#best 65 inch tv | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sturnmeovr · 3 months ago

Text

City of Love II - Matt Sturniolo

Part three

Pairings - Matt Sturniolo x fem!Reader Summary - part two of City of Love. Matt makes plans for another dinner-movie night, gifting you a sweet housewarming gift. The sore topic of your previous long-term relationship comes to light, leaving Matt to wonder if you're still stuck on your ex. Warnings - strong language. Fluff!! Angst?? W/c - 2570 A/n - Heyyy lovely readers 🫶🏻 this is part two to City of Love! Let me know what you guys thinks, I will be continuing. Not sure how many parts I'll do yet, but I’ll keep you updated, so stay tuned!! Also, sorry for posting it so late. I had to grocery shopping when I got off work😭 City of Love is based off of this request! ❤️ Check out my masterlist for more of my work! Thank you for reading & interacting! (Dividers and photos are not mine; all credits go to original owners) Tags - @lvrsturniolo (if anyone else wants tagged just let me know!!)

The cool autumn breeze swept through your living room as you sat on the floor, unpacking the few boxes you had. Being a minimalist, you didn’t bring much in the move besides the essentials - dishes, clothes, your bed, bathroom stuff, and a couple random pieces of furniture. You felt like moving to Boston was your calling. A new start. You didn’t want anything in your house that reminded you of the breakup.

It has been more than a few days since your first night here. The night Matt had you pressed against your kitchen counter with his lips on yours. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about it at every given second of the day. You and Matt hadn’t even talked about the kiss. Granted, he’s been over every day since, he hasn’t even made a move on you or mentioned that night in your kitchen. This left you feeling like the kiss wasn’t important to him as it was to you. It was like it didn't exist to him, it never happened. Wrecking your brain trying to figure out whether or not he felt the same connection as you felt, left you mentally exhausted, and it had only been four days.

An exaggerated sigh breaks through your lips, and you try to focus on unpacking. You knew you needed to get this done before Matt was supposed to come over. He texted you last night, asking if he could come over for another dinner-movie night. Even if you didn't know what was going on, you enjoyed his company. Packing all your clutter onto an entertainment stand you picked you last night. The 65-inch tv you purchased, along with other things, sits on top of it. Your house was starting to feel more like a home day by day, and Matt had a lot to do with making it feel that way. Constantly checking on you to see if you needed anything and making it a mission to come over every other day. You were grateful for the company; it made the heartache of leaving your best friend and parents behind a little more bearable. You were still upset over the situation. In a way, you felt like you let your ex-boyfriend get the best of you, running you out of town. Deep down inside, you knew it was different - The City of Love held a special place in your heart. You always had a hankering to find a love like your parents had - dancing in the kitchen, singing in the car, kissing in the rain, real, pure love. That’s what you searched for.

It was almost 5pm by the time you finished unpacking the boxes in your living room. You cleaned up your mess, preparing the room for Matt’s arrival. Even though your house was still bare, you wanted it to be somewhat presentable. Fixating on yourself next, you make your way to your hall bathroom, looking over your appearance. You fix your hair and apply chapstick, in case he had the courage to kiss you again. Probably not, but a girl could only hope. A knock at your front door pulls you from the ‘what ifs’ running rampant in your head.

You rush out of the bathroom, not caring to turn the light off behind you, “coming!’

As soon as you reach the door, you swing it open, revealing a nervous Matt. He had a gift basket with various items in one hand, and a potted aloe plant in the other. You take in the sight of him, standing there with his cheeks red as can be. It made you want to jump in his arms and attack him. “Matt!” you gasp, slapping a hand over your mouth.

He lets out a chuckle, “housewarming gift. I have Italian food on the way too,” he states in a nonchalant tone.

“Come in!” your tone being the complete opposite of his, excited and urgent at the same time. You had a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that Matt took the time to buy you a gift. Whether it was a housewarming gift or not, butterflies fluttered in your stomach knowing he thought about you enough to go through the hassle. You had never gotten a random gift before, only on special occasions. Matt steps inside, taking in the small changes of your living room. A newly added entertainment stand in your foyer and living room, along with a fuzzy rug and flat screen tv. The fuzzy rug being the best purchase, you were tired of your butt going numb from the hardwood floors. You follow his gaze, “my couches are in shipment as we speak. They should be here later this week, but I got a fuzzy rug!” you wiggle your eyebrows at him. You felt proud of how quickly you were adjusting to your new life, you were in a good mood.

Matt lets out a real laugh, “good. I’m tired of my ass being numb every time I get up,” he says, taking the thoughts right out of your head. It was simple things like this that convinced you your connection with Matt was something deeper than the surface. He read your mind almost every time you spoke, and it made you wonder if you had the same effect on him.

Turning your attention back to him, “this is really nice of you, Matt.” You didn’t want to let his thoughtful act go unnoticed. You were extremely grateful for everything he has done for you so far, even if it was just keeping you company and buying you dinner.

