves (but of course never quite succeeding). A man thinking that another man who he knows or suspects to be gay looks too similar to him, and so must have been watching and ‘copying’ him, is a common spark for homophobic attacks.

-the idea that any of this could have been a joke depends on the idea that two men having sex is wacky and unrealistic. Imagine if that happened, wouldn’t that be weird.

Now, someone might say, “It’s not that gay sex is wacky, it’s that the incest that is!” First, incest accounts for a lot of childhood sexual abuse, so I wouldn’t say it’s wacky either. And while it’s true that people can say awful things to different gender twins as well out of a combination of gender prejudices, in this case there were also homophobic ideas about men and masculinity at play.

Ways that power is working here:

-People forgot this fast. It was treated as settled because the Stars said it was settled. People gave “kudos” to Benn “doing the right thing” afterward, or for seeming to realize what was happening and not saying yes to the final question.

 I would argue that “I don’t know, I can’t say” is somehow a worse answer to a yes-or-no question, because it means that either you want to say yes but you’re scared of the consequences, or you sincerely don’t know what to say. All he had to do was say “No.” After he said “I don’t know,” Seguin continued and said, “They are weird.” If Benn had said, “No, actually they’ve been professional when I’ve worked with them and I won’t comment any more on their personal life,” Sequin might have noticed, and Benn might have encouraged him to change his behavior. Not saying “no” was a direct, demonstrable failure to show any kind of leadership.

-This counts as workplace sexual harassment. I’m not saying a case should have been pursued: that should have been at least partly up to the Sedins (although there should also be workplace rules about what is and isn’t acceptable without the victims having to ask for it). But that’s a word we can use for this, this could have been counted as that. Sexual harassment are actions based on a person’s gender, assigned sex, sexual activity, or other qualities related to sex, not just sexual attraction. I worry that often, conflicted feelings about putting people into the category of “Sexual Harasser” lead people to think that actions “aren’t bad enough” to be sexual harassment when they definitionally can be. In other lines of work, if you talk about your coworkers fucking their twins in the office, there are rules about that: at the very least, you’ll be getting a bunch of trainings and be moved to a part of the office where you won’t see them again.

In the NHL, it seems frighteningly clear that people don’t have recourse for sexual harassment. This was discussed and handled as a “childish insult”, not harassment against two coworkers/employees. Often, there’s a logic that something is just an insult, not a ‘real’ threat, because the person who did it couldn’t possibly be sexually attracted to the person they did it to.

-In 2015 Eric and Jordan Staal were living in identical houses outside Raleigh and ‘playing’ together every night. Seems super suspicious. Unless beefy Canadian boys’ behavior is normal, and European masculinity always has to be questioned as being softer-spoken, slimmer, more intellectual, scared of heavy hitting. There are a lot of reasons you might not call Eric Staal gay—maybe you know he’s bigger than you, more successful on Team Canada than you, more popular with the other Team Canada guys than you. Or maybe you just don’t look at him and think he could be gay. Or both. Eric is positioned so you’d have to punch up at him: Benn tried to position himself closer to that kind of social standing, by pushing someone else who already doesn’t quite fit in further out. This isn’t directly in the words, so I’m not all-out accusing them of xenophobia: what I mean is that it’s always worth asking if and how and why feminization is applied to Those Other People.

There’s the eating out thing. Which he sent to teammate Jason Demers, commenting “I feel like your (sic) the kind of guy who would”.

How misogyny is working here:

-the idea that this could have been funny or interesting or worth saying at all depends on the idea that vulvas are weird. Imagine if someone willing touched a cis woman with anything but their dick. Gosh.

-There’s no good explanation for what ‘the kind of guy who would’ was meant to mean. No one says, ‘Hey, do you do this widely mocked sex act? I don’t, but I think you would, and that’s cool and doesn’t affect your masculinity at all, bro, life is a rich tapestry.’

How power is working here:

-This counts as sexual harassment again. Even if asking a coworker (or really more like someone you shift-manage or who reports to you) ‘how do you fuck your partner?’ wasn’t, saying ‘you seem like you would do ___’ is. Again, I’m not saying that Demers has to feel that way about it, but he should have had options.

-Demers was also in a new relationship at the time, so this could be harassment to both him and his partner, who had no recourse when someone her partner has to work with/for comments on her body.

-I don’t think it was intended as sexual harassment. But there’s not really a nice explanation of what he meant to say. It seems like it was intended as an insult or a ‘warning’: ‘this is the way men are allowed and no allowed to be in our group, do you know your place?’

Around that time, the Stars shared a video of Benn, Seguin, and Valeri Nichushkin. Each were supposed to say a couple lines, including their name. Valeri pronounced his nickname ‘Vall’, with a native Russian accent, more like “Wall” in English. Each time Benn and Seguin laughed and questions him and the producer cut. After a couple takes Benn said, “I thought your name was ‘Val.’” 

Sequin physically turned away from Nichushkin and laughed. Nichushkin, not understanding the comment, and not laughing, turned to Benn for an explanation, but Benn only turned toward Seguin, both continuing to laugh.

It was part of a pattern of comments from observers: “If Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are having a laugh in the locker room, Nichushkin can only guess what’s so funny.” They themselves commented on how “His English is really not good at all…A lot of times we find him just sitting there.” “(In) normal conversations, he doesn’t really know what’s going on.”

I’ll give them credit—they said they felt pity and “try to help” too. I just can’t find any examples of them doing it, compared to teammates like Sharp or Spezza who can more concretely describe spending time with him.

Nichushkin chose to burn contract time in the KHL rather than Dallas before being bought out, expressing that he no longer felt like he “belonged in the NHL.” He felt that the Stars didn’t “trust” in him, was “nervous” in the locker room, and said his family worried for his mental health because of the culture.

“There is a bit of it because I want to be part of the conversation when someone says something,” Nichushkin said. “But I don’t have enough words I know so I can join in.”

-Is it the worst xenophobia in the world? Nah. It’s not free from xenophobia, when the only joke is that someone speaks differently than you. It’s not Benn joking about his own misunderstanding to invite Nichushkin in. I often point to Tripp Tracy, who asks players to teach him words in their language and then sets up jokes about his accent so they can deliver the punchline and laugh with him.

-Is it bullying? It kind of came off like it, to make a joke about someone you know can’t understand. At least it was unnecessary, and unkind. It’s just reminding someone they don’t belong.

-It’s unimpressive. It’s deflecting. Oh, he doesn’t know what’s going on? What did you do to tell to him? My family communicate through a mix of finger-signing, Scrabble tiles, and interpretive dance: I guarantee you, if you can’t communicate concepts like “we’re going to get dinner now, you’re welcome here, we’re having fun!”, you’re not trying. Which is fine, I guess, you don’t have to talk to people, unless it’s like, your job to work with your teammates.

Wanting to ban trans*feminine athletes from competition is based on a complete misunderstanding of math, medicine, and athletics; it’s unnecessary, unethical, and unkind.

It’s an unsurprising continuation of the ideas that there’s a line between men and women and transgressing it is suspicious, that women are gross, that people who are different are shocking and funny, that social pressure can and should be used to remind people who are different that they don’t belong.

It’s a fascist use of power, which I don’t say to mean that “He is A Fascist in every sense,” but that those beliesf express a desire and a comfort with using power to control other people’s bodies, and which bodies have access to certain spaces, to maintain “purity”.

I’m not saying that anyone should have looked at any of these things and easily decided in that moment, “That’s it, he’s shouldn’t have a platform or power over other players, he’s irredeemable.” You might look at a couple of them and think, “That’s not even a problem at all.” I’ll agree to disagree on some of them, but my point is about a pattern of how this dude uses the power he’s given.

I have a phrase, or more a series of words I sometimes yell when I’m talking about subjects like this—“STRUCK A TIM HORTONS.” I shout this in commemoration of the time that Ryan O’Reilly got drunk and drove his pickup into the wall of a small town Ontario Timmies.

“Struck a Tim Hortons” is a very good phrase to read in a police report. And, also, I’m an ACoA. I’ve experienced impaired driving, I’m terrified to shaking of it, and I know that other people have experienced much worse consequences. This isn’t a perfect metaphor (it’s not an example of prejudice or violence against a class of people, etc) but my point is that I try to hold it in my heart because that’s one case where I know what it’s like to really, really want something to just be NBD. Where part of me wants to just think it was a funny mistake so I don’t have to really think about the serious implications of it, and part of me super doesn’t. I have an instinct to resolve those feelings, to come down and decide that it’s either insignificant enough that I don’t have to think about it, or significant enough that I can hate him and then also stop thinking about it, and then I can have the relief of feeling just one feeling at a time.

I don’t think it’s bad to feel conflicted learning something about someone. I think it’s important.

But the problem is that if one thing isn’t significant enough, and we decide to keep thinking someone is fundamentally Good, we often toss that thing out. So when another thing happens, we only look at the new thing, trying to decide: is this enough? And that next thing might not be enough either. So we can go on and on, until you add up to a lot of things that have each done some harm, but none of them have been enough to change how we see and talk about someone.

Now I, personally, decided that the Timmies wasn’t so bad that ROR couldn’t ever make it up to me. But I didn’t decide to feel fine about it: I tried to just put a pin in how conflicted I felt. It’s been years, and over the years I think his actions have showed meaningful change. He hasn’t struck a Starbucks, a Dunkin, or even a Caribou. There’s a pattern.

I think a lot of people who don’t really like the things Benn says or does or believes have given him a lot of chances to make up for them, because they don’t want him to really mean those things. By which I really mean that I know there are a lot of women and queer fans who liked the guy. I get it (I don’t actually get it get it, but I mean I can try to understand people coming from a very different place than I do about him). 

I’ve read a lot of ways that people who are themselves vulnerable in our society try to empathize with him by imagining him as vulnerable too--he’s also experienced fatphobia, homophobia, he wasn’t expected to succeed, etc! I think that’s a wonderfully human instinct. But often I think people have more empathy for those experiences than he expresses for himself--he agrees that it was Bad to be fat and he’s Worked Hard to fit into the masculine norm, he agrees that it’s Bad to be close with another man and works to avoid it--and certainly more than he has showed in his actions toward others. If you’re going to say I hate him for saying that, I don’t--I want him and everyone in our society not to feel and do this shit!

I see a lot of people starting from the idea he is a good leader trying really hard to spin his choices as a smart strategy when he plays dumb with media, when he doesn’t give specific action plans or give public statements or apologies. (I actually agree with the first one, I think it is a strategy for him to avoid transparency and not do a part of his job that he doesn’t want to do.) It just…it seems like a lot of work to reach a pre-determined goal. It’s okay to like someone and for them to still not be good at their jobs! When I say I think a guy’s not a good leader, that’s not always the same as saying he’s a bad person. And if we keep on promoting a guy as a good leader because we like them regardless of their demonstrated leadership skills…that’s how we end up with a lot of shitty policies in the NHL.

Over the years he has consistently avoided stepping up to his captaincy and using his personal power to say things like, “No,” “Tyler, cut it out,” “This is what I’m going to do to fix a problem,” or “I believe in…” anything, really. 

I really, really want to ask people to be mad as hell and advocate for the NHL to improve its code of conduct and harassment processes. I do. But I’m also tired. I don’t think, if I did ask you that, it would work. I don’t have an argument for why you should be mad at someone who’s mad at my existence. I’m not trying. I just want to encourage you, if you’re feeling the tug of feelings and just want to be able to simplify someone’s behavior and love them in simple terms, to put a pin in the more complicated parts, and remember them the next time, and look for patterns.

[thepumpkinthingart]

You seem like the best source to ask. What are good/ your favtotie Msummers fics?

Bold of you too assume I have good taste-

But ah-I am a frequent digger through the Mcsummers/Halex. Starved for content, pleading for angst, fluff, and just- Alex being a good bf to beasty. I got quite a few. I’ll break this up sfw or nsfw and shall tag the author if they have a tumblr! Please, Please, PLEASE go support the authors and look into their other content. <3

For the sake of clarity I am gonna keep this to Mcsummers focused fics. There is plenty more I enjoy that have Mcsummers and Cherik, or Scott/Logan, etc. If you need more to read feel free to private message me, I am happy to link you to some of these as well.

SFW

“Black Coffee on Fabric” by @crystallized-iron

This one is a short read but it’s super adorable. Poor Hank a bundle of nerves who just wants to cute blond coffee shop worker and just- doesn’t quite stick the landing

“Supersonic” by @silverxsakura

My heart, my weak little heart. Disgustingly sappy fluffy and it’s wonderful. In summary without giving too much away- Alex is dumb like always and has a hard time dealing with his feelings for Hank so like the himbo one we all know- bullies him.

“Animal Transformation” by @eleonorebirk

Short but absolutely adorable. Alex is transformed temporarily into a cat- and his affections from a certain bozo are hard to hide when you happily want to be pet by the guy.

“You left us behind” by @parkshan820

Can I just say parkshan does a lot of amazing Mcsummers work? Seriously at some point I will go down the list and put as many as I can in here. This is a angsty as hell slow burn and it’s the best kind of torture. Also I like to personally thank parkshan for a Alpha/Beta/Omega Mcsummers. A/b/o dynamics written well is one of my favorite things and I think this may be the only Mcsummers one- if not someone link me PLZ. I just- I don’t want to spoil anything, go read it and then cry with me.

“The Magnificent McCoy” by @ag3nt-a

Once again someone else that does a lot of amazing Mcsummers work! Again will have to work down the list and put in some more. All the science puns omg, I love Alex is just as a dorky as Hank and it’s great. Also anything that touches on the fact Alex having some of that intelligence from the comics and the geophysics is perfect.

“Breathe” by @ag3nt-a

Hey look it’s my request! Has it really been 3 years? Weird to think I wasn’t even a adult then. Now I pay taxes and stress over bills. I had a old tumblr by the name of zombiemutt-trash-center, It was a mess and now I am here. 3 years later- doing the same bullshit. ANYWAYS, I do really love this fic. Alex having to calm Hank down and be sweet is always great, but Hank having to help Alex deal with PTSD is perfect. Based on how Alex lost his parents in the comics.

NSFW

“Fighting Acceptance” By @heeroluva

Let me tell you this a fic I constantly go back too. I am a sap for Alex being a caring and supportive bf, but of course still a teasing jerk. All in the name of love. Heeroluva writes that dynamic really nicely, Alex doing his best to be supportive and trying to get Hank to realize he isn’t any different as the Beast. But also is impulsive and well a dumbass. Also of course it’s nsfw and spicy as hell. 10/10 would recommend.

“Who knew books could be hot?” By @ag3nt-a

Just Hank and Alex are horny dorks, who need better guidance in figuring out their feelings. Also Hank is also now a fanfic writer and it just made me want to read fanfics written by a Hank McCoy. Also- it’s really cute seeing Alex being apologetic not just cause attraction, but because he genuinely felt bad. Spice is nice- but like sappy “I’m sorry I was a asshole to you” is god tier—- and then spice later.

“Taste of What Could Have Been” by @atomicrebelomega

Also won’t be the first time you see Atomicrebeloomega! Also-, man fuck apocalypse. So my favorite Alex summers is apocalypse Alex. Aka Suburban Dad Alex summers- I love Alex from first class obviously. But worn out Alex who has calmed on the temper bit and more of a teasing asshole with a stupid grin. So any content with older Alex is much appreciated from me. Alex being the same dumbass at 31 as he was at 16 about his feelings is great. Warning this ends with the apocalypse ending.