He clears his throat as you take the gift basket from him, “I know it's late timing, but in my defense i've never had to buy anyone a welcome gift before. My brother Nick helped me pick most of it out, he knows what girls like,” he rambles on. You stare at him for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next. As flustered as you were, you didn’t want to take the cute gift and potted plant as a romantic gesture. It was a housewarming gift, like he said.

“He’s gay so,” he trails on awkwardly. The unneeded information throws you for a loop, making you scrunch your face together. Realizing it seemed judgmental, you quickly correct yourself, “not like that! Gay people are cool, I just wasn’t expecting you to say that,” letting out a nervous giggle. Matt smiles at you like he understood exactly where you were coming from. He was the type to let his facial expressions do the talking before his mouth did, you guys had this in common - like just about everything else you talked about. You change the subject, redirecting your attention to the gift basket. It was filled with a plushie, a throw blanket, a pair of fuzzy socks, face masks, your favorite candy, and a cinnamon apple scented candle. You smiled, knowing he put together the perfect basket for you. “I didn’t know what candy to get so I got my favorite.”

“Yea, y/f/c is my favorite too,” you confess. You feel redness creeping to your cheeks, inch by inch. “Looks like I’ll have to pick up extra on store runs then, huh?” his comment makes your heart race so fast you feel like it could jump out of your chest and run around the block. “Nobody has given me a gift like this before. I really appreciated it,” you mumble, feeling like you exposed too much.

“Nobody?” he asks, astonishment spewing through his voice like a pot boiling over on high heat, “like, ever?”

You break your focus from the thoughtful gift basket to look at him, “like on birthdays and stuff. Not anything like this though.” You felt like you could be honest with him. When he was around, no judgment was casted on you, or at least that’s how you felt.

He lets an, “oh,” fall from his lips. Immediately cringing at his insensitive response, before he can say anything else there’s a loud knock at the door. You head snaps toward the door, furrowing your eyebrows. The ring doorbell still wasn’t set up, so not knowing who was on the other side made you feel uneasy. “Relax, I ordered dinner, remember?” Matt sounds over your shoulder before he approaches the door, pulling it open to reveal a man who looks identical to him. Your eyes widen at the thought of two Matt’s walking this Earth.

'What in the actual fuck is going on?' you thought to yourself.

“They delivered the food to the house again,” the spitting image of him states, in the same nonchalant tone Matt carries with him all the time. Matt thanks him in a dry tone, grabbing the food, and rudely shutting the door in his face. You watch as he brings the food to the living room, clearly thrown off at his brothers, surprise appearance.

You follow him, deciding to address the elephant in the room, “you’re a twin?”

Matt, on his knees, setting dinner on the rug that’s placed in the middle of the room, lets out dry chuckle, “you really don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Should I? Don’t tell me you’re a part of the mafia,” you joke. The sudden change in his mood made your head spin. You didn’t know which looked sexier, mad Matt or happy Matt. Either way, you were here for all of it.

An amused look spreads across his face, “no, nothing like that,” and he lets out one of those real laughs again. Something about that laugh made you smile bigger than you already were. His smile quickly fades as he picks up your tv remote, “come sit. I’ll show you,” you pop a squat next to him, watching him open the youtube app, and type in ‘The Sturniolo Triplets’

“Triplets?” you ask as he clicks the first video that pops up. Him and two spitting images of him pop up on the screen. You stand up pointing to him on the screen, who was sitting in the driver's seat, “this is you?”

“I'm impressed you can tell which one is me,” a smirk pulling at his lips as he gets up, disappearing from the room. You study the screen while he’s gone. They were definitely triplets alright. You could easily recognize the one from earlier sitting in the passenger seat. The one in the backseat seemed like he was a lot more bubbly than Matt was, being he was already yelling 30 seconds into the video. Matt reappears into the room with plates and silverware in his hands. You look at him, “first off, I can’t believe you never told me this, and second off, I can spot your resting bitch face from a mile away.”

Matt erupts in a fit of laughter, making it impossible to not join. Real tears come out of his eyes as he tries to collect himself, “I do not have a resting bitch face, Y/n.”

You smile at him, taking your seat next to him, “whatever floats your boat, Matthew.” Teasing him had become a hobby for you at this moment. You had a feeling Matt knew you enjoyed it, which was the only reason he’d keep it going. Willingly falling into your trap every time he seen it coming. He loved the playful spirit you had, it reminded him a lot of his mom.

You and Matt eat dinner, watching a couple different videos of theirs. Each video he clicked had millions of views, making you wonder how you never put two and two together. It was clear to you he was a famous youtuber with a large following, and it was crystal fucking clear he had millions of girls swooning over him, yourself included. And that intimidated you.

Little did you know, Matt finding out you had no idea who he was, attracted him to you even more.

You groan, setting your plate down, “I’ll throw up if I eat anymore.”

“Leftovers,” he chokes out with a mouth full of food. You watch him as he points to the take-out container, “too good to throw away.” You nod, taking a mental note from earlier; Italian was his favorite. It was your favorite too, so you knew exactly what to cook when the time came, if it did.

After Matt finishes his food, he turns his attention towards you, “you said earlier nobody has ever given you a gift. I need you to elaborate,” he tells you, almost like he's demanding answers. This whole week, you had found out so much about him and told him so little about yourself. Only agreeing with what you had in common, you knew Matt needed more from you, so you finally decided to let your guard down. “Like I said before, birthdays and special occasions, sure. But not random gifts like that,” you tell him honestly, hoping he’d leave it at that.

“No random gifts? What about valentine's day?” he asks, pressing the topic. You let your eyes meet his, shaking your head in response. “So, you’ve never had a boyfriend before?” his question hits too close to home, making you look away. Nervously biting your lip, “I've had a boyfriend before. I actually just got out of a relationship a few months ago,” telling him matter-of-factly.

Matt quickly turns his head to look at the tv, “damn. How long?” he looks at you again. It’s almost like he had to read your face when he was talking to you, but you understood because you felt the same way about him. You shoot him a questioning look, this time telling him to elaborate. He doesn’t say anything, indicating he wants to know whatever you’re comfortable telling him. “Four months since the breakup, together for three years,” you confess, feeling nauseous even saying it.

Matt raises his eyebrows, and you can tell he’s a bit taken back. “Oh,” is all he says. His eyes drift from you, to the tv, and he scrunches his face, realizing he sounded insensitive much like earlier in the night. “I mean, sounds rough. Four months doesn’t seem like enough time to heal from three years,” he tells you quietly, sticking his foot further in his mouth. He wasn’t wrong; four months wasn’t enough time to heal from a three-year long relationship. Matt being there helped more than either of you knew. For the first time, he didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear, instead he told you what you needed to hear. And you’d be lying if you said it didn’t hurt your feelings.

“Yeah, well, he checked out a long time ago and so did I,” your tone becomes sharp, not wanting to talk about it anymore. You turn back to the tv, showing him you weren’t talking about it any longer, and hoping he’d take the hint. You watch the rest of the car video playing on your tv, and you can’t help but feel a light sense of tension in the air. Humiliation boiled in your gut, knowing you more-than-likely ruined your chances with Matt. He’d never take you seriously, knowing you were fresh out of a long-term relationship. Matt ends up leaving after the video finishes, giving you an awkward hug goodbye, shooting sparks up your spine like he always does when he touches you.

102 notes · View notes

kate-the1975 · 1 year ago

Text

Missy Moo and the Vegas Crew - Matty Healy × Reader

CW: Some inappropriate language. Literally nothing else unless you count dad!matty and cuteness as a warning xx

WC: 2,051 words

A/N: This is my first time posting on here, and I'm not used to this at all, so please be kind, I'm giving it my best shot, hahaha xxx

Finally. Me time.

A solid hour, maybe even two hours, just to myself. To self indulge in a packet of Cadburys Oreo Bites and a glass.....or two, of mine and Matty's favourite bottle of Red Wine.

Being in a hotel room suite wasn't the same as being at home in our shared living room, but it'll do.

Normally, being in Vegas would mean partying, drinking way too much, and maybe renting out a larger than life limo for all of us to get wasted in going from bar to bar and casino to casino....but I guess you could say things are a bit different for us this time around.

I let out a sigh of relief as I plopped down onto the large cream coloured couch in mine and Matty's suite, casting the show I've been waiting for all year round onto the 65 Inch TV.

I couldn't help but kick my feet excitedly like a child when the theme tune of The Great British Bake Off started playing. A childish grin also spreading across my face as I took a lengthy sip of my glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing." Matty's tired voice spoke suddenly, making me jump out of my skin and nearly causing me to spill the wine all over myself and the perfectly cream coloured couch.

I felt like a deer caught in the head lights. I felt like a child being caught doing something that they really weren't supposed to be doing.

I was watching our favourite show....without him. In his eyes, that's the lowest of the lows.

"I- ummm- i-.......sorry." I gave him an apologetic smile while shoving 3 small Oreo Bites from the bag of sweets into my mouth.

"Yeah, right! You're not sorry! Why were you going to watch it without me!" He pouted, his muscles flexing as he crossed his arms over his naked torso.

My eyes, obviously, travelling over every inch of his perfectly sculpted body.

I gulped loudly, my mouth going dry from the effect he has on me. After 8 years together, he still has such an effect on me, which is slightly pathetic.

"I'm sorry baby! I haven't had a second to myself all day, and tomorrow you guys are playing the festival and that's another day gone by where I don't have a second to breathe. I was just being really selfish, I'm sorry." I explained, pausing the TV and getting up off the couch to embrace him.

As I shuffled over to him with my fluffy socked covered feet, I could see his eyes scan over my appearance.

To me, I was at my worst. Wearing his oversized navy Nike jumper and a pair of pyjama shorts underneath with my hair up in a clip, my skin breaking out like crazy even though I am 32 year old woman, but to him I was at my very best.