“Flicker” by @trojieface

This one is a Apocalypse fix-it. One again grown ass Alex still dumb when it comes to feelings and it’s still great. This is more a nsfw without plot but teeth edition.

“Friendly fire still burns” by 1001cranes

This is a high school/modern Au, Where Hank is president of the NHS and Alex is the football captain. Angst, Fluff and smutt ensue, and it’s great.

“Grooming” by Wangler

So- the idea of Alex helping Hank brush out his fur after he takes a shower is adorable and precious and definitely a head cannon I hold to my heart. I mean- It’s not meant to be adorable in this fic, but leave it to me to make fluff. Also let it be known I enjoy more animalistic Hank, growls, teeth, claws, instincts and all. Alex is a furry what can I say. This one fills my need on those tendencies.

“The Side Project” By @bellsyblue

A more playfully teasing Alex and a Hank who is terrified to break him in half. Once again I love fics that play into more of Hank’s beast mutations like his strength and Alex being more then happy to take all that comes with that.

“Sweater Weather” by emperors_girl

Omg It’s so cheesy and adorable, and I love big brother Alex to Scott. Omg Alex collecting the fur and first thought was “dam this be a nice sweater” is great. Stupid cute and Hank is so done by the end of this.

“Matched” by @ag3nt-a

Big brother Alex and suburban dad looking fool with a stupid grin and awful sappy flirting? Yes please- My favorite kind of dumbass level. A getting together story about two dumb mutants meeting online. Also supportive friend Raven is best Raven. This does have Mpreg and fan kids in it, I personally enjoy these things but I know not everyone does. But as someone who has my own dumb Mcsummers children, I love to see it.

“Power of Persuasion” By @atomicrebelomega

Alex and Angel are friends and it’s great. Basically pure smut but we love to see it. Also Alex has the confidence to wear a stripper outfit and once again- it’s great.

I think this is a good starting point! Honestly I threw this together from my AO3 bookmarks- There is so many more I want to put in here. Ugh, so many good authors. I like writing, but it’s not my strong point. I enjoy drawing these nerds a lot more anyways. But I do have prompts for god dam days if anyone wants them. My free time is spent wondering all the shenanigans these dorks could get into.

If there is a author I didn’t tag but you know they have a account please message me!! I want to link back to the authors, they deserve credit.

[bakugoulovesme]

Bakugou x Reader

Title: Long Story Short

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, various pro heroes (mentioned), original character (who is not the reader)

Word Count: 2,783

Warnings: mentions of toxic ex, passing out, hospital visits (dw it’s all good), gross fluff 

Summary:  You had a terrible breakup that made you stop hero work. Now, three years later, you are dating Bakugou Katsuki and you jump back in the saddle.

A/N: Pro hero au! Lmao guys be nice I haven’t written a full fic since 2018.. oof... request headcanons pleeeaaaseee <3 (OOOH OOOH also this is the first of a very tentative series of stories based on Taylor Swift’s albums Evermore and Folklore,, AND this was crossposted on ao3) 

You told yourself never again on a night much like this one, three years ago. You remember it all very distinctly. Nyx had already promised you a change of pace, somewhere as far away from him as you could get. They were standing behind you on the rooftop, a good few paces back. It was considerate, really: giving you space so that you could have your moment of dramatic catharsis. You remember bouncing on your toes once before sparring a glance over your shoulder at them. The blank motorcycle helmet that was a staple of their hero costume stared back at you, emotionless. They offered you a single nod. You turned forward again, facing the wind. You turned the ring over and over in your hand for a few more minutes, longer than you wanted to. It seemed cliché to you even then, when the wound was still so fresh, to get rid of the ring in such an over the top way. But damn, if it didn’t feel absolutely amazing. 

And tonight you are standing atop the roof of that twenty-story building again. And Nyx, lovely Nyx, is standing behind you with their expressionless motorcycle helmet boring into your soul and their harrowing silent wisdom making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. “I’m not so sure that I’m ready,” you say after a beat. Your hero costume feels strikingly familiar and foreign all that at the same time. You play with the waistband of the jumpsuit absentmindedly. 

“I am,” they say as if it is the easiest thing in the world. Don’t they know how hard this is? Shouldn’t they of all people understand?  “And he is, too.” 

They got you. They always do. 

You heave a sigh—no turning back now. You take a deep breath and remind yourself that you can do this, that you are in fact a capable hero. Three years. You haven’t done this in three years. 

Fuck. Can you do this? What if… 

“I know what you're thinking,” Nyx says, allowing emotion to seep into their tone for the first time tonight. “And, I hate to break it to you, but… you are already doing it.” 

“This is barely a patrol,” you grumble. 

“Not a traditional one, no, but remember you’re still in your trial period. You are technically only my sidekick right now.” You don’t need to see the expression Nyx is wearing to be certain that they are smiling. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” 

The universe does not leave you much time to wallow in self-pity. Less than half an hour later, there’s a call. A building is collapsing. The number four hero, Edgeshot, has already taken care of the villain responsible, so it is time for clean-up duty: your specialty. All in a matter of thirty seconds, you shove your helmet onto your head (it matches the one Nyx sports; all of their sidekicks wear them) and run to grab onto Nyx as they teleport you to the scene. Gone is the gentle night air; here, everything is hot. The villain must be using some quirk-enhancing drug. (The damage they caused in their dragon form puts Ryukyu to shame.) Several voices chatter into your ears at once filling you and Nyx in. Nyx was gone the second they dropped you off, working as fast as they could to teleport people out of the upper floors of the building. 

Adrenaline pushes you forward but you are stopped quickly, debris already blocking your path into the ground level of the building. Luck must be on your side tonight because you can see the number two hero, Hawks, fly in as he uses his feathers to aid in the evacuation. You feel comfortable enough to ask Nyx through the helmet to get you inside. And they do. You could not imagine how disorienting it must be for them because, after just your second leap of the night, you are incapacitated for at least fifteen seconds. 

When the world rights itself again, you realize you have already put your shield up to protect yourself from the smoke. It does not take long to find the group of survivors to the left of you, trying—and failing—to break out of a crumbled window. You see eighteen at first glance, but as you approach, you can see a group of children, four of them all huddled together. Twenty-two, then. You drop your shield as you approach them. “Help is here,” you inform them, attempting to keep your sentences short so your helmet will translate them faster. 

“Now, everyone remain calm. Everything will be okay.” Any doubts you had earlier have been seared away. You are met with thankful sobs and incoherent clambering. You direct them to stand around you, as close as they can fit. The children are lifted into their parent’s arms as everyone scrambles forward. As soon as all twenty-two are comfortably within range, you activate your quirk again. One of the children lets out an awed gasp at the buzzing bubble of blue energy that has formed. 

You find yourself smiling. 

“What do we do now?” An older woman asks incredulously, her entire body shaking in fear. 

“We wait.” She opens her mouth to retort, but you continue. “Once the upper floors of the building and the surrounding block are completely evacuated, I will get us out of here.” 

“Are you sure you can do it, Miss Hero?” A little girl asks. “My Daddy says heroes can’t really do anything...”

Her father has the decency to look horrified, but you just laugh. You crouch down to make eye contact with her,  “I’m very sure I can do it. Do you wanna know why?”

She leans away from her father slightly, turning towards you with her eyes full of stars. It takes you a second to reply as you get the go-ahead that everything is clear. Perfect. 

“Because… you are going to help me, of course!” You exclaim, removing your helmet. This forces you to use the translator that you wear around your neck which is not as loud (or clear), but you think it’s a good trade-off. The adults (and the other children)  who were momentarily distracted hearing you speak to the little girl will need the comfort of a human face for the next part, this much you are sure. You gesture for the girl to be put down and you take her hand in one of your glowing ones. A little boy wriggles out of his mother’s grasp and grabs your other hand. You beam. 

“Now you two have a very important job: you have to keep everyone brave!”

“How we s’posed to do dat?” The boy asks. 

“Simple. You will walk with me in the front, okay? We can even sing a little song so everyone knows to keep walking,” you explain with a smile, more genuinely happy than is probably appropriate. The other children wrestle themselves out of their parent’s arms and grab their hands fiercely, ready to help drag them along. The pair holding your hands only take a minute to consider before nodding solemnly. 

The boy leads the little marching tune as you calmly begin leading everyone towards the front of the building. It’s at the moment that your shield touches the front wall that the building comes down. Hard. 

So much for raining small chunks, the full weight of the building crashes down around you. It makes you lightheaded, but you force yourself not to show any distress. You just keep walking, hunks of the building being forced out around the bubble. Suddenly though, something smacks into your shield from the inside and you lurch forward. Your eyes screw shut as you focus completely on regaining control. 

“Daddy!” The little girl yells as she pushes past the group to reach her father, still frozen in shock against the farthest side of the bubble. You didn’t even feel her drop your hand... Before you can contemplate the fate of your other small charge. The boy squeezes your hand tight. You turn to look at him and smile. One hand grips yours and the other grips a younger girl, his sister you presume, who is latched onto their mother, as well. 

You are more out of it than you realize because in no time at all, the girl is back holding your hand, dragging her father behind her. He looks sickly pale. Deep breath. “Everything’s okay. Almost over. Everyone please just keep being brave for me,” you say, squeezing the kids’ hands. 

You close your eyes again and put everything you have into walking normally. Pushing. Pushing. It feels like you let the smoke in; there doesn’t seem to be enough air for you. You can’t remember feeling this tired, at least not in a long time. Just as you reach your limit—when you are certain you are going to fail to leave all these people to get tragically smushed—there is loud cheering. Huh?

You force your eyes open. Floodlights. People. Ambulances. Reporters descending upon the lot of you, now that the danger has passed. You can finally breathe. You drop the shield and fall to your knees. 

Hmm. The ground is warm, and a lot more comfortable than you could have ever imagined. Your last thought before you blackout completely is a barely coherent image of cats rolling around on the warm concrete. 

-

All you can hear is his voice. 

For a second, the sound tricks you. You must be in your bed, at home. The heart monitor comes in second. A wave of nausea hits you as the disorientation sets in. You try to open your eyes but decide against it immediately. You don’t think your eyelids so much as fluttered, how could they when they weigh a thousand pounds each? 

His voice is what grounds you again, makes you feel more centered. You think you might even be able to tell which way is up. You can hear him but you can’t hear him. Your brain is much too full of mush at the moment to hear anything with clarity.  Everything feels sloshy; even still you attempt to move your hand towards the sound of his voice. As soon as you begin moving, his hands have met yours and his voice is softer. You still can’t hear him but you can feel him. His hands, as always, are hot and sweaty. You had always thought your hands were the hottest and the sweatiest, that is until you met Bakugou. 

“Ka-” you try to speak but your voice is much too hoarse from disuse. 

“Teddy bear,” you can finally hear him, “are you okay?”

You rumble in agreement and make a great effort to move your head in a gentle nod. He makes you regret agreeing all within a second. Now he is yelling and your eyes are all but forced open at the sound of it. 

“Katsuki,” you groan.

“What the fuck were you thinking running into a collapsing building, dumbass? You’re still just a fucking sidekick.” 

You huff feeling a little more like yourself the longer you hear him talk. “That’s just a technicality.” 

“Regardless, I…” Katsuki lets out a deep growl, “you fucking scared me, teddy bear.” 

“I’m sorry, Katsu” is all you can think to say as he cups your cheek and leans forward to rest his forehead against your own. You revel in the closeness, even the skin of his forehead is hot against you.  

“I hope you know you aren’t off the hook, idiot, but I am really proud of you,” the glare he fixes you with doesn’t match his words. 

You can’t stop yourself from beaming. 

-

“So, how much time before you get back to being that dumbass’s sidekick?” He asks as he spares a glance from the road to look at you leaned up against the window in the passenger's seat. 

“I should be good to go by Monday, believe it or not.” 

The look he gives you tells you he doesn’t. 

“I’ll call the doctor if you want,” you insist. You ignore the rush of nausea that hits you as you sit up and give him an indignant look. 

He rolls his eyes. He takes a hand off the wheel to push you gently back so you’re resting against the window again. You sigh in relief at the feeling of the cool glass on your cheek. You can see him worry his lip a bit before he bites out, “I believe you.” 

“Hmm I don’t know about that,” you start, “but, I meant it when I said me being a sidekick is just a technicality. I was a big hero before I ever came to Japan and met you.” 

He huffs. Regardless, he nods his head in agreement. He does know that you were a big hero. An annoyingly selfless one too, that’s what got you hurt in the first place. He doesn’t say anything more though, he’s happy enough to let you fall asleep with the words to some stupid song on your lips.  Even if he wasn’t driving he would be wide awake. Seeing you fall to the ground like that made him sick.                           

He shudders. He really thought he was ready for you to start hero work again, but… Seeing you like that was a lot to handle. Almost too much. He knows it’s hard for you too. You’ve had to watch him throw himself into danger countless times at this point. He hasn’t figured out how you handle the stress with such grace. He can practically see the look you would give him if he said that to you, he can practically hear your voice assuring him that the way you handle it is anything but graceful. Why is he imagining this conversation? He could be having it with you. It’s not like you’re dead or--                

“Katsu, you’re going to get wrinkles if all you do is frown all the time. You’ll look like my Grampy,” you laugh as his frown deepens, “Really, babe, what’s wrong?”

He replies immediately, “Nothing. We’re almost home.” 

“I know, but don’t think you can escape a conversation about whatever this,” you gesture at him vaguely, “Whatever this is.” 

He growls as he pulls into the parking garage for the apartment building, but he decides not to comment. Instead, he takes the opportunity to tease you and poke at your ribs as he helps you toward the door. 

Walking mixed with the impromptu tickle fight leaves you weaker than you thought you would be. You almost eat shit in the elevator when he lets go of you for just a second to punch the button to your floor. “Fuck, baby, are you okay?” He launched toward you as soon as you wobbled, catching you with his strong arms around your waist securely. 

You groan softly and bury your face in his chest as the elevator starts to move. “I am now,” you say muffled as you nuzzle your face against his pecs. 

“Perv,” he spits out, pushing your face away while still keeping an arm around you to keep you upright. He has to drag you down the hall to your shared apartment because you are so stubborn: refusing to be carried while being virtually unable to walk. He knows that’s a large part of why he loves you so his griping is lighthearted. 

He leads you to the couch and plops you down onto the cushions. “You stay here. I mean it. I’m going to make that dumb recipe your mom told me about,” he says. He turns shuffling off to find his apron. 

Your stomach turns, but this time in a much more pleasant way. He’s so fucking cute sometimes it makes you sick. Warmth settles over you as you pull the burgundy throw blanket over your shoulders and lie your head down on the scratchy decorative pillows. Everything feels a million times more comfortable now that you are comparing it to the impersonal feeling of a hospital bed. 

Well, now everything feels different. Hero work felt different. Talking to Nyx felt different. Waking up in a hospital bed too, didn’t feel as hollow as you remember. You know it’s because of the idiot you can hear maneuvering around the kitchen. He makes everything feel exciting, it’s nothing like before. The apartment is warm, and the couch is a lot more comfortable than you could have ever imagined. As you fall asleep for the first of many sorely needed naps you think of the yearly fireworks your town had as a kid and how alive you felt listening to them. In the other room, Katsuki sparks off a mini-explosion to light the stove.