"You're actually to fucking cute, Y/N." He chuckled as he brought me into his embrace, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist and his face in the crook of my neck, while I rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in his natural scent and running my nails up and down his back lightly.

"And you're too handsome Healy." I giggled quietly, placing a gentle kiss on his temple.

We just stood there like this for a few minutes, taking in each others presence for what feels like the first time today.

"Can I tell you something, Gorgeous?" He whispered against my neck, placing a gentle kiss on my collarbone when he stopped speaking.

"Anything, my love. Anything you want, I'm all ears." I smiled, scratching the hairs at the nape of his neck. Letting out a a slightly high pitched breath as he began to suck slowly on my collarbone.

"You smell like baby powder."

Is he being for fucking real?

"Healy, go and shite!!" I laughed loudly, pushing him away from me as he also laughed hysterically.

"What! You do! It's not a bad thing, just thought you should know." He kept laughing, leaning forward with a hand on his stomach.

"Alright, alright! Whatever! Now, are you going to get yourself a glass of wine or what? Because if you don't get your arse in gear, you can go back into the bedroom and I'll watch Bake Off without you. I don't care." I teased, playing with the strings of his grey joggers as I held in a laugh, knowing how he'd react to such a statement.

"Fuck! Go sit down, I'll be two minutes max, baby. Don't start without me!"

He wasn't joking. He practically skidded across the marble tiled floor to reach the wine, nearly falling flat on his face.

He grabbed a packet of Doritos from the snack box quickly as well, and then there he was.

Sprawled out beside me with his legs over the arm of the sofa, glass of wine resting on his stomach, and his head in my lap facing the TV with eyes glimmering with excitement for the new season.

"Ah, look! Didn't know I was on this season of Bake Off." He commented as someone named Matty appeared on the screen. His facial expression showed that he was clearly proud of himself for such a joke as he smugly took a sip of his wine.

"Wow, that was a good one, babe." I laughed, even though it was terrible, but it made me laugh nonetheless.

The more the show went on the more he got into it.

He gets more and more into it every year, and I find it to be one of the sweetest things about him. He gets invested in everything I'm invested in on purpose.

"Jesus, fair fucks to Dan. I couldn't make a cake like that." He sat up straight, leaning forward and staring at the chocolate fudge cake that one of the bakers had made in complete awe.

"Yeah, he's a good one. I really like Abbi and Cristy, though. They're really strong bakers. Oh! And I love Allison Hammond being on it now."

We did our own commentary through the whole show. Both me and Matty nearly wetting ourselves laughing over someone making a lobster cake.

As the first episode came to an end, it was announced that Dan, definitely Matty's favourite for the moment, was Star Baker.

"Yeah! Fucking come on! I'll bet fifteen quid on it that he's this years winner." He rubbed his hands together enthusiastically, turning his body to face me.

"Matt, sweetheart, it's literally one episode in. He could be shite next week."

"Sssshhh, don't say that! Dan is such a lad, he has this season in the bag!" He shushed me, placing a finger over my mouth as he tutted in disapproval.

"Daddy, who's Dan?" A small voice yawned from the corner of the room where the door to our bedroom was. Confused as to what was going on in her sleepy state.

"Rosie? Sweetie, what are you doing up?" Matty cooed as he got up quickly to go over to our three year old daughter, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her over to the couch me and Matty were sitting on.

"Couldn't sleep. Missed Mummy and Daddy." She whined quietly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with her small fists.

"Aww, we missed you too, baby girl. Do you have your blankie?" I smiled sweetly with loving eyes at our daughter, rubbing her cheek that wasn't against her dad's shoulder with my index finger.

"No, Uncle Ross has it." She whimpered with sudden sadness at the realisation that the reason she couldn't sleep was because she didn't have her baby blanket tucked up beside her.

Ross probably still had it in his carry on bag after it fell out of her hand while she was asleep in my arms as we were getting off the plane early this afternoon. He picked it up in an instant knowing his mini best friend would be distraught without it.

"Uh oh! We'll have to do something about that, won't we angel?" Matty spoke gently to her as he matted down her messy brown curls with the palm of his hand.

"Mammy's on it! I'll ring Uncle Ross, and he'll have your blankie here in no time, baby." I placed a kiss on her cheek before heading into the bedroom to get my phone off of my nightstand.

He answered the phone in seconds, apologising for not giving it to me or Matty earlier, and promising he'd be there in minutes.

"All done, my love!! Your special delivery is on its way." I reassured her as I sat back down beside Rosie and Matty.

She didn't reply, and I could see the way her eyes fluttered that she was close to falling back asleep in her dad's arms.

Rosie was 100% identical to her dad. From the brown curls to her witty personality and she even had the same freckle/birthmark on her left cheek like Matty.

The amount of love I felt in my heart for my sweet girl was overwhelming, and her looking exactly like the love of my life made my heart burst at the sight of her even more.

"Is she asleep?" Matty whispered as his eyes focused to the right of him where I was, but keeping his head resting on top of Rosie's.