[atsunflower]

Rated: SFW

Author notes: *sigh* for the third time the damned app ate up the tags. This one took me too long and I'm excited for write about my man suna again. This is also pretty different from what I'm used to write, but why not? Please enjoy your reading.

Warnings: cursing, substance usage/mentions, break-ups and me trynna be funny.

I – Cancel me.

Previous || Next

He looked at them with expectation as the beats smoothly faded, indicating the song's ending. 

If he were to be honest, the pair before him was a pain in the ass, but their opinion was that important because, when it came to music, they were the best at it. He felt no shame nor jealousy in admitting it.

"Dunno, the hook sounds like a Vice headline ta me." The bleach-haired male said, hearring the song's outro blaring through the studio speakers.

"Isn't it a Kid Milli reference, tho?" The other asked while munching a chip. He frowned at them, not understanding their point.

"Whatever. You two are no help anyways." Hearring their bullshit, the brunette already regretted this collab. He paused the queued song, turning to the other two with a blank stare.

The twins before him snickered, knowing they successfully hit a nerve. They couldn't help it, provoking Suna was one of their favorite hobbies.

"The song is good, but I gotta tell ya this butt hurt phase of yers is pretty lame." The faux-blond opened his mouth again, spinning around the studio with the desk chair. 

"Fuck you, Atsumu" He snapped, almost giving in to the desire of decking them both on the face.

"Tsumu's right, ya Lil Peep wannabe. Can't believe this break up ended up that bad." Osamu said in mockery, throwing the empty Lay's wrapper at him. He scoffed, disposing the wrapper on the bin before getting back at the screen to look at the FL studio interface.

"It's not that I have a broken heart. I just wanna know what's wrong with my life" He shrugged, blindly tacting over the desk in search of his Juul.

"Yeah Samu, he's just grieving over those fancy ass Dior Jordans. Sunarin is incapable of mundane things like a broken heart." His blond friend was partially right.

Suna Rintaro was many things: alt model, music producer, cloud artist and a decent volleyball player that almost went pro. But if there was something he could never be, it was a lucky man on love matters.

With his fair share of failed relationships, the artist could never pinpoint when things went wrong. It would always be the same: he would meet a girl, they would have a good time and then, the chick would turn out demanding as fuck.

In the end, every single one of them would slap him across the face and leave his life banging the front door shut like crazy — last week, it was Mika who broke things off, but not before setting his limited edition pair of jordans on fire. He would never get over those sneakers.

"Good for him, those kicks were kinda ugly." Osamu said in a bored manner. Suna felt his soul leaving his body.

"The hell, Osamu?" He was ready to fight, deeply offended by the attack at his taste in fashion.

"Yo, you two." Atsumu butted in, checking something on his phone "Y'all are drifting away from our problem."

"That is?" The other brother asked.

"Cheer up Sunarin before he fucks up with the Album." If Suna had the energy, he would kick both Miyas out of his studio "And I gotta the perfect thing. Let's hang out at Akagi's tonight, he just invited us." The already distressed musician felt the soul leaving his body for the second time that afternoon. He was sure both twins wished his death.

"Not a fucking chance. Last time I went there I almost died because of that weird stuff we smoked." 

"Aw, Sunarin, Kita'll be there too." The faux-blonde tried to persuade. The mention of their older, responsible and straight edge friend made Suna look at them with interest. But he needed more, though. Based on the last experience, he didn't have the will to risk his life going to Akagi's house once again. A shiver descended his spine as the male recalled how much he threw up that night.

"Suna, man, I gotta agree with Tsumu. Yer feelings are showing in your music." Osamu said as if he was some kind of genius.

"Isn't art about it, tho?" He deadpanned "Expressing feelings and shit?" He asked, staring them dead in the eye. The males before him shivered because of its intensity. Suna snickered.

"Man says art, but most of his songs are about the Nikes on his feet and the Tesla in his garage." Atsumu mocked "What the fuck?" The blonde barely dodged the moleskine thrown at him.

"Don't chew on me when you do the same, asshat. This is called character development." As unnerving the twins were, he felt a whole lot better in their company "Just lemme produce my sad stuff in peace."

"Cut us some slack, ya dumbfuck. We're just worried about ya." Osamu protested " 'Sides, no wonder no girl sticks by yer side. You know what the chicks find sexy? Seizing the means of production, not yer dumb car."

"You two are so la—" The musician was interrupted mid sentence, startled by the blond figure clutching his phone with enthusiasm.

"Oi Samu," Atsumu's loud voice startled the other two, as he excitedly fisted the air.

"What the fuck?" Suna asked, dropping the Juul on the floor.

"She'll be there tonight." The blond said, looking at his brother with a new wave of joy.

"The fuck? She who?" The brunette frowned.

"Ya gotta go and find out, man." The gray haired twin said with a knowing smile, matching his brother's excitement.

The night out felt somewhat draining. The booze, the music and the company were great, but his lack of energy was a mood killer.

Cheer me up my ass, Suna cursed internally as he observed everyone getting wasted all over the place. He grimaced at the sight, realizing the meeting with the twins was enough social interaction for the day.

He didn't know what's gotten into him. The male knew it wasn't necessarily caused by the break up, but he couldn't help the feeling down.

Right now, life just felt lowkey suffocating. 

Being a public figure meant being under the spotlights the most of time.

People talked.

People assumed.

Media was all over him, ready to catch a scandall.

And of fucking course his name was on gossip headlines. It even occupied a spot on twitter trending topics for a day or so.

"Fuck me." He said before the lukewarm beer went down his throat.

"Sunarin!" He heard Atsumu shouting from his right "I want you to meet someone!" And only now he noticed the blond had his left arm over a girl's shoulders.

Oh, that's the one they were talking about, maybe? the brunette realized. What's the hype, tho? He asked himself, eyeing your figure.

"[Name], this is Suna. Sunarin, this is [Name], best girl ever and the mastermind behind the visuals of mine and Samu's last album" The bleach-haired male said with a proud smirk, ruffling your hair. You were obviously shy.

How cute, the brunette thought.

"Dumbass, don't embarrass me in front of others!" You nudged the Miya with your elbow "Nice to meet you, I saw your name on TMZ last week—" You said beaming and he grunted.

I take it back. Not cute at all, the man internally screamed, not ready to talk about the recent events. He didn't even want to listen to the rest of your speech, your cheery voice went through his ears in a white noise.

"And this makes me really excited for your album. The interview about the collab with dumb and dumber was lit." You continued, the words were genuine and you seemed really interested "And I also relate on a spiritual level because I know working with them is hell."

Oh, she's talking about the album. He realized in relief.

"Yo, I heard good things about you too. The design of their album was hella sick, even though they two suck ass." Suna snickered when he heard Atsumu protesting. You only left out a giggle, joining him on the teasing.

The blond kept ranting about how bad of friends the two of you were.

"I didn't introduce y'all ta gang up on me. Bye, I'm finding another company. Ya two suck." The blonde Miya said, leaving only you and Suna in the sofa area.

"Uh, so…" He drifted off, trying to start some small talk

"Yeah..." You both giggled at the awkwardness "Not enjoying the night?"

"Too much happening right now. Lots of people talking shit 'bout me." He sipped the beer, grimacing at the stale taste of the drink "Hope they cancel me already. So all this shit dies down." Suna looked away, suddenly shy for opening up to a stranger.

"You're a famous guy and the break-up wasn't that scandalous. It'll be over eventually, just beware the sneaker cult." Your amusement was comfort enough. You didn't make intrusive questions about the events and merely joked it off. He felt so worn out by the situation but, at least, your presence wasn't overbearring.

"How is it everyone knows about the jordans?" You shrugged it off, laughing at the distressed face he mocked. Sighing in relief, Suna couldn't deny how refreshing your presence was. Not to be a jerk, but usually, the girls either were all over him or judged every single move he made. You were just that easygoing.

"Well, I don't think you came here to sulk on the sofa all night long. Why don't we join them by the pool and down some shots?" You hopped off of your seat, pointing to the glass doors. All the boys were waving at you two and suddenly, Suna felt a wave of joy run down his body.

Atsumu was right. Best girl ever.

At some point of the night, everything became about you.

All he could hear was the sound of your voice and all the time, his eyes were drawn to your figure. He couldn't figure out a reason for it, but the rapper wasn't complaining either.

A sharp pang at the side of Suna's head broke the trance he was in. Osamu had a shit eating grin on his face, eyeing the ravenette with amusement.

"We told ya so." The younger twin mused whilst he handed a long neck of vodka to the other.

"Stop. This is dumb."

"Yer dumb. But you ain't that dumb ta dare ta mess with her." The gray-haired Miya squinted at him, menacingly pointing the bottle in his hand at the brunette. The latter shrugged it off, opening his drink.

"Nah, I'm good." And he meant it.

But how could he explain the situation he was in?

Lips and hands wandered over the expanse of his skin. Everything was too hot and too good at the same time. Overwhelming, even.

He wanted more, more and more. There wasn't enough of you.

And if it wasn't unfair enough, his body felt lethargic. He was desperate, but couldn't keep up with the rhythm you imposed. Be it the alcohol or the stress, his body gave up and blacked out, even before you could undress each other.

In the morning after, a pounding headache woke him up. Suna didn't dare to open his eyes, but the morning breath fanning over his face was unbearable.

"I can't believe a cutie like you have a stinky breath like this." The complaint came out in a raspy voice, accompanied by an annoyed grunt.

Someone snickered on the other side of the room.

"Man, I didn't know you had the hots fer Samu." Atsumu was somewhere across the room, laughing at him.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Hearing the other, Suna's body jolted, dizziness made his head spin in the process. He felt sick in the stomach and the morning light made his eyes sting. "When did I get back here?" The male looked around, realizing he was sprawled over Akagi's floor, right beside Osamu, who didn't even squirm at the loud voices in the room.

"What do ya mean? We never left" Atsumu frowned, uncaping a water bottle he was holding "Ya puked on Kita and passed out. The boys were too wasted ta drag yer sorry ass back home so we all crashed here." The blonde was dumbfounded, trying to figure out how wasted Suna got last night.

Suna wanted to know too. After all, there was no way the events envolving you were a product of his drunk mind.

facts:

• Suna's artist name is yosemite.

• He has a Tesla Model S because of Frank Ocean.

• He takes his Nikes very seriously.

• No, not all of his songs are about the car and the kicks.

• He and the Miya twins got a sports scholarship because of volleyball, but they dropped out of school to make music.

• The three of them created Inarizaki, the label they're making music under. Kita and Aran manage it.

• Both Miya twins are beatmakers and music producers. They recently debuted as artists and now are making a collab EP with Suna, thus Atsumu's concern about the album.

[storiesforallfandoms]

sweet disaster ~ machine gun kelly

word count: 1516

request?: yes!

@livingmybestfictionallife​ “Can I request a Colson fic where he and the reader have grown up together have been best friends since middle school and it's about them realizing they love each other, but based off Dreamers' Sweet Disaster?”

description: after waking up from a crazy night partying, two best friends since middle school reveal their feelings to one another

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of drugs, mentions of alcohol

based on this song

masterlist

My head was pounding and my body was stiff when I woke up. I groaned as I pulled myself to sit up. I realized I had passed out on the floor, so that explained the sore body.

On the floor next to me, Colson was still out cold. He was in just a pair of sweatpants, a normal occurrence when he got trashed. I grabbed a nearby pillow and hit his face. Colson immediately jumped awake, looking around the room in confusion before his eyes landed on me.

“What the fuck (Y/N)?” he asked.

“If I have to be up then so do you,” I retorted, bracing myself before pulling myself to stand.

“Go back to sleep,” he groaned, laying back and using the pillow to cover his face.

“I can’t, I have to vomit.”

Luckily, I didn’t vomit, but my stomach was still churning, so I grabbed a glass of water for my breakfast. I decided to be nice and get one for Colson, too. He’d definitely be super hungover, too.

When I got back to his room, Colson was sat up with his back against the foot of his bed, his hands cradling his stomach. I offered him the glass of water and he gratefully took it.

“Thanks,” he said. “There’s Aspirin in my bedside table.”

I grabbed two tablets for the both of us. I took the Aspirin and a mouthful of water. The minute the cold liquid hit my stomach, I could feel it churning again. I hoped whatever contents were in there would stay put throughout the whole day, but my history with hangovers definitely said otherwise.

I sat next to Colson on the floor as I waited for my stomach to settle again. “What the fuck did we do last night?”

“We got super drunk,” Colson responded. “And super high. I remember sharing an entire blunt.”

I groaned. “God, I’m awful when I’m high. Why would you let me smoke?”

“Cause it’s lame to be high alone.”

I rolled my eyes and rested my head on Colson’s shoulder. The night before came back in flashes and blurs; Colson and I drinking, sitting outside his house to smoke the blunt, playing video games while drunk and high, watching movies, having stupid debates on the movies.

Getting super drunk with Colson was nothing new. Whenever he had time off, we always got together to drink at least once, but last night was different. Last night we got party levels of drunk, as if it weren’t just the two of us hanging out together.

“Do you think either one of us posted anything embarrassing?” I asked. “We were drunk enough for that.’

“Oh man, we should check.”

We took a while to try and locate our phones, and once we did we sat ourselves back on the floor. I went through all my social media and all I found was a picture I had taken at the beginning of the night of Colson playing video games with my legs over his lap.

“This one’s cute,” I said, showing it to him. “But nothing embarrassing. And no embarrassing texts, thank God. I have too many exes on my phone.”

“You should get rid of those,” Colson pointed out. “I don’t have any notifications, so I didn’t post or tweet anything publicly. Let’s check my camera roll to see if there’s any pictures.”

I watched Colson’s face as he scrolled through his phone. I couldn’t hold back my laugh as I saw his face twist in shock at whatever he found. I extended my hand for his phone, trying to take it from him.

“Let me see! What is it?” I asked. Colson held his hand out so that I wouldn’t be able to reach. I pushed against him, trying to grab it from his hand. “Dude, we’ve been best friends for years, whatever it is I’m sure I won’t give a fuck.”

“It’s nothing, leave it alone, (Y/N),” Colson insisted.

What he forgot about me was that I was very stubborn. So, I pretended to let it go, and when Colson let his guard down, I grabbed his phone and took off for the bathroom. Colson raced after me, but I got to the bathroom before he did and locked the door behind me.

“That’s not funny, (Y/N)!” Colson called as he pounded on the door. “Let me in, give me my phone back!”

I sat with my back against the door and unlocked his phone. That was one of Colson’s biggest mistakes: trusting me with his phone password.

The picture he had been looking at popped up on the screen immediately and I audibly gasped. It was a picture of myself and Colson when we were obviously very trashed. I had my arms around his neck and I was kissing him deeply, while one of his hands was under my shirt, pressed firmly against my back and holding me to him.

I stared at the picture for a long time, wondering if that was the extent of what Colson and I had done the night before. My clothes were all on properly, and we didn’t wake up naked. But I really could not remember us doing that at all. It must happened when we had both gotten absolutely black out drunk.