Before I could answer his question, Rosie answered it for me.

"No, no, Daddy. I need to see Uncle Ross first." She protested, but the sleepy drool that was escaping the side of her mouth and onto Matty's bare shoulder said otherwise.

"Is that -"

"Drool? Yeah, she's drooling." I finished Matty's sentence, clasping a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing at my daughter's sleepy state.

"It's okay. Only when it's my princess, though, isn't that right, RoRo?" He murmured against her forehead.

It took all the effort in the world and in her little body to nod her head yes, rubbing her head slightly aggressively against Matty's shoulder to try and cuddle into his embrace deeper.

She clearly began to become uncomfortable while trying to wait for Ross to return her blankie, and she was a fidgeting and crying mess.

Clearly, sleep deprived and feeling super uncomfortable because of it.

"Ssshhh, it's okay. Don't cry, baby. Uncle Ross will be here soon, I promise. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Matty tried his best to lull her back into some kind of comfort, but there was no hope.

The only thing that stopped her from letting out a large sob was the very musical sounding knock on the door, which I'm assuming must be Ross.

I was quick to get to the door, not wasting a second longer that could be a second that my daughter spent with her blanket.

"Ross, thank god you're- oh....hi, what are you guys doing here?"

Ross stood right in front as George, Adam, and Charli stood behind him, all of them in their comfy attire and wearing sleepy smiles.

"Well, we thought we'd have a bit of a sleepover until Missy Moo gets back to sleep." Ross spoke innocently, a wide smile spreading across his face as he tried to get a good look into the room and spot Rosie.

"Oh, and Matty texted George saying you were watching the Great British Bake Off, and if you think I'm missing out on watching it, you are so wrong." Charli piped in.

I was quick to welcome them in and Rosie was more than happy to see her uncles and her aunt Charli walking into the room to spend time with her.

I didn't bother to explain me and Matty had already finished the episode. I just replayed it without arguing, finding it funny how a bunch of grown men could be so obsessed with a baking show.

I glanced over to my left to see Rosie now fast asleep, her face smushed up against Matty's shoulder that was covered by her blankie, and her right hand holding onto mattys left index and middle finger loosely.

Was this like any normal trip to Vegas that we were all used to?

No.

Did I get to have an hour of peace and quiet to just myself?

No.

But would I change any of this for a moment of silence and selfishness.

You bet your arse I could never do such a thing.

#matty healy #the 1975 #matty healy fanfiction #matty healy x reader #matty 1975 #matty healy fluff #dad!matty #matty healy! dad #ross macdonald #adam hann #george daniel #matty healy fanfic #matty healy x you #matty healy x y/n #matty healy oneshot #matty healy imagine

145 notes · View notes

chatsurie · 1 year ago

Text

Children know

part two to Her little light

It was their last breakfast together.

Obviously not the last last, but the last during which he would still live at home.

It was a weird feeling. His room was jarringly empty and void of all the little knick knacks that had accumulated over time. The Ps4, Ran had gifted him on his birthday, was already over at his new flat that was just in walking distance to the Campus. The same was the case for the 65 inch TV Sanzu had given him on Christmas a few years back.

All of his books had also been neatly stacked into the new bookshelves in his new living room and office room.

He was a spoiled college student wasn't he? After all his father, one of the richest men in Tokyo was paying for everything and had wanted him to have only the best of the best.

The last few weeks his Dad and him had talked all about the program he had enrolled in, the parties he could go to, Dad had teased him about all the women he could finally bring over without his mothers disapproving glare, all the vacations he could take without having to fight with his mother over them.

And yet there was this weird gnawing feeling in his chest at the thought of leaving his mother behind in this loft.

If he thought about it rationally, his parents seemed made for each other. They were loving, his Dad brought gifts nearly every week, Mom never forgot an anniversary, He could remember maybe two times the two had fought with each other and that was at least 6 and 12 years ago respectively. He didn't know for sure what the fight had been about he only knew that that had been the summer he had finally been allowed to enrol into an exchange program at a boarding school in England, so he had always thought that that had probably been the fights topic and that his Dad had simply been able to sway her.

The idea of the exchange program had come from his Dad back when he was 7. It had been a teasing jab he had made during breakfast when the energy in the kitchen had felt just a bit too stifling for everything to be right. Thinking about it now, his mothers reaction at the joke, because that's what it must have been, had been a bit too frenzied, for Kiro to ever forget.

Even now he could see his mother stopping dead at the sink, turning around to his father white as a ghost. He could even remember that her eyes had seemed just a bit glassy. His father on the other hand had just laughed and ruffled his hair.

“He's much too young for that. Don't take everything I say at face value, dear.” He had simply said before proceeding to drink his coffee.

After that the energy around the table had completely lifted back into the normal mornings that Kiro was used to. Teasing and light hearted. His mother cracking a joke or two, sitting next to his father while massaging his hand.

Sometimes he wondered if he had made the stifling energy up, back when he was a kid to explain away his mothers reaction.

“I know Hajime teases you about all the parties you could go to, now that you've moved out, but I want you to do some real studying, okay!?”

His mothers voice brought Kiro back into the presence.

“I promise, Mom.” He told her with a grin that made his mother sigh.

He didn't think that she really wanted him to move out, but what Mother did.

“I'll be fine, I'll make you proud. Don't you worry.” He said while getting up and pulling her into a hug.

“Show your face around here from time to time, alright?” She mumbled into his chest, while pulling him all the closer. “Goodness. How have you grown so much. You know I would do anything for you, right? If you have any problems, you know you need only call. And your room will always be available for you. I won't change a thing in there.”

“Let the poor boy breathe, dear. Our Kiro is growing into a fine man. Moving out is simply another milestone.”

Yeah, Kiro decided. The queasy feeling in his chest didn't make sense. The way his mother seemed to tense up just the slightest bit, whenever his Dad was around just didn't make sense. There hadn't even been a time that Dad had raised his voice towards her. Much less struck her.

So why did it seem that his mother had this undying revulsion for the man he was allowed to call father after Koko had adopted him at six? As far as he could tell, Koko was the man that had stepped up. He had been the one to take them out of their screeching flat into this loft right in the heart of Tokyo. Koko had been the one who had made it possible for Kiro to attend all the best schools, wear the best clothes. Koko was the reason for his mother to be able to retire from her work and be a housewife.

Even when he was young and it had just been him and Mom he had always known that she hated her job. Even though she had hid it nearly perfectly, he had been able to pick up on the exhaustion. Mom always joked about how in tune with everyone's emotions he was. It was probably the reason he had decided on studying psychology. Because making sense of a person and helping them just came naturally.

Dad sometimes joked that he came after Mom in that regard. He had once told her that she had always dreamed of studying psychology but it simply hadn't been in the cards for her.

So it made even less sense, that he just couldn't understand his mothers feelings towards his father.

When he thought about Koko, he was probably what every father and husband wished to be and what every child and wife wanted to have.

He was attentive, devoted, he showered them both in gifts, he wasn't afraid to hug his son and show vulnerability when needed, he was also a strong rock, who always had a solution for the problems the family went through, he always spoke softly with his wife, always listening to her complaints and solving those that he could.

And yet, he had never seen his mother lean on him for more than she had to.

Yes. At first glance they seemed perfect for each other.

She was gentle with him, always seemed to lean into his embraces, greeted him with a kiss and dinner, when he came back from a hard day at work, surprised him with special evenings just for the two of them, heck after 13 years of marriage they simply seemed to have a stellar marriage.

They rarely even seemed to disagree on things and when they did, Mom and Dad would most often come to a compromise.

Although Kiro did think that his Dad got his way more often, but he had also always just equated that to his mothers love for her husband and her wish to see him happy.

Now, as he felt her slowly loosen her muscles underneath his embrace he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that he had been misconstrued horrifically. Because if there was one thing he had always felt rolling of his mother in waves, threatening to someday drown her, wasn't love.

It was pure unadulterated fear.

He could just never understand where it came from.

#Koko x reader #tokyo revengers #anime and manga #trying to make sense out of the parents relationship #yandere kokonoi

35 notes · View notes

madsims4finds · 9 months ago

Text

Okay. So we got 4 life sim games in the works and I’m going to give my opinion on each one so far. Starting with the one I’m looking forward to the most. This is a LONG ASS Post. Get a snack if you’re interested in reading lol.

1. Paralives

Paralives is the game I’m the most excited about. Since they started sharing their work on the game, it’s looked great. From the character models to how the world looks. The improvements they’ve made have only made the game look even better. You can tell they are taking their time and staying in their own lane. Compared to some of the other competitors, the Paralives team doesn’t seem to have the mission of taking down the sims. They just want to make a good game, and I appreciate that. The ironic part is, even though they’re not trying, they’re the closest to a Sims killer in my opinion. I love the look of the characters. I love how they interact with the environment in such detail. They’ve truly taken animation to another level. Watching the footage of a proposal both gone right and gone wrong, and how that animation just looks more real compared to anything we’ve seen in the sims, was awesome for me. I guess we have to be fair and say that the sims has always come from a silly angle. But it’s just nice to have some realism in a life sim. Like I’m sure our paras won’t die from laughter or embarrassment. I get some players may like that, but I’m kinda too grown for that lol. So I want a life sim that takes things a bit more seriously and it seems like Paralives is following that. Like I don’t know if they’ll have this, but I’m the type to want my sim to possibly die from a mysterious illness, not laughter. They also take interactions to the next level. They released footage of selecting 4 paras to go use the bathroom and they did something I’ve been begging for. My biggest issue with the sims is that it feels like you have too much control or not enough. Say you wanted to recreate that moment in the sims, not only do you have to direct each sim one by one, but as soon as one person is on the toilet, the sim will wave and shrug and then walk away. Since there is already a sim blocking them from their immediate action, they’ll just drop the action entirely and then end up peeing on themselves somewhere. In Paralives, they all crowd around the bathroom door, socializing, and taking turns to use the toilet. Like real people! That’s what’s been missing and I’m so excited to see how much more fun it’s gonna be to actually play a life sim that adds this level of realism and detail.