I sat on the floor for a while, just looking at the picture. Why wouldn’t Colson want me to see it? Did he regret it? Did he want me to just forget that it happened? I felt a slight ache in my heart at the thought of this.

I finally pulled myself up off the floor and opened the door. Colson looked down at me with a look of worry on his face. “Did you look at it?”

I nodded. “Yeah...here.”

I passed him his phone back. He took it, hesitantly, still looking at my face.

“Delete it,” I told him. “If the picture causes that much trouble, you can just delete it.”

“Trouble?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“You obviously didn’t want me to see it for a reason. I don’t remember the kiss, I’ll forget the picture exists and you can delete it.”

Colson seemed shocked by my words. “What if I don’t want to delete it?”

I rolled my eye. “You’re not funny, Colson.”

“I’m not trying to be!”

I pushed past him into the room. I tried to remember what I had brought with me that night, but soon remembered that all I had was my clothes, phone, and the booze I brought. I shoved my phone into my pocket and made my way for the front door.

“(Y/N), seriously, what’s going on?” he asked. “Why are you so upset over the picture?”

“Why didn’t you want me to see it?” I asked him. “Are you ashamed that we kissed?”

“No! Of course I’m not ashamed. I was afraid that if you saw the picture, it would make things awkward between us and we’d stop being friends.”

I paused a moment, letting his words sink in. “Oh...well...yeah that makes sense.”

“It does. Why would me being ashamed of it make you this upset?”

I scoffed, trying to play off my real feelings. “No girl wants to be told that someone was ashamed to kiss them.”

Colson shook his head. “There’s more to it than that.”

“Maybe there is, and maybe there’s more to you not wanting me to see the picture.”

We stood in silence for some time. With those vague sentences, there was a lot put out in the air between the two of us. I leaned against the wall behind me and looked up at Colson. My eyes were drawn to his lips and I wondered what it had felt like to kiss him the night before. I really wished I could remember it.

“How long?” I asked him first.

He knew what I meant immediately and responded, “Since middle school.”

My eyes widened and, before I could stop myself, my hand swung out to hit him in the arm. “What?! And you didn’t tell me?”

“Okay, ow,” he said. “And no, I didn’t tell you, because you were my best friend. I didn’t want to lose you so soon after I met you.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve made some move or something. We wouldn’t be in this mess if you had.”

He chuckled at this and I couldn’t help but smile as well. “How long as you felt this way?”

“Also since middle school,” I responded.

“Why didn’t you make a move?”

“Because that’s the guy’s job!”

He playfully rolled his eyes at me and took me into his arms. I cuddled into his chest, taking in his familiar scent as he held me.

“So, where do we go from here?” he asked.

“I think that’s up to you,” I told him. “Where do you want to go?”

He looked down at me and smiled. “Out with you, on a proper date.”

I smiled back. “You smooth motherfucker. Let me get sober, we’ll go out together.”

“Deal.”

[star-six7]

And You’re Someone Who Knows Someone (Who Was Someone I Once Knew)

Mikey Way x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Word Count: 1909

Request: Could I request anything with Mikey? Thanks :)

A/N: I am so sorry about the delay on this one! I’ve been drowning in school and work at the moment, but I’m still thinking of you guys, I promise! Also, catch that title reference ;)

Disclaimer: This is entirely a work of fiction. No part of this story is meant to be libel, slander, or in any way derogatory towards any character’s real life counterpart. I’m not delusional; I know that these characters are simply based off of a public persona and may not actually resemble the people behind those personas. Any additional characters that you do not recognize are entirely fictional, unless otherwise stated. And finally, if you got here by Googling yourself, whatever happens next is 100% on you.

You rocked back and forth on the balls of your feet anxiously as you stood in front of the chain-link fence. Finally, a large guy with a security shirt came into your view, calling out your name.

“Hey,” he grinned when you nodded. “It’s good to finally meet you in person; Gerard’s been chattering nonstop about you for the past few days. I’m Worm, I’m in charge of most of the security for the band; I’ll take you back now.”

“Okay,” you nodded, putting away the backstage pass that Gerard had mailed to you. You were slightly taken aback by the professional quality of the whole set-up; the last time you had been to a My Chem show, it had been in a much less… respectable venue, and there wasn’t even the faintest idea of guards and backstage passes. Something told you that the security probably wasn’t the only thing that had changed over the last few years...

While you were lost in your thoughts, Worm had led you through a back parking lot filled with big box trucks and busy stage crews right to the band’s bus. He punched in a key-code, and grandly guided you up the steps. 

“Gerard, your esteemed guest has arrived!” He winked good-naturedly at you, and then turned to leave. “Soundcheck at four, please attempt to think about being there in some semblance of a timely manner.” He rolled his eyes as he exited the bus.

Gerard, of course, didn’t hear him because he was too busy leaping off the couch so he could tackle you. “You’re here!”

“Yes,” you grinned, attempting to pat his back and keep your balance at the same time. “It’s been so long, Gerard, how are you?”

He let go and returned your smile. “I’ve been great, really great. A lot better than I was the last time we met. Um,” he ran a hand through his close-cropped white hair, and glanced sideways at Mikey. “You remember Ray and Mikey, right?”

“Of course,” you grinned at them. “How could I not? I did go to all of your shows for a year.”

“Well, uh, Otter ended up leaving after we finished recording Three Cheers, so that’s Bob- say hi, Bob- oh! And you remember Pencey, right? Well, Frankie’s with us now, and I think that about covers it.”

You waved at them. You remembered Frank’s wild nature, not surprised that he fit in so well with My Chem, and Bob seemed nice enough. All of the guys seemed genuinely excited about your presence, though you couldn’t shake the feeling that there were some conspiratorial glances and nudges being thrown around by everyone except Mikey. In fact, the bassist in question was doing his best to look artfully bored from his place on the couch and ignore Frank’s not-so-subtle shoving. Still, you felt a certain tug towards him, even after all these years.

“C’mon!” Gerard said brightly, snapping you out of your observations. “Let me give you the grand tour.”

The rest of the afternoon passed by in a whirlwind of wandering the bus park and venue with Gerard, watching the guys soundcheck from the nosebleeds, and dining on pizza in the green room. You were so glad you had been able to make it to a show; Gerard was one of your closest friends, and it had been a couple of years since you had last met. 

Your friendship had started during your senior year of college- you had both had an internship in the same building, albeit for different companies and lines of work. Since then, you had bonded over several of your shared interests and kept in touch, leading you to go to several of the first My Chem shows, and by extension, meet Ray, Frank, and Mikey. Though your busy work life and their crazy tour schedule had caused you to drift apart, it felt like no time had passed at all as you watched Ray swat Frank for stealing his pizza while Gerard and Mikey laughed uncontrollably at Ray’s exasperated expression.

Soon enough, it was time for them to go onstage, which became evident when the venue’s stage manager knocked on the door to lead them to the curtain. Worm reappeared and guided you to the seat marked on your ticket from Gerard- a center stage view from the very first row of actual seats behind the pit. Clearly, Gerard had wanted to make sure you didn’t miss a single part of the show.

The lights dimmed, and you watched two crewmembers dressed as doctors and nurses wheel out a covered gurney while the sound of a heartbeat monitor played over the sound system. You were unsurprised when Gerard leapt out of the gurney moments later, kicking off the show. 

You already knew the guys were awe-inspiring onstage- you had known it from the way you felt the first time you saw them live- but it was clear to see that over the past few years, they had taken it to a whole new level. They had each grown into their stage personas and their identity as a band, but your eyes kept drifting to one member in particular...

You had noticed it earlier today, but Mikey had definitely evolved since the last time you had met. He seemed much more sure of himself onstage; instead of retreating to the space almost directly behind Gerard, he often came up to the edge of the stage or interacted with his bandmates. He also seemed more relaxed off stage, easily interacting with fans outside of the venue and joking before the show with the rest of the band and crew. You couldn’t deny that he was a far cry from Gerard’s shy, slightly awkward, little brother you had met all those years ago.

Before you knew it, the show was over, and Frank was insisting on heading to a nearby diner for several plates of french fries and milkshakes. You glanced at your watch and balked. “Shit… I’m sorry guys, it’s almost 1am and I didn’t get a hotel. I think I’m going to start the drive home.”

Frank and Gerard glanced at each other, and then they rushed to stop you. “Don’t be ridiculous, come with us and you can just stay on the bus!”

“I don’t want to take up anyone’s space…” You hemmed.

“It’s fine!” Ray insisted. “Don’t even worry about it, you can sleep in the back lounge, it’s honestly very nice.”

Though you were suspicious of their enthusiasm, you accepted their offer with a shrug and followed the rest of the group in their search for a 24 hour diner.

…

You sighed as you took off your shoes and settled into the bed in the back lounge. You were exhausted; the long day of walking, dancing, and socializing was starting to catch up to you. However, just as soon as you had stretched out across the soft surface and closed you, you were startled upright by the sound of yelling coming from the bunk area just behind the lounge door. Confused, you opened it to see Mikey, looking irate, and Frank looking guilty yet slightly pleased with himself.

“What the actual fuck, Frank?” Mikey glared accusingly at him.

“I’m really sorry Mikey, it was-”

“An accident? Frank, we all know you’re clumsy as fuck, but there’s absolutely no way someone pours an entire liter of soda directly on my bunk on accident!”

“Oh shit,” you said, stepping out of the doorway to assess the damage.

Mikey glanced at you. “Sorry if I woke you up, Frank’s just being ridiculous.”

“Mikey, I don’t think you’re gonna be able to sleep here tonight,” Ray said, gently prodding Mikey’s mattress. “It’s pretty soaked.”

“Oh, well, of course,” Mikey sighed irritably. “Well, couch it is, then.”

“Actually,” Gerard piped up, oh-so-helpfully, “there’s plenty of space in the back lounge.” He turned to you. “If you’re okay with sharing, that is.”

You stared at him, trying to figure out his plan here. You were pretty sure that if he could bat his eyelashes right now, he would. Ignoring your suddenly accelerating heart rate, you turned back to Mikey.

“I don’t mind sharing, it is your bus after all,” you shrugged, glancing at Mikey. “Gerard’s right, there’s plenty of room.”

The other three looked extremely pleased with themselves.

“Thank you,” he told you, before turning to glare at Frank and head into the bathroom to change.

A few minutes later, you were in the back lounge again, somewhat awkwardly laying on one half of the double bed as you waited for Mikey to turn off the lights and get settled.

He looked abashed as he stretched out on the opposite side of the bed. “I’m sorry for snapping back there,” he said. “It’s just… the guys have been making fun of me for the past few days and it gets old fast.”

“I understand, it's okay,” you nodded, as you watched his silhouette shift closer to you in the dark.

He gave you a considering look. “It’s just… I told them something personal and they couldn’t just leave it alone. Honestly, this whole weekend has been sort of a set up.”

You rolled over to look at him properly as everything began to fall into place. Frank and Gerard’s insistence that you should stay the night, Frank’s “clumsiness,” Gerard’s helpful suggestions, the general feeling that something was going on behind the scenes…

“Oh,” you said, hoping he would confirm your suspicions, “what do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just that,” for a moment, it seemed like the endearing shyness of the Mikey you had met in Gerard’s basement was back. “Okay, like.” He took a steadying breath. “I’m working on building my confidence, so I’m gonna tell you this and hope for this best. I’ve… had a thing for you for a while, if it wasn’t already obvious. I mean, at first, it was just a crush… but as the years went on, and I- we grew up, I’ve realized it’s more than that. I know I’m still working on being stable, but I want to take that chance with you. I mean, if you feel the same way of course.” He paused. “Wow, that was a weight off my chest.”

You stared at him, opening your mouth to speak and then closing it as you parsed your thoughts. You had always felt a certain fondness for Mikey, and the past day had shown you that, over the course of a few years, it had grown into something more than friendship. You couldn’t deny that you also had feelings towards Mikey, and that seeing his new-found confidence and sense of self had only solidified them.

“Um, you’re not like, pissed, are you?”

His timid question snapped you out of your reverie.

“No, of course not!” you rushed to assure him. “I… I feel the same way, Mikey. I think I always have.”

“Oh!” He couldn’t keep the small grin off of his face. “So then I guess you don’t mind if I do this then, right?” He moved in closer to you and wrapped his free arm around your waist, effectively pulling you into his chest.

You smiled, warm with the feeling that things had finally fallen into place. “Good guess,” you sighed, already beginning to fall asleep.

“One more thing,” Mikey paused.

“Hm?”

“Under no circumstances can the others know that their evil plan worked.” “Deal.”

[sorio99]

Deltarune Chapter 2: Live Thoughts

So, since the new chapter of Deltarune came out, I've played it all the way through, so, here are my thoughts as I had them. Basically a live-blog, but, not live anymore, I wrote these in my notes app before.

NOTE: Obviously there are going to be ALL THE SPOILERS for Deltarune Chapter 2 in this, as well as Chapter 1. Reader discretion is advised.

Wow, okay, so I was wrong about it being immediately explained.

Various descriptions have changed, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the change to a new game, or the one to a new chapter.

I feel like Berdly is definitely a m’lady guy.

Okay, so, we’re not skipping class this time.

I really wish we could call Toriel and tell her we’re gonna be late again, but I couldn’t see an option for that. Maybe Kris told her on the ride to school.

Okay, so, Noelle is definitely adorable, and a huge lesbian.

Susie seems lovestruck too, kinda.

SHE HAD CHALK, AND SHE DIDN’T TELL ALPHYS BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT SHE AND SUSIE COULD GO GET IT TOGETHER OH MY GOD

Okay, honestly wasn’t expecting the closet to work again.

Fricking LOVE the new transition.

Okay, so, Ralsei knows about, the real world? How, why, and what?

Oh, that, makes, a little sense? But also, if we hadn’t brought the toys over to the closet then, would they all be, dead?

AND WHAT IS RALSEI IN THIS CONTEXT?!?!

Okay, but I love the new town.

Holy shit, save points have storage, AND a spare list? Hell yeah.

So, we’re all level 2 now. I guess they moved from EXP based (or, execution point based?) to Milestone.

Love the basement for bad guys, with K. Round standing guard.

Bitch said “Child abusers live in Hamster Cage”.

Wait, he uses the hamster wheel?

I don’t know if I believe the king about his “bluff” or not. I think not, but, I don’t know.

I can see the “Susie moves to Ralsei’s castle to escape her abusive home” fic already.

RALSEI GAVE KRIS A TRASHCAN, AND SAID IT WAS FOR THE MANUAL IF HE GIVES US ANOTHER ONE OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY MY SWEET FLUFFY BOY

And of course, the moss call-back.

Oh god, Susie just said “My own room, huh.” and my heart is ready to shatter.

This girl has one actual food item in her fridge, and it’s just salsa

Oh, scratch that, there’s ice, crumbs, and jawbreakers in there too?

Oh, okay, Ralsei did give her actual food.

Entering Lancer’s room gives the cartoon Splat sound effect from Chapter 1, and his bedroom is identical to Chapter 1.

Perfect.

And the sound effect, plays in reverse when leaving? Okay.

So, explore until we’re ready to leave, huh? Seems, suspicious.

Oh my god, I just realized, the LightCandy is literally the chalk Noelle gave Susie. What the fuck.