2. InZoi

InZoi is an interesting case. In all honesty, I’m excited about it, but it’s giving a little too good to be true. I mean it looks out of this world amazing. The interactions and animations are even better and more detailed than Paralives. I was worried about being able to make Zois look the way I want but they have one of the best character creators I think I’ve ever seen. And you want to talk about realism?! The graphics are insane and more along the lines of most modern day RPGs like GTA or Cyberpunk 2077. Not too surprising since the dev for InZoi did say they’re using unreal engine. Which is why I wonder if this will be available on consoles. It genuinely looks more like a console game than Paralives or Life By You. And I think that is why the dev made a point to say something like driving in the game is not like driving in GTA. But with the way it looks, I would want to play it on my ps5 and my big 65 inch tv. It just looks like a world to get lost in at ground level, where you’re more part of the action and not so much playing from above like a god in control. I think the fact that they even have difficulty settings for the game backs up my point. We’ve never experienced “easy” or “hard” modes in life sim games, so that’s definitely a big deviation. It also feels like the game will be a lot less about building and a lot more about living. The world doesn’t seem like it can be edited very much, aside from maybe where your Zois live. Some people may not like that. But if you play specifically for live mode then you won’t care too much. It also seems to be geared more toward city living than living in the suburbs. I’m seeing a lot of apartments versus homes. So I’m not sure how many options we’ll have there. On the flip side of that, it’s really cool to be able to control the weather, whatever trees or billboards are in the city, what animals spawn, even changing the crime rate and possibility of fires?! That’s pretty cool and realistic. They did something really unique with the ability to sleep walk. I love that. I love seeing a kid sleepily walking into their parents room to get in their parent’s bed. Too cute. Hilarious that you could donate all your money in your sleep too. I’m just loving how these devs are differentiating themselves from the Sims. However, there is also the question of how live mode actually works. It seems like the dev wants to have some kind of story or maybe quest system. Some type of actual goal or scripted experiences, which is another big deviation from most life sims. He mentioned working for a specific company, but we’ve also seen Zoi’s working at coffee shops, so it’ll be interesting to see what options are available for what our Zoi’s do for a living. Clearly there is family play, but we’ve only seen kids, not babies or toddlers. Or even elders when I think about it. But they’re still working on the game so I’m sure we’ll learn more eventually. But, like I said it all feels too good to be true. If they do come out with the character creator demo then I’ll have a bit more faith. I get that people have had early access to it and played it but even they are saying the game looks completely different now from what they had their hands on. So, I’m still a little hesitant. That’s all. Hoping for the best with this one though, and a console version lol.

3. Life By You

Honestly the one I’m least excited about. And yet they’re the closest ones to release. The game just looks bad frankly. I understand that people like to say that gameplay is what matters. But to me, in a life sim, if it doesn’t look good, if my characters don’t look good, I’m disinterested. Aesthetics are important. That’s the ONE thing that I love about the Sims 4. How the sims look and how the environment looks has always been my fave out of all the sims games. And while InZoi looks like this huge and immersive, console type open world, and Paralives is giving a more stylistic version of Sims 4, Life By You is giving a small miniaturized set. I don’t know about you, but gameplay looks…tiny? Like the proportions of everything just seems really off. It reminds me of a mobile game. You can zoom in fairly close but I feel like if the “human” stands in front of their fridge, it’ll be the same height as them. Granted that’s not actually the case but it just feels like all the assets are one size. Cars look small, bikes look small. Someone was skateboarding in the clip and I could barely see the skateboard. The world just looks and feels small. But speaking of gameplay, the world feels so empty. And this is what worries me the most. For both Paralives and InZoi, we see clips of people roaming around the world. Interacting with each other. Sitting at cafes and what have you. But Life By You? We’ve seen so much footage of walking to the beach or through a neighborhood and there’s literally no one else around. No one jogging. No one working in their gardens. We’ve gone to the gym, no one else in the gym. We’ve gone to the grocery store, no one there either. Don’t really see any other cars on the road when you’re traveling. No people swimming or sun bathing at the beach. I mean great, there’s no loading screens, great there’s no rabbit holes, but the world is literally empty. Nor does it seem like there’s very much to actually do. After all we keep seeing them showcase the same activities over and over. People go to the beach but don’t change into swimsuits or get in the water. Walk by parks but there’s no one there. We haven’t seen kids. Like there’s a lot that just seems to be missing.