So, for giving the Top back his cake, we get regenerating SpinCake that heals everyone for 140. Nice.

Battle challenges, huh? This should be interesting.

So, we can get a ClubsSandwich, $100, or…Jigsaw Joe’s entire life savings. Okay.

Aw, Clover has separate heads in their dialogue box!

Just realized this “dojo” also has their bed. Odd.

Alright, let’s take these challenges!

Oh, so if we act with Kris, than spare with Ralsei or Susie…got it!

He has a mercy meter. There’s a mercy meter now. I love this.

Oh, of course his life savings is exactly one dollar.

I can already tell the Graze challenges are gonna be the biggest bitches.

Okay, so, being able to rematch bosses, with different gimmicks and attacks, but based on the same logic? Always amazing.

I love the little cut-ins from the other characters with certain lines, like Susie and Lancer revealing “for a price” means zero dollars.

“Cookie and Wife”?

The Blacksmith runs a bakery where he can fuse items…okay.

Imma get a Silver Card.

What the fuck, Mr. Society?

Okay, so, we’re “leaving” through the way we came in, so “surely” we’re going back “home” to the “real world” and our “family”. Sure.

LANCER was added to your key items.

Oh was he now?

And so was Rouxls, “even though no one wanted that.”

Oh, we, actually went back to the light world. Huh. Actually wasn’t expecting that.

Jack of Spades, and the Rules Card. Makes sense.

Still LV 1 here, thankfully. No murder yet.

Okay, thankfully I can call Toriel now.

…Undyne, what the fuck?

Also? This, car horn music, I guess? Is, um…interesting.

Oh, the, computer lab. Where Toby was in Chapter 1. Okay. Makes sense.

“Guess this means we can’t start our project.” I’d say the biggest obstacle is more that we have no clue what the hell this project is supposed to be.

Hmm, we could use the computer at my house, or we could have a fun Toby Fox adventure…

My house!

I knew Susie wouldn’t allow it, also, you always wanna jump in big pits? That’s, worrying.

Computer lab time!

So, computer themed, maybe?

Rouxls jumped out, apparently. According to Lancer.

Okay, this build up is creepy, where’s the fluffy boy?!

Who is SHE?!

Was

Was that Noelle’s chatter sound?

Asking for help?

OH MY GOD

ITS THE REINDEER LESBIAN

SHES BEEN TAKEN

NOOOO

And, I suppose, this must be, our queen.

Q5U4EX7YY2E9N. Sure. I’ll stick with Queen, yeah.

Oh, she’s a computer! That…that’s probably not, great?

Oh, those plugs are bad, brainwashers. Okay.

Okay, they’re both tired…but Ralsei isn’t here. Fuck.

Aiming at moving targets is hard.

2 Werewires spared, only 4 to go, I guess!

RALSEI IS BACK, YAY!

Fun Gang, back together, working to save Susie’s soon-to-be-girlfriend!

Rhythm game to start a new bumping song. Nice.

Might live blog less from here, since, you know, the game is starting proper.

God, I love Deltarune’s look and sound, it’s so clean? And expressive, and AAAGH, I just love it!

I love angry Ralsei.

First lose control laughing moment: Kris and Susie squishing Ralsei like a toothpaste tube, to play an arcade game.

Did, did I just play Punch-Out inside an Undertale?

Curing computer viruses with Syringes…sure.

Sweet is the rhythm guy! Nice to meet you, Sweet! You and Toby are great at this music thing.

Hey, Susie can act now! Awesome!

Ralsei too, because of bullying! Yay!

Now the whole gang’s dancing!

(This is where I took my first real break, to process stuff and relax, and also to sleep)

In between thought: it’s kinda interesting that, in Chapter 1, Susie basically had to be forced to care about Kris, Ralsei, and Susie, but as soon as Noelle is in the slightest bit of danger, she’s immediately like, “We have to save her or die trying”, huh?

“Reverse diss-tracks, where the vocalist puts themselves down and praises Queen…or noise music.” That’s some, interesting taste in music.

“All our songs are only 4 seconds long!” Damn, so you’re, like, Vine musicians?

So, the Knight is opening alternate fountains, that create dark worlds out of, more mundane places? Interesting…

So, someone new is leading the rebels. This, can’t go well.

Smorgasbord 2.

Oooh, a TP raising Item! Nice!

Oh, the guy who was already working for Queen is a Werewire now. Okay.

66 up arrows. Hmmm, I wonder if I can retry at some point…

Oh boy. Here’s the queens…wait what?

Oh my god.

Go kart time.

Noelle, you traitor! How could you!

Oh, okay. Berdly I believe more.

Also, “beloved”.

I love how Queen apparently didn’t even ask him.

“Light Nerds” Good one, Queen.

That’s one weird Check for Berdly.

Berdly, for God’s sakes, Noelle is a lesbian, you idiot.

You know, given this villain rant, I think I hate Berdly more than I do King. And I’ve dealt with both bullies AND abusive dads.

Oh god, Roller Coaster Tycoon murder (also Berdly is dead)

Garbage! Saved by it again.

Oh, this place looks glitchy.

Also, Susie, you’re not the king of the trash pile. You’re QUEEN of the trash pile.

Oh god, please don’t tell me she’s dying.

Okay, good, she just needed fluffy boy hug.

Fork in the path, advantageous to split up, huh? But there’s three of us, and, two paths probably.

Okay, I can either go with the Fluffy boy who might secretly be evil, or the mean girl who might get lesbian scenes…hmmm…

I’m flipping a coin.

Okay, Ralsei it is!

Oh, Susie is upset at me getting to pick.

Oh, they’re going together.

Oh, this can’t be good.

If I had a nickel for every indie game with a cat themed metropolis on my pc, I’d have two nickels. You can finish the meme.

I swear I just saw Noelle on the right. Something big in the streets, hmmmm…

Okay, definitely saw Noelle that time. Shame the Poppups, popped up.

…I get it, Toby, but I’m still mad.

Blocked 10 ads…okay, I still love this game.

God, I’m already missing my party members.

Okay, so I still have Lancer, but, I’m really hoping Noelle listens to reason, because Lancer is, not.

Oh god no, don’t fight me now Queen. And please don’t join me.

Alright, nobody likes Berdly. Figured.

God they’re so dumb.

“G-got any room for another truce?” Noelle, I would do a No Mercy run for you, of course I’m going to help you.

I can’t believe “No Triple Trucies” is even an option.

Yay! Noelle in party!

“LV1 Snowcaster. Might be able to use some cool moves.” She’s got Heal Prayer, a more powerful (but more expensive) Pacify, and a damaging Ice move for only 16% TP.

I love her.

I don’t know what a sugarplum is myself, actually.

Noelle, you have a one track mind, and I like it.

Lancer, she’s not a cream, and we’re not making her a bad guy.

Oh, and she’s scared of mice, I love it!

Ah, she’s never been in battle before, let’s see how this goes.

See? That wasn’t so bad, Noelle.

Oh, she’s a natural!

“Needles aren’t scary…” Tell that to anyone under 20, Noelle.

Also, “subtle” pro-Vax message?

Oh my god, I just love her animations.

So, the virus and the syringe are fighting…hm…

Okay, so, first, Noelle’s defend animation, also perfect.

Second, so Ambyu-lance’s bullets block and destroy Virovirokun’s…hmm…

Have I mentioned how much I love Noelle? This funky little Christmas Lesbian can do no wrong.

Oh my god, she can’t even confidently say we’re friends, and hearing Kris say it makes her happy, I love her so much.

Okay, so, Queen drinks Battery Acid. Makes sense for a computer.

Kris is so done with this shit, I can tell.

I am both scared of and loving Queen.

Oh Jesus Christ Berdly what the fuck is that.

That is not greatness that is…I don’t know. I’m pretty sure even tumblr isn’t horny for you, Berdly.

Christ, he’s gonna break Queen by being an idiot and then he’ll be the Chapter boss.

Her eyes say lying. Of course.

“I Did Not Know You Had… Nipples” that’s, a good point.

…Berdly, you disturb me.

Second lost control laughing moment: Noelle’s cardboard robot face, and Queen just saying “Wow Cool Face”

Lancer, what is the “illusory nipple technique”?

Oh, of course the music bots built the statue. Berdly would never do manual labor.

Oh, and, they built the next “big” thing…hmmmm…

Why are we, flavors of tea???

Okay, that should be all the werewires for now.

The, clothing store, sold me, a useless mannequin, for $300. Of course.

I am going to touch the cheese.

Maus!

Cheese maze, purposely ruined to spare more Mices.

Hmm, Berdly talks about Noelle’s crush. $20 says he actually thinks it’s him, or maybe Kris at a stretch.

Noelle is now immune to mice! Yay!

Oh, CD Bagel, Seedy Bagel, just got that.

Okay, sacrifice pacifist run to kill Berdly…I’m tempted.

Uh, Berdly, Noelle just one shot both your allies. I’m not alone, you are.

Jokes on you, buddy, I’ve been dodging A+ for years!

“(He hit me in the face with a tornado…)” Yes, Noelle, and I have papercuts on my eyelids. He do be an asshole.

Oh good, they both made Battery Acid Pies. Now we’re in a car together. Perfect. This is exactly how I wanted things to go.

Potassium

Who is this trash man?

Spamton, huh. Oh boy.

Oh god, this song has lyrics.

Oh joy, a mini boss on my own. Just what I wanted.

Oh, new game over screen! Nice.

Anyways, I hate this guy.

Okay, just one more deal, I think. I wonder what’s next.

I’m not giving you my credit card info, dude.

Oh damnit, 1% more.

Okay, I’m very scared now.

Oh, I lost $51. That’s, fair.

Okay, back in the car.

Oh my god, Queen loves Noelle too. Perfect.

Lancer took the mixtape! Nice!

Oh, he ate it…nice!

DECEMB…

Oh god she’s a little kid.

December.

I’m so sorry, Noelle. I really hope you’re going to be okay. We’ll figure out what to do.

Queen, why does everything you have explode?

Now the prize is on my head.

Susie and Ralsei! You’re back!

She can slightly heal me now…cool!

And she taught him Sarcasm. I love them all so much.

Uh, Susie! You can have it!

Okay, so, now Susie is both gay for Noelle, and suspicious of her. Amazing.

And Noelle is turned on by the threat of being killed. Have I mentioned I love these dorks?

The gang’s all here!

Uh, just got past fireworks, and, where’s Noelle?

Oh, okay. She was just watching Fireworks.

Oooo, catching mice minigame!

Oooo, more elaborate but simpler to control mice minigame!

Oooo, bucket hole!

Also, nice gay Noelle moment noted.

Oh no, please don’t take the perfect girl away from us!

Okay, so, I don’t like Berdly, but, Acid river? Bit much…

Oh, okay. He was never in danger. I hate both of you. GIVE US BACK NOELLE

GOD DAMNIT NOT THE CAGE AGAIN.

Oh, great, now we’re captured too. Except possibly Ralsei.

She only plays mobile games. Burn her.

For once Berdly is correct.

Queen, you are dumb.

Is that the super Mario world fade?

I don’t, next question.

No looking at my Search history!

Oh, hey, we can chat in here.

LANCER TIME!

YES I MISSED YOU YOU DOPE

Lancer, never say Pants hole again, and never say you were inside it either.

Lancer, do you still not know our name?!

So this is how they lampshade the tutorial-Toriel thing, huh?

Oh no, Lancer, please don’t die in here.

Um, are there rooms for all the kids at school?

Asriel…

Puzzle time!

Plot twist: Susie is not Susan.

Berdly is dumb.

Admittedly, I did brute force that second one a bit…

Okay, now Susie has outsmarted both me AND Berdly. This is sad.

Oh god, he’s gonna cry now.

Oh, my god, that’s what December meant. That’s why Berdly cares about Noelle. That’s why…oh god.

Oh wow, Susie’s a gamer. This is incredible Lore.

Oh wow, first Lancer’s face returns, now Berdly is Anime. I love this game.

Oh my god, Ralsei in a tux. I love him.

Alright, so, Lancer needs to go back to Castle Town, and we need to get the heck to Noelle. I hope Berdly’s plan actually works…

Aw, I wanted him to stay tuxedo…

Color Cafe, huh?

Oh god, Rouxls came here. I am terrified.

I love this hype manor song!

Toby Fox, why is there so much 3D Shenanigans in this 2D Top Down RPG???

Note: from here, I end up going to the secret of this chapter. Do not read if you don’t want to be spoiled on that plotline. Skip to where I say Pancake Batter.

Okay, I’m going back, and I’m gonna find this third blue check mark.

Okay, found it, now to get back to the guy…

Yay, fireworks, again!

East treasure’s hallway leading to Basement on 1F…

Oh dear.

So there’s a secret here after all…where is…

Found it!

Okay, how to open this lock, now…hm.

Well, one thing was in the field, so, maybe in the city?

Oh Jesus it’s Spamton.

$28, not a penny more.

KeyGen, huh…

If this is as hard as Jevil, I’m gonna be pissed.

Oh, great, just Kris going in. Again. Fantastic.

Oh what the fuck.

Oh Jesus Christ I hate this build up.

Oh, and I died on the elevator. That’s fun.

Okay, so I hate this elevator. A lot.

Okay! Took like six tries, but I made it past the elevator! Now, let’s see what’s waiting for me…

EmptyDisk…hmmmmmmmm…

Maybe take that back to Scamton or whoever?

…Ralsei, Susie, what are you two doing?

Okay, trash man, you better like this.

Oh Jesus Christ.

Okay, this is not what I expected to follow Jevil’s lead. But, let’s see what happens when I turn this disk in.

Oh, nothing happened. Sure it did. Just gonna walk away then…

Oh, wouldn’t you know it, something happened!

Okay, so big puppet robot man. This is terrifying.

THANK YOU SUSIE!

Roller coaster boss! Again! Oh good!

YELLOW SOUL!

Can’t write notes, gotta kill.

Spamton, oh my god. And it’s Neo’s outfit. How the fuck did I not realize before?

Im terrified, let’s GOOOOOO!

Holy shit is that the Undertale Game Over message??????

Many tries later

Okay, I think it’s actually Ralsei and Susie talking…

Quitting the game so they can get their healing items out of storage and buy some good ones extra later

Okay, third turn, and I’ve only been hit once! Granted, it did almost 50 damage to Susie, but, still, doing better this time!

Even more death later

Did he just, attack himself?

Is he surrendering?

I…I did it! I did it in one sitting! Minus quitting so I could grab healing items that did more than 40 HP!

Oh, he killed him by freeing him…….okay.

Dealmaker, huh? Let’s see what this bad boy is…

+4 defense, +5 magic (even on Kris?), and $+30%…”and…?”

Okay, Ralsei, you get that, Susie get’s Jevilstail, and I get many questions.

Alright, now back to the actual plot!

Oh…Kris has goosebumps, and Susie’s asking if they’re okay…no. I’m saying no.

I love these two so much. Now let’s save the adorable lesbian.

Pancake Batter. Alright, we’re good.

Sorry, Noelle, got distracted.

Mouse wheel!

Tasque manager helped!

Man, this room is big and empty, with an odd exit door and screens on the north wall. Hmmmm…

Toby!

Thank you annoying dog!

Okay, I still love this music. Just wanted to say that. Anyways, PROGRESS!

We’re tea covered now. Except Susie. She’s tea filled.

Oh god, I don’t trust Berdly with Susie.

God, Knight teased.

Duck ride with Fluffy Boy.

Okay, so, puzzle time, methonk.

High Five!

More duck ride!

Ralsei, do you wanna do the kissy?

Oh boy.

Oh jeez.

Oh damn.

Rouxls.

Ralsei, you read my mind.

Oh Jesus it’s the tank from the first game.

Okay, so, we, take houses? Okay.

I can’t believe some people thought this dork was Gaster.

Wow, I beat him in like 3 and a half turns because I blocked him in.

Another God Dammit because SOMEONE didn’t pay attention to what happened to Lancer.

His head is still blue…

Hey, Camera! Peace signs and hugs!

Mostly hugs.

Yay, more Susie and Noelle time!

Oh my god, my heart is breaking.

Okay, I love these adorable girls.

Oh boy, this is, weird.

“Point and hearts come out” or “Eat moss”. The choice of a generation.

Fair point, Susie.

She likes scary things, huh.

Kinky

Have I mentioned how much I love these two? Because I do.

Susie and Noelle are best girls ever, no objections.

Oh good, Berdly, don’t ruin this completely, okay?

I fucking knew it.

Noelle, you’re going to kill him, and that’s okay with me.

Susie, stop squishing him like toothpaste!

Oh boy, I get big “final boss” energy right now…

Werewerewire?!

Okay, so I just stole from Noelle’s room.

Okay, boss time.

Shit, I should’ve healed up.

Okay, so, I died, but, I can fix that!

So, this boss is calling back to how the town’s internet has gone out, a fact I didn’t even learn until watching other content last night when I should have been sleeping, because I forgot to talk to Alphys during the brief chance I had.

Also, now both she and Ralsei have made reference to the real world outside…hmmmm…

So I guess the plot is about Google search being evil…yeah that checks out.

Bitch, did you just funny runny way?

Hmm, I’d say 50/50 odds of him being a drama Queen vs. him trying to trick Susie into caring about him.

Yep, he’s trying to score a kiss. Berdly…get a job.

Alright, let’s save Noelle, and possibly the whole town.

The “Roaring” Knight?

Oh god, the determination…who is this Knight, what is going on, and how involved are we?

Wait wait wait wait wait wait WAIT

When she described the Knight making more darkness, she said they took their blade, and showed an image of a knife. Was…was this…

HOLY SHIT IS KRIS’S NIGHT SELF THE KNIGHT?!?!

Oh. It was a giant robot. Not a statue.

Susie’s dancing!

Oh yeah, he can fly.

Resistance! Yay!

Okay, so, we sentai up in this bitch.

I wonder how the hell this story would go if we didn’t go pacifist then? Because in Chapter 1, all that really changed was how the boss was defeated in the cutscene, and like a couple details later. This is, a lot more than that.

Okay, so, three rounds of HP, punch out for her turns, just keep attacking. Got it.

Two rounds down, one to go!

Yes, eat your own Baseball, bitch!

Oh, suicide attack. Well it was just a robot.

Oh. She still has us.

Oh fuck the robot is Noelle’s mom. Fuck.

Okay, so, Queen is dead.

Oh fuck, don’t take over the world with darkness all of you, please.

The Roaring?

Oh fuck, new legend lore.

Titans, Fountains, enveloping the land in devastation. Oh jeez.

Lost eternally in an endless night…that’s not paradise. That’s hell.

QUEEN IS ALIVE?!?! AND DIDN’T KNOW ANY OF THAT?!?!

Thank you, Susie!

Okay, that’s a good ending for a second chapter, it’s dark fountain time!

Susie, please don’t turn evil.

…

And, we’re in the computer lab!

Wait, Ms. Boom? Does, does Gerson have a daughter, or wife?

Lost control laughing #3: this

I love this game so much. Time to explore town again.

Okay, Alphys does crush on Undyne still, at least.

Oops, I just let all the prisoner dogs out.

Awww, Undyne likes Alphys too!

Napstablook, I love you.

Oh shit, Asgore used to be a pig?

Oh god, this Rudy storyline is gonna be depressing all the way through, huh?

Susie, can we steal the tower of the gods?

Hey, we can actually go back to Ralsei’s dark world?!

Okay, this is gonna be interesting.

Oh thank god, we can save in the epilogue now, cool.

Oh cool, King and Queen together.

Oh my god he calls her Queenie Beanie. I love this.

So, a card and a computer fucked to make Lancer, who is a card. Okay.

Okay, so Lancer DOES know Kris’s name! Just not Ralsei’s!

New battle challenges! Yes!

Might save “Ch. 2 All-stars” for another time, though…

Perfection is the mannequin reaction.

Oh my god there’s a dedicated room for listening to music I love this

Alright, time to skedaddle back to the real world.

Okay, so Alvin is Gerson’s son, and he’s depressed. Fun.

Oh, MK and Snowy are by the creepy bunker. That’s…fun.

Okay, so, Susie scared them off after they insulted Kris, because Kris said something about the bunker…hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

Hey, Nice Cream Guy is one of the Ice-E’s employees! Nice!

Ah, PizzaPants. Never change.

Oh hey, it’s the little guy, who’s clone is a Gaster follower. And the bird guy’s still in the library, and the donut guy is still in his car…

Hey, Catty and Bratty are becoming friends again! Cool!

Omg, Sans’s store is open. Do I…go in?

Hell yes I do!

Okay, so, Grillby’s music still, but, different interior. Interesting…

Sans, a day and 2 years in this game are not equivalent. It’s a day and 3 years.

The trousle grows further away.

Oh jeez Susie’s been drinking the milk. Oh god.

Cool, Susie’s seeing Onion too!

Oh, never mind.

A song is coming from deep under the water…either Shyren is involved, or this is gonna take a turn.

See you, Su-

Oh! Hey mom! Meet Susie!

Pie for all!

Oh my god, Susie, my heart is breaking.

Okay, so Alphys and Toriel know about the chalk. That, kinda makes Susie thinking she’d get expelled for it, really depressing.

Okay, so, Toriel and Susie are gonna make Pie together, that’s cool. Still, pretty worried about, Kris.

Uh, I just ran the sink, and, uh…

WHAT THE FUCK

OKAY SO MY SOUL IS UNDER THE SINK, KRIS WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHY IS IT BLACK OUT THE WINDOW WHERE ARE YOU GOING

WHAT THE FUCK

…so we get a cute scene with Susie and Toriel, then Susie asks where Kris is and…they do this sometimes?

I’m very concerned.

Okay, Toriel is concerned too, enough to say “hell”. Even Susie is shocked.

Okay, so, they’re coming back, uh, okay, this isn’t good, right?

Stopped the faucet, opened the drawer, and…we’re back?!

Kris what the fuck are you doing

And why couldn’t we find Asgore in the town?

Okay, so, we’re all sleeping in the living room. I, guess tomorrow’s the weekend, probably? I don’t know?

Susie, doesn’t have caring parents, I guess?

Oh god, Susie wants them to come to our world, but, Lancer is a playing card, he can’t…I don’t know. I’ll say it’s “far-fetched”.

There’s a festival, apparently. This seems…suspicious.

I’d take Ralsei, so you could take Noelle.

She’s asleep.

That, might not be good, in this context.

Okay, so, we’re asleep too, I think?

Oh god, Toriel’s tires are slashed, that can not be good, in any way.

Okay, night time, Toriel and Susie are asleep…now what are you doing, Kris?

That, knife…

Okay, so, yep, they’re the Knight, and they just opened Darkness in their living room. This is, not, good. And, the tv’s on, and the door’s unlocked…

What the fuck is happening?

Ending credits song sounds, techno? Is this more of Don’t Forget? Or a remix? I hear the lyrics at least.

“To be continued in Chapter 3” OH IT BETTER BE, TOBY

So, yeah, that's Deltarune Chapter 2. In conclusion: this explains nothing, raises 120% more questions, and overall is still an incredible, wonderful game. I also like how each Chapter so far has been almost as long as a full play through of Undertale, and yet we're still somehow only 2 sevenths of the way through. Oh yeah, did I not mention? After completing it, it brought me to a chapter select with SEVEN DIFFERENT CHAPTERS, only two of which were available. So, you know. THAT'S FUN!

In actual conclusion, please play this game, it's free, it's amazing, and also buy the soundtrack on Bandcamp so Toby can make some kinda living.

[firefly464]

The Real World - Chapter 13

"Oh Im gonna take a small break and go easy on this chapter :D" - me the other day. i then proceeded to write the longest chapter so far for no god damn reason.

ALSO YAY COOL SYMBOLISM IN THIS ONE

Thank you @i-have-this-now​ for helping me with transitions because im a complete mess Thank you to @rivys​ for beta reading and editing!

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~~~

“They WHAT?!” Wilbur yelled, wheeling around to stare at the teenager behind him. 

“They uh, they’re going to try and bring our Tommy and Dream back?” Tubbo repeated, taking a step back. “Is that bad…?” Hadn’t this been what Wilbur wanted? For their own Tommy to come home? Why was he acting so aggressive about it? 

“Yes that's bad! Thats really fucking bad! Not Tommy obviously, but Dream?! Tubbo, Dream could come and break the peace treaty. He might start a whole new war, just out of spite. I cant… We can’t do that again. We just don’t have the resources.”

Tubbo paled as he realized what Wilbur was saying. Yes, they might have a chance to bring Tommy home, but at what cost? They would have to go back to living in fear, terrified that at any moment, Dream would come up behind them and try to kill one of them. He took another step back, shaking his head. He couldn’t go back to living like that. He just couldn’t. 

Wilbur walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, crouching slightly so that he was at eye level. “Tubbo, I need you to tell me something, and I need you to tell me the truth. Where are they going?” Tubbo shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. On one hand, he had promised Tommy that he was going to help him get home. He had given his word. But on the other, he couldn’t go back to living in constant fear. He just couldn’t. “The eastern dark woods…” he muttered, trying to push away the guilt that gnawed at him. He had to do this. For his friends. He had no choice. 

“Got it.” Wilbur stood to full height, his eyes set and determined. “Go get your things together. We’ve got quite the trip ahead of us.”

~~~

“You can’t be serious. This is all you have? Why are there- why the hell do you have so many buckets? How on earth are you going to carry them?” George shook his head as he looked over the meager pile of supplies that Dream had gathered. 

Dream just shrugged as he rolled up the bedroll he had found in one of the chests. “You never know what might happen. I’m just trying to be prepared.” 

“Right. So you decided the best way to be prepared was to pack 3 buckets, but not pack any food or actual fresh water. You don’t even have a flint and steel!” 

A snort of laughter sounded from behind them. Dream turned to see Tommy, snickering to himself quietly. When the teenager noticed that they were looking at him, he wiped the grin off his face and stood up straight, trying to look serious. It didn’t work. 

“You know, you could be actually helping instead of just standing there and laughing,” Dream remarked. 

“Aw, but where's the fun in that? It’s much more entertaining to sit back and watch you struggle.” 

“Oh really? I would love to see you do a better job.” He clipped the bedroll to the base of his pack. 

Tommy stepped forward with a smug grin. “Ok, I will, since I’m just so cool and awesome. First off, you need coal for torches and shit. Second, toss the buckets out. You’re not going to be pulling any epic mlg moves here. That's just not how physics work.” Dream grumbled to himself as he took the buckets out of the pile. 

“Shut up, both of you!” George cried out, bringing the bickering to a halt. “Clearly neither of you have any idea what's going on or what to do. So instead of arguing, why don’t you just listen to me and do what I tell you to do. We’re on a timer, aren’t we?” 

Dream and Tommy looked down guilty. They had forgotten about the 48 hour limit, and had ended up falling back into their carefree habits. “Right, sorry.” Tommy said. 

“Alright, Dream, I want you to go and gather some water. Once you’ve got a bucket full, I want you to boil it and bottle it. We can’t have you getting sick from dirty water. Tommy, go and gather some wheat. We don’t need too much, just enough to make enough bread for if we can’t find any animals. I’m going to go and get the horses saddled.” George’s voice was calm as he explained what each of them was going to do. The other two nodded and quickly rushed out of the room. 

~~~

“Alright I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never rode a horse before. I’ve got no fucking idea what I’m doing,” Tommy admited as he tried to find his balance atop the large animal. The three of them had gathered up all of their materials rather quickly, and were now on their way towards the forest. “Seriously, how the fuck do people do this?”

“By shutting up and not complaining.” Dream seemed to have figured out how to ride his horse pretty quickly, and was now spending his time taunting the younger teenager. 

“Yeah, well maybe if you weren’t so damn annoying, I would have less to complain about.” 

"C'mon, Tommy, hurry up. The sun's setting." George said, while Tommy almost fell off his horse.

The three of them rode across the rough wilderness, as the moon rose slowly along the horizon. This was going to be a long night.

~~~

“We can stop here to make camp for the night,” George said as they came across a small clearing. The three of them had been traveling for hours now, and found themselves in the middle of a birch forest. 

"Eugh, birch. This is literally the worst kind of wood." Dream said jokingly. 

"Agreed." Tommy nodded.

"What? Oh come on, birch isn't that bad." George relatiated as he set up a fire.

"What?" Dream laughed. "George, have you seen these trees?"

"Dream, they're just trees. Plus, we aren't gonna be here for long. We'll keep travelling as soon as the sun rises." George rolled his eyes.

“Ughhhh, really?! But that’s so early!” 

“Tommy, shut up. Stop acting like a child. You’re just lucky that we found a place to stop at all.” George handed both Dream and Tommy a couple of torches. “Here, set these up along the perimeter. The last thing we need is a bunch of mobs trying to kill us while we sleep.” 

Both Dream and Tommy stared at him in shock. 

“What? Do you guys not have mobs in your world?” 

“Wha- No of course we don’t! I didn’t think that they were actually real here, holy shit…” Dream exclaimed. 

“Damn… A world where you don’t have to worry about getting eaten alive in the middle of the night. That honestly sounds really nice.” he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. “Never mind that right now. I need you guys to set up the torches.”

~~~

The sound of a netherite blade slicing through the air echoed across the quiet forest. It had been several hours since they had set up camp, and Dream had long since given up on sleep. The events of the day had played over and over in his mind, making it impossible to close his eyes. And so, he had quietly gotten up and snuck away to a small open area where he could practice.

Over the past week, he had found that practicing sword fighting helped him to calm down. The simple, repetitive motions helped to quiet the intrusive thoughts that continued to plague him. He had started to grow quite reliant on it to stay sane. Maybe, when he finally got home, he would join a fencing class. 

If he got home. No. No he couldn’t think like that. Pessimism wouldn’t get him anyone. He needed to trust Tubbo and Wilbur. They were going to get him and Tommy home. They had to. 

“You know, you’ve really gotten a lot better,” said a voice from behind him. A squeal of surprise was torn from Dream’s throat as he spun around, his sword at the ready. “Pffft, what on earth was that?” George stepped out from the shadows of the trees into the light of the torches that Dream had set up. 

Dream placed a hand on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. “Jesus man, you scared me. What the hell was that about?” 

The shorter man chuckled as he stepped further into the light. “Gotta keep you on your toes. What's the point of learning how to fight if you’re not constantly aware?” He drew his own sword and held it out in the form of a challenge. 

“You are actually the worst,” he said, raising his own sword in response. 

With a grin, George rushed forward in attack. Dream raised his sword to block the incoming strike, allowing his instincts to take over. He had learned that if he simply didn’t think about what he was doing, he often did quite well. And so he let his mind go blank, instead focusing on surroundings. The stars, the leaves, the trees, even the man before him was all taken in as they sparred. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” George asked, most likely hoping to distract his opponent. 

Dream only shrugged as he feigned an attack at his friend's leg, only to come up and create a small cut on his cheek. “Couldn’t sleep. I was hoping that doing some practice would help calm me down.” 

“And? How's your success rate?” 

“Well it was pretty good, until you arrived and scared me half to death.”

“Aww, I didn’t realize compliments scared you so much.” 

“Yes, I’m quite shy.” Dream couldn’t help but grin. 

As the two of them joked back and forth, they continued their little duel. It had been going for a couple minutes now, and they seemed to be at a bit of a stand still. A rush of pride surged through him. In roughly a week, he had gone from completely and totally useless to actually able to defend himself. Now, he just needed to set himself apart. 

His mind began working overtime, analysing every small detail. Quickly, he reached back with his free hand and pulled out a loaded crossbow. George’s face transformed into surprise when he saw the weapon. The bolt flew past his face, only just barely grazing the side of his head.

Dream quickly threw the weapon aside and pressed his advantage. Suddenly, the favor was tipped towards Dream. George was unbalanced, startled by the use of the crossbow. Still, he managed to raise his sword just in time to block another strike. 

With his free hand, Dream reached into one of the pouches around his waist and pulled out a small sphere, roughly the size of a marble. With a slight squeeze, the sphere expanded to the size of a baseball. While George was distracted with blocking the strike towards his face, Dream tossed the sphere behind him. With a crash, the sphere shattered against the ground.

Suddenly, Dream appeared behind George in a shower of purple. With a sweep of his foot, his friend came falling to the ground. With a final motion, he held the sword above his throat, his green eyes bright with exhilaration and delight. 

“Alright alright, you win. I surrender,” George said with a laugh. 

“Did you see that?! That was so cool! Oh my god that was so awesome!” Dream exclaimed as he helped George to his feet. “That was so damn cool!!” he started jumping around the small clearing in excitement. 

“How did you even do that? I’ve never seen someone use a crossbow in the middle of a sword fight before” 

“I’ll be honest, I’ve got no idea. I have no idea what the hell I just did. I just know that it was cool as fuck!” 

He shook his head, chuckling as he watched his friend dance around the area. George had never seen Dream show any sort of emotion before, much this level of excitement. Even though he knew the reasons why, he couldn’t help but feel a bit weirded out by it. Watching the pure joy flash across Dream’s face was strange. Still, it was nice. “You are such a dork” 

He only responded with a wide grin. 

A thought flashed through George’s mind, causing him to frown slightly. Dream stopped his playful jumping and walked over, his eyes now filled with concern. “Hey, you alright?” He asked. “Oh shit, you’re bleeding! Hold on I’ve got a few bandages on me I think…” 

As Dream pulled out a couple white bandages from his bag, George let out a slight chuckle. “Do you even know how to use those?” 

“Uhhh, not really? I’m sure I can figure it out. How hard can it be?” 

He wasn’t impressed. With a roll of his eyes, George held out his hand for the bandages “Here, just let me do it. It doesn’t really hurt, I think it's just a small cut. Probably just needs to be cleaned.” Taking a bottle of water from his bag, he quickly wet the bandage and started to clean the blood from his face. 

Dream pouted. “Well what if I wanted to help?” 

“Then you can go and wash the blood out of these,” George said, tossing him the now stained bandages. “No point in wasting perfectly good bandages because of a small cut.”

He caught them easily, but otherwise didn’t move. “Nope. Not until you tell me whats wrong.

The brunette cursed under his breath. Since when had he been so easy to read? “I uh, I was just thinking about… Stuff,” he waived his hand vaguely. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Dream plopped down onto the grass and patted the ground next to him. “Here, take a seat.”

He sat. 

“Spill.”

“I’m just… Worried, I guess? I mean, in a few days, you’re going to be gone and… the other Dream will be back. I guess I’m just scared about what he's gonna do.”

The smile faded from Dream’s face as he considered what to say. “What was he like?” he asked after a few seconds. “The other me, I mean.”

“He was… Scary. All he cared about was the thrill of the hunt. The mask made it impossible to tell what he was ever thinking, which made it ten times worse. Of course, it only covered his eyes and nose, so that you could still see his grin.” He shuddered. “I watched as he blew up the gates of L’manberg with a massive smile on his face.” 

“So then… why did you follow him in the first place?” 

“I had no choice. When Sapnap and I showed up, he was the only other person here. It was either join him or be left out to die to the mobs. After a while I guess I just didn’t realize how cruel he was. He was a good leader, and super charismatic. Not to mention a really good actor. By the time the war started… I guess I just trusted him, if that makes sense. He had kept me alive ‘till then, so why would anything change?”

Dream nodded. He wasn’t going to pretend like he understood what his friend had gone through, but he could still try and help in his own way.  “He taught you sword fighting, how to survive. You felt like you were indebted to him, right?” 

“Yeah… Pretty much. God, its so stupid! I should have been able to realize how messed up he was. Why the hell did I not realize?!” He took off his round sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tight. “I was so fucking stupid.” 

Hesitantly, Dream reached over and placed a hand on his friends back, trying to comfort him. “Hey, that’s not stupid. You’d be surprised at how easily our minds can trick us into thinking we’re doing the right thing. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's not your fault.” A stab of guilt shot through him. He had been the one to add George onto the server. If he had waited a bit, would things have been different? Maybe if he had acted differently on stream, or not sent the declaration of war, maybe things would have turned out different. The other Dream might have turned out to be a decent guy, not someone that people trembled before and feared. 

“I should have been smarter… I should have joined Sapnap when he went off on his own.” 

The weight of George’s words finally sunk in. The other Dream was a monster, a killer. He was the living, breathing version of the mask Dream sometimes wore in his videos. The act of someone who enjoyed the hunt, and nothing more. These past two weeks had been peaceful and calm compared to what everyone had normally lived through, and it was all because the monster was finally gone. But now… now they were about to bring him back. They were about to bring everyone’s worst nightmare back to life. 

What choice did they have? It was either that, or let the entire world get destroyed. Either way, the other Dream was about to ruin people’s lives. He sighed. “It's going to be alright, ok? We’ll figure something out, I promise. You’re not going to go back to living like that. I promise.” 

Now, it was just a matter of keeping that promise. 

~~~

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[jalapeno-princess]

Through His Eyes

(Y’all, look at the deep v-neck in the suit might as well take it off Tuan)

Mark Tuan X Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Genre: Adorable fluff (tiny bit of angst and insecurities) oh and a couple mentions of body praise (and a couple descriptions of sex but very few)

Summary: Mark being the most supportive, patient, understanding and golden-hearted boyfriend we all deserve.

A/N: So, I wrote this in less than twenty minutes. I was on instagram and I began scrolling through my explore page and stumbled across a few girls who I think are so pretty and I began picking apart my entire being and I started to think so low about myself and I hate degrading myself so much because of what I see on social media so I ended up writing a quick little imagine based on what I just went through and ugh, what I would do to have a boyfriend like Mark in this story (or just like Mark in general I can feel it in my ass that he’s like this towards the lucky person who ends up receiving his love @ God...When? Hahahaha) anyways, I just want to let you all know that you are all beautiful in your own ways and the right person will love you just the way you are! I need to keep reminding that to myself. Enjoy!

“Hey Mark?”

After a hectic week of work with both of your schedules colliding, you and your boyfriend Mark finally had a day off where you could spend your time together doing whatever it is your hearts desired. Today, since you were both exhausted from the many hours of overtime you completed, Mark suggested that you’d just laze around your shared apartment doing your own things while basking in each other’s presence.

You were currently propped up on your bed, leaning against the headboard scrolling through your social media accounts while he was sat in between your legs, his head was heavy against your chest while he played the latest installment of call of duty, but it didn’t matter. You loved having him so close to you and your heart fluttered each time he looked up at you and nonverbally hinted towards wanting a kiss.

Although a small part of you wanted to do something a little more romantic like go to the beach and watch the sunset or dress up for a night on the town, you loved being in an environment where you could be yourself without having to worry about what others thought about you. You also enjoyed the alone time with your boyfriend. Even if the two of you live together, you hardly got to see him other than right before you went to bed.

He hummed gently in curiosity at your sudden call of his name, but continued to flick at the controller angrily. A small giggle fell from your lips at his tiny little grunt when he got killed in the game. For someone who was extremely soft spoken and gentle, he was a completely different person while playing video games. It’s as if the only time Mark would ever get mad was whenever he had a game console in his hands. You took a deep breath, afraid of his reaction after past experience of being in a situation like this and finally placed your phone in front of him.

“Do you think she’s pretty?”

You may not have been able to see him since the position the two of you were sitting in prevented you from doing so, but you’ve been dating Mark for long enough to know that he probably took a quick glance because he did not stop shooting at the bad guys at all.

“Hmm—She’s alright.”

He continued to play the game as if you didn’t just ask him what he thought about another girl and you couldn’t help but grow curious. You thought this girl was extremely pretty, and by the many comments she got on the photo, you knew many people agreed with you. However, hearing that Mark didn’t think much of her to even bat an eye at her photo made your cheeks warm.

From time to time, you’d find yourself wondering if Mark ever regretted getting in to a relationship with you. When he first asked you to be his girlfriend almost three years ago, you thought he was just playing around with you. But he made it painfully obvious that he harbored feelings for you and reminded you every single day that he loved you with his entire being.

No matter how many times he would compliment you not only on your beauty, but on your personality, intelligence and your heart, you still felt extremely insecure and always compared yourself to the girls you’d see on Instagram. At one point, Mark took away your phone to get you to stop obsessing over other woman you’d see on social media because he hated that you thought so low of yourself. It was hard for him as your boyfriend hearing you degrade yourself because he thought the world of you.

He tried his best to be patient with you and he knew that insecurities were normal because there were a couple of things he wished he could change about himself too. Yet, it always upset him hearing that you wish you could look like these girls whom he was sure heavily edited their photos before posting them and he had a feeling they didn’t look like that in real life. A few minutes later, you returned your phone back in to his face and asked about a different girl.

“What about her? What do you think about her?” He released a sigh before shrugging. Mark tried his best to not get angry on you or take out his frustrations on you nor did the two of you ever really have any arguments in the duration of your relationship; but if you did ever disagree it was on the topic of how you looked.

Sometimes Mark would blame your insecurities on himself; was he not complementing you enough? Was he not showing love to your body the right way while the two of you would have sex? Did he say something to make you feel like you weren’t pretty? He could never put his finger on it. All he could do was sit there and listen to you complain about things he knew weren’t true because he didn’t want fights to break out for something so minuscule and not worth fighting for.

“I don’t think about her. Now, this level is going to need all my attention babe, so give me a few minutes without any interruptions please?”

You nodded in agreement; but you felt bad for doing this to him. You couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like you enjoyed doing this. Who wanted to hear what their boyfriend had to say about other women? What girl in their right minds would continue to pester their boyfriend about whether or not he thought another girl was pretty? Deep down, you wished you weren’t so insecure; you wish you could look at another girl and think “Hey, she’s pretty. But so am I.”

But you couldn’t. That wasn’t who you were. If a girl had a nice body, you’d find reasons to hate on yours. Every time you’d look at a model, you wondered if they had a body Mark would prefer his significant other to have. If she had nicely shaped brows, you wondered if Mark disliked your thick, bushy ones. If she had a petite frame, you’d beat yourself up in thinking that Mark would rather have a girlfriend who was smaller than your busty and more voluptuous body.

It took you a while to come to the conclusion, but you had a mental illness and you despised yourself for allowing society to make you feel as if you weren’t beautiful. When you realized Mark succeeded and moved on to the next level, you tapped his shoulder gently and waited for him to turn around.

“Okay, last one I promise. Don’t you think she’s extremely pretty?”

Your boyfriend’s eye roll didn’t go unnoticed to you and you couldn’t stop the scoff that emerged from the back of your throat.

“Mark, I think you need to get your eyes checked. Every girl that I showed you are practically goddesses. You know, you don’t have to lie for my sake. I would rather you tell me the truth so I can work on myself and change for the better—“

“But that’s the thing y/n, you don’t have to change at all. I’m not lying for your sake. I’d be lying if I said I found any of those girls relatively pretty and you wanna know why? I completely desensitized myself towards any other girl the day I met you. You are the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen and no—I know what you are going to say. I’m not just saying that because you’re my girlfriend, I’m saying it because it’s the truth. You are so fucking beautiful y/n. Some nights I’ll stay up just looking at you in awe of how beautiful you are. Everything you claim to hate about yourself, I love profusely. Your smile could light up an entire room with how bright and contagious it is. Your nose is so cute, your dimples are so pretty, your brows; you always talk about how much you hate them but baby so many girls would kill to have them. Your cheekbones are so well defined, your eyes have this sparkle in them especially when you talk about the things that you love and don’t even get me started on your lips.”

He turned his body completely and was sitting on your lap at this point. His high pitched laughter filled the room as soon as he saw a tear fall from your cheek. One thing about Mark, although he was a man of little words but of many actions is that when he did speak, each and every word pulled on your heartstrings in the most captivating way. He placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before cupping both of your cheeks in his hands.

“Your heart must be so big, that there wasn’t enough room to fit it in your beautiful body that God had to put some of it in your lips. Your lips are the perfect shade of pink and they’re so soft and I love how they feel against mine. Whenever we kiss, I’m telling you, I feel butterflies swarming in my stomach every single time—look at what you’ve done to me baby. I’m a fucking ball of cheese when it comes to you but it’s because I love you so much and I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. I um—I also particularly enjoy the way your lips look and feel when they’re wrapped around my cock—what? You said to be honest here y/n it’s the truth. Fine, but I’m serious.”

His lips softly ghosted over yours before he finally stole a few fleeting kisses. No matter how many times the two of you would kiss, you were never able to pull away. You would proudly admit with no hesitation that you were addicted to Mark’s lips and you loved how they were always so sweet and melded perfectly with yours; like honey.

“Fuck, and your body was perfectly crafted. You always say you hate how thick your thighs are, but if I’m being honest, I love how thick they are baby. I think they are so luscious and they feel so good wrapped around my waist as I bottom in to you or when I eat out this pretty little pussy of yours, they’re like my own personal ear muffs. You have the most insane curves that every single thing you wear looks amazing on you. You could be wearing one of my baggy shirts or one of my hoodies that practically swallow you whole and I will always want to rip it off of you. You have the prettiest titties; they’re so huge, so plump and so perky. Loving on them is one of my favorite parts of sex: I particularly like gliding my dick in and out of them, but I also like seeing your nipples harden whenever I pinch and twist at them or when I bring one of your breasts in my mouth. And shit, whenever you wear low cut tops, I have to prevent myself from fucking you senseless no matter where we are. Oh, and your ass is a masterpiece. I love how it bounces against by cock whenever I take you from the back, I enjoy slapping them when you’re naughty and fuck, massaging both your cheeks is a dream. Wow, I’m surprised you didn’t hit me like you normally would whenever I talk about how fucking sexy your body is—and I spoke too soon.” He rubbed the part of his shoulder where you shoved him all but gently and took your hands in his.

“Not only are you beautiful on the outside, but you are exceedingly beautiful on the inside to and a girl like that is rare to find. I’m sorry if I don’t remind you enough of how perfect I think you are or how much I love you, but I think the entire world of you baby. You’re it for me. You’re my person, my soulmate y/n. You’re the only girl I ever look at and want to look at for the rest of my life. So stop showing me these random women you find on twitter or instagram because you’re going to get the same response out of me every single time—wait. There is a girl I find very attractive. Give me your phone.”

You furrowed your brows and didn’t even try to hide your disappointment at his sudden change of heart. He literally just told you you’re the only girl in the world to him yet he says there’s someone else he thinks is good looking. Right as you’re about to make a comment, he hands you back your phone and you playfully roll your eyes when you see your profile.

“Damn, she’s a beauty isn’t she? Now that’s a fucking goddess, I just got hard looking at her. You think she’d respond to me if I sent her a DM?” You were quick to shove him off of you but you pushed him down on the bed and hovered over him.

“I’m sorry for always bothering you about these things Mark. I’ll try my best to stop comparing myself to other people. But I hope you know that I’m extremely grateful for all that you do and say to try and get me to learn to love myself. Don’t think you don’t compliment me enough, in fact I think you are too generous with your sweet words. I’m the stubborn one who refuses to accept it but I’ll work on it. I love you Mark, so much. I really don’t deserve you.” You stole a chaste kiss from his lips before he pulled you down so that you were chest to chest with him and snaked his arms around your waist.

“Don’t say that, you deserved the entire universe babe, and I plan on giving it to you. Now that I told you just how beautiful you are, what do you think about getting a physical demonstration? And then maybe later, you could show me just how grateful you are for me while on your knees as I shove this dick down your throat—oh, you’re gonna pay for that. I never understand why you aren’t this physical when we make love. Get back over here y/n! I’m going to make sure you can’t walk for the rest of the week once I’m done with you.”

[vegetalass]

can i get uhh, the boys dating a dominant woman/person for the first time 👁👁 can be nsfw or not, your choice! if it’s silly you don’t have to fill it- btw i love ur your writing muah

👁👁 Wow…… Anon, you’re my best friend now and ily… Dominant HCs unlock my sharingan tbh… but my taste is actually really particular and not very mainstream so i really hope that this is what you had in mind and is suitable! Hopefully this is nsfw-enough for you!! 

18+!!!

sorry everyone because i went crazy again and this is super…. Long…..

Lowkey this is me @ myself rn tho for finishing this (although tell me why this sounds like the way abigail talks to john LMFAOOO) 

Arthur 

Despite being the biggest yes-man on the planet, he’s not really used to being considered the “submissive” one in any relationship

He’s big and tough looking, so anyone who can get up in his face and boss him around is pretty commendable in his eyes

Especially if it’s a romantic partner

It’s a little awkward at first because he’s so used to being the one providing for everyone, that being taken care of, or even just having his needs thought about, really makes him 🥺😳

To him, what’s attractive about having a dominant partner is partially just knowing that he doesn’t have to hide anything about himself

You WANT him to be himself, and will call him out when he’s not

In a way, he also honestly doesn’t mind not having to be there for you 24/7

That isn’t to say he’s not prepared to fight for and protect you, but knowing that you’ll stand by his side and always tell him how you really feel brings him a great deal of comfort 

If you fight with him about joining him for rides, bounties or chores for Dutch... 

Not only does it make the trips easier, but it also starts making the sex better

Basically... AFTER WORK SEX!!

(Sorry mom, please forgive me) 

And while it doesn’t happen at first... Once you let the pet names start slipping, he’s officially a goner 

The more intense they are, the better 

Sweetie, Baby, Sugar, Pookie, etc. all have him melting in a puddle 

Especially if you’re nonchalant about it and pretend not to notice what it does to him 

All soft smiles and “Arthur, Baby, tell me where you left Charles’ bow?” 

Yes, he has to pass away 

(Not really though because we already lost him once) 

Once you start sharing a tent/cot/bed.... You have to be the big spoon 

People might disagree with this… But he is just in love with you trying to wrap both your arms around him and the way you throw your leg over his hip

Cuddle him like a teddy bear and squish his face in your chest PLEASE

It makes him feel loved and needed… And frankly… He deserves it

(I actually have this down as inspiration for a fic, but…) I just imagine your relationship being one where you’re the one who makes him take care of himself, where you’re always trying to make sure he’s healthy and you do all the shopping for him and you’re the one to pick out all his new clothes.... And you make him stand still for you as you hold them all up to his chest to make sure they fit him right 

And he squirms when you touch him

He just feels good knowing that people see him being loved and getting taken care of

Basically, as long as it’s genuine, just treat him like your baby and he’s yours forever

John 

HOOO BOY

We already know this guy likes dominant people (*cough* Abigail *cough*)... But I really can’t lie to y’all… He’s a simp

The Absolute King of Simps 

At the beginning of your relationship, just as you’re getting serious and he’s begging to realize you aren’t namby-pamby, you could say anything to him and he’d just turn into a huge blushing fool 

Stuttering and everything when you ask him for things or for his help

Kisses are all opened-eyed, intense, and focused

He brings you some wildflowers that he found laying around and when you reach out to try to kiss him in thanks... 

You guessed it, he passes away 

Once you get more comfortable with each other, if you start standing up to Abigail on his behalf... He’d do anything for you 

Not that he doesn’t care for Abigail, but it’s easier when he has backup and someone around who doesn’t tell him that he’s shitty all the time

Watching you get annoyed when Abigail says something mean makes him feel better

Before this all started, though, he has to admit that he did have a little fun trying to have secret sex with you before you came out as a couple 

Loves it when you start toying with his clothes when he’s around.... 

Do things like stick your hands in his pockets or hold onto his suspenders or belt loops as he’s walking or passing you by 

That thing you sometimes see old married couples do when one has their arms wrapped around the other while they’re doing something boring and mundane like sitting around 

Um... Do that to him

Since he’s bad with expressing himself and has been verbally brutalized by Abigail on more than one occasion, his favorite thing is really just physical contact... 

Especially if you aren’t shy about it 

Okay I’m gonna day something controversial.... Straddle him... thanks and goodnight everybody

“John?” You call to him, though it’s more of a call for attention than a question, “Kiss me.” 

Lowkey this shit has me so fucked up bro 

Charles 

When he first realizes he’s pursuing someone more dominant than him, he’s a little bit… at a loss

He was raised a respectable gentleman, always taught to treat his partners delicately, so when he starts dating someone so bold and unafraid, it’s a little bit confusing to him

That’s not to say he doesn’t like it… but it’s honestly just unusual that he’s not exactly intimidating to you 

Most people find him quite large and overpowering, and never hesitate to question his skills as a natural leader... so having someone around him who takes the reigns from him ends up being a nice change

He just never really knew there was another option for him

This applies to sex, too, as he highkey enjoys sitting back and letting you take charge and pamper him 

He also ends up becoming really appreciative of the fact that you never hesitate to fight alongside him or take over what he’s doing

If Dutch ever sends you on a mission together… it’s over for anyone who gets in your way

He’s absolutely in love with the way you’re able to handle yourself around big tough guys 

And if you have a sharp tongue, that’s even better

The more headstrong and passionate about your beliefs you are, the better, basically

Literally power couple vibes only

Even if you just started dating, if you say anything mean to Micah… he’s going to get a boner 

Even just seeing you fight with people, verbally or physically, is also a turn on

Not even bothered if anyone tries to clown for being into someone dominant 

Cue him: *thinking about all the times you’ve had bomb ass sex* *sunglasses emoji*

Your sex life is basically a Megan Thee Stallion song 

Sorry, I don’t make the rules 

Lowkey if you ever told him to shut up or be quiet during an argument or sex he’d be 100000000x more in love with you

As long as you always have a mutual respect for one another and others, he’s gucci with practically anything else

Micah 

Knowing what we know about Micah… This one is a little bit tough

In the beginning, despite his obvious attraction, he will most likely try to fight with you and try to put you “back in your place”

Obviously, this absolutely does not work and he loses the fight every time 

But once his anger turns into sexual attraction... It feels good to just give up

It’s definitely kind of a sore subject for him, at first

Not that he doesn’t want to be with you, but he’s afraid of being seen as weak after talking all his big shit 

Even after you start dating, it takes awhile for him to truly calm down 

His eventual submission is partially based on the fact that he doesn’t want people to think he’s a bad boyfriend 

And the line is already very thin

Honestly, just pull your big ol’ puppy dog eyes on him (and/or threaten to leave him) and he’ll just sigh and go along with whatever you want

He’s both surprised and unsurprised that it becomes such that he has to “earn” any affection from you 

You don’t really express this outright, but you both know it’s all deliberate

He begins to like the feeling of giving in and making you happy, and though it takes him awhile to get used to, he definitely starts to like pleasing you (and yes, in every single way), as well

It’s an accomplishment that he can actually take pride in

Especially since you started withholding affection from him when he gets a little too high on his horse 

Knowing you’re pleased with him and seeing you happy, along with the kisses (and… more) he knows he’ll receive later, is the reward in and of itself

Lowkey just proud of the fact that he can keep a fighter happy 

Honestly, I’m just imagining him being all grumpy about having to do something for you, but still doing it anyway 

“But Micah, I thought you wanted to make me happy?” Or “Awe, Micah, don’t make me sad…” 

He’s like “Smh, fuck” because you know he can’t resist when you’re being s✨a✨s✨s✨y

If you ever call him Daddy to tease him, he 100% will call you Mommy

Dutch  

Please pussy whip this dude, PLEASE

He literally deserves nothing less

He’s so used to being with docile and private girls that the attraction to you is not only needed, but also very natural 

He notices it at first by the way you stare at him

It’s a curious look, not exactly mean, but not exactly kind either

As we know, he doesn’t really like it when people challenge his ideas, but for some reason, whenever it comes to you… He’s willing to lend an ear to hear what you have to say 

That being said, most of the time it’s just to tell him to stop picking on Arthur or siding with Micah (because what else would it be about? 🤡)

Micah gets pissy about this and tries to tell Dutch to stop listening to you, but you just tell just tell him off, too 

Dutch is always surprised that he finds this attractive

Honestly, being with someone who he considers to be on the same level as him is very alluring 

The fact that you value your own opinions as much as he values his… 

It’s spicy, basically

Most of the time, you have to force him to give you affection 

Not by begging, but by demanding 

Hold out your hand until he holds it, or strip in a place where he can see you but can’t touch

(Tie him up *cough*) 

And when he’s standing around camp, busy doing work or talking to people, hug him from behind, drape yourself on him, or make a place for yourself on his lap… ANYTHING to distract him and to get what you deserve

It drives him crazy, but at the same time, he can’t resist a lil brat like that

That being said…at the same time, he is also someone who needs to earn affection from you

He doesn’t realize this, but you are just as stubborn as he is, and as soon as he realizes he’s been ignoring you for too long and you’ve stopped giving him any attention… WHEW!

He will really start acting like a clown just to get you to touch him again

Especially if he sees you pretending to twirl your hair around the other boys in camp 

Eventually, he discovers he needs to beg for you 

Give you things, call you sweet names, massage you, take you on trips out of camp, have Pearson give you extras... Anything and everything to show you that he’s sorry

It works… eventually… and when you’re finally together… unbutton his clothes and pull his hair to tell him how he makes you feel

 Steal the cigar from straight out of his mouth and start to smoke it... See what he lets you do to him later

Turned on by the fact that he thinks you need him and he needs you, but at the same time, definitely down to be a cuck if you ask

It takes a while, but he turns into a total “Yea, Dear” and “Anything for you” type eventually

Unfortunately, though he likes praise, it’s not fun to give it to him simply because he already thinks he’s so great

No you’re not, King, I promise...

Kieran 

God, it’s really not hard to be the dominant one with him

He’s used to being told what to do, so when he starts noticing his attraction to you, there’s no surprise why

That being said, it’s definitely more of a gentle dominance he finds himself drawn to 

While his general efforts at existing often go unnoticed by most, it’s the praise you give him that really gets him the most in the beginning

Later, that evolves into being praised in the bedroom… But that’s a story for another time *winky face* 

All I have to say… Handjobs 

Also… edge him

Okay bye now for real 

It’s very likely you’ll have to start the relationship off slow, but before you know it, he’ll be wrapped around your finger

That being said, do not abuse this power *insert gun emoji* 

Of course he needs to be bossed around, but it has to be with good intentions 

“Kieran, Sweetie, would you mind taking my horse out today?” And “Kieran, could you please get the washing bins set up for me?” AND “Kieran, would you mind grabbing something for me, babe?” 

The list goes on and on and on... and yet he is happy to do it all for you 

It’s all in the way you whine his name

Because yes, you got him. 

Also, please tease him

While he is a pretty shy about it, he has to admit he loves that the way you poke fun at him makes his heart beat fast

“Aw, Kieran, don’t be shy!” And “You like that, huh?” 

Initiate lots of PDA, since he absolutely loves it but is too shy to do it himself

Kiss him on the cheek, drag him around by the arm, play with his hair, ANYTHING, and he’s putty in your hands

Flash him in public…………....

Praise Jesus

YES, HE IS THE LITTLE SPOON!

Javier

Javier thinks very highly of himself, so meeting and falling for someone dominant is actually very surprising to him

This is partially due to the fact that because he thinks so highly of himself, he’s never visualized his relationship as anything other than with him as the top

Once your relationship takes off, however, he realizes that he actually doesn’t mind being the one who gets taken care of

He is quite spoiled, after all

That being said, he is probably very private about the whole thing, mostly because he’d be the most sensitive about getting teased for being “submissive”

Once the honeymoon phase is over, though, it’s a lot easier to treat him the way you want to 

Wear clothes that belong to him, especially clothes that he likes

Not only does he think this is extremely sexy, but it also means that he has a harder time choosing his own outfits

Plus, he loves a good strip tease… 

Dodge him when he tries to kiss you or cover his lips with your fingers

Then tease him when he thinks you’re done and keeps trying to give you affection

The best way to get him to pay attention to you is by ignoring him 

It’s not as severe or as serious as it with Dutch, but pretending you don’t see him when he’s showing off or talking to you immediately gets you whatever you want

It’s all in good fun, though 

P u l l  h i s  h a i r

ESPECIALLY if you’re trying to get something from/out of him

Highkey, this dude loves cuddles

They’re one of the few things he’s open about begging for

You can tease him for this, but as long as you give in and just… hold him… he’s a very happy boy

 Big fan of spooning but also of just being tangled up with you in any which way… 

It doesn’t matter if he’s laying on you or you’re laying on him

Both are good

Lowkey... do nasty things to him at the campfire

It doesn’t even have to be that nasty, even just putting your hand on his inner thigh or up his shirt is enough to Put Him on High Alert

Pinch him...

Just… pinch him, please. 

He likes it

Despite enjoying your dominance, at the end of the day, he doesn’t mind it if you get a little bratty and demanding sometimes, too 

Especially in the bedroom *winky face*