And then there’s the technical. Apart from it just not looking good aesthetically, the animations need major work. And I’m really over things disappearing into thin air, or characters untying a bow without actually touching it. We need details! That’s what makes a game feel realistic. The create a character looks atrocious and the “humans” themselves just don’t look attractive. The UI looks extremely cluttered and hard to understand at times. All this and this game is supposed to be coming out next month 👀👀👀. Yes in early access, but it doesn’t even look cooked enough to justify early access to me. And the fact that they seem to be targeting certain sims reviewers to promote the game to their audiences,ugh I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about Life By You. They’ve been trying to create all this hype around something that genuinely doesn’t look that impressive. And if it weren’t for InZoi and Paralives, maybe I would be more excited. But now that ive seen the possibilities, Life By You just isn’t cutting it. Ironic part for me is this game feels the most like the sims. Not too surprising since it’s headed by one of the creators of the original sims games. Mostly sims 2 I believe. And that’s kind of the problem. I think he thinks he’s doing something different. But it feels very familiar. It feels like his focus was for you to make the game that you want. What he calls “modding” is really just in depth customization. Which yes, that is missing from the sims, but that’s not enough for people to choose Life By You over these other games. Cool they speak English and we can create our own dialogue branches. Cool, that traits are so customizable and I can create a “human” (I wish they would have came up with something clever to call them) with the exact personality I want. Cool that humans actually have to pay money for clothing and accessories. These all feel like details that are missing from the sims and Life By You is coming to fill that void. But what about everything else? I just get the feeling that this is going to be one of those tragic type launches. But I hope the game is good enough for them to turn things around.

4. Sims 5/Project Rene

Honestly, I’m not even interested.

What? Sorry. Lmao.

#ts4 #ts5 #Paralives #InZoi #project rene #my thoughts

6 notes · View notes

touchstonehomeproducts · 1 year ago

Text

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRESALE -- NEW! The Touchstone Sideline® Fury Smart Electric Fireplace Collection offers more sizes and features for your customers. Available in 46-inch, 57-inch and 65-inch widths, this easy-to-install collection is precisely designed to complement best selling TV sizes. Amazon Alexa® and Google Home® ready.

See All the Features: https://bit.ly/4arrAyu

#home decor #electric fireplace #diy home projects #touchstone electric fireplaces #interior design #home improvement #home remodeling #interior decorating #diy projects #smarthometechnology #smart home devices #amazon alexa #google home

2 notes · View notes

nickgerlich · 1 year ago

Text

Ready, Set, Shop

Remember when Black Friday signified the beginning of the Christmas shopping season? Yeah, I do, but it is fading fast. There is little reason to camp out overnight at Best Buy these days when all the good sales are done and over with six weeks earlier.

Like what is going to happen starting real soon, a mirror of how the most aggressive (maybe I should say scared) retailers approach the first week of October. The leaves haven’t started turning, much lass fallen, and here they are going for the end zone on the first play of the game.

Once again, Target, Walmart and Best Buy will be dueling it out with Amazon. Target’s blitz starts 1st October, with Walmart on the 9th, Amazon on the 10th, and Best Buy also the same day. If there is an upside, at least you won’t have to wear a winter coat.

But if anything, these early sales once more tell us just how nervous retailers are with the current economy. In a recent blog we looked at holiday sales predictions, which, after accounting for inflation, are flat. It’s just that holiday retailing has started to mimic the old line about voting in Chicago: Vote early, and vote often.

And if we start shopping early, there is hope that we may shop often as well. A retailer can dream, right? Actually, Target is offering a deep discount item every day until Christmas Eve. And Best Buy is offering a $50 reward certificate to be used in December if you spend $500 in October.

But I am already seeing signs of pre-holiday Christmas pricing to try to lure people in. This week at the local Walmart I noticed their house brand 65” TV model for $368. I know, it’s a private label and not rated as highly as a Vizio or Samsung, but good grief, that is cheap. My first 55” TV cost about $1200. Today, they have almost become an impulse purchase.

“Honey, what do you think about getting a big screen for the kids’ room?”

It is in setting patterns like this that consumers will quickly learn that they can cherry pick, because there will almost certainly be recurring sales events every week until Christmas. Adding six weeks to the shopping season may be ridiculous at some level, but then again, it also makes it open season for shoppers. If people are willing to sit tight and make retailers even more nervous, there might be even better deals down the road, and without freezing off your nether regions camping on the sidewalk.

Not surprisingly, I wrote about this last year for my students. I also pointed out my reciprocity rule: One gift for you, one for me. To be honest, I could have been lazy and just dusted off that blog and reposted it, because I said pretty much the same things I am saying here.

I know. It’s not like the six-week lead time happened all at once. Holiday shopping has been inching longer and longer for about a decade. Initially it spread into early November, then late October. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Amazon or the others launching a Christmas-in-September sale next year.

It is when there are economic uncertainties that retailers are the most nervous. The lore is that 40% of a retailers’ sales comes in the six weeks preceding Christmas. This will have to be revised to 12 weeks now I suppose, but it does underscore just how important the holiday season is. Fail here, and you fail the entire year.

There is also the sobering fact that in our consumer-driven economy, we have almost completely lost sight of any religious significance. That is a blog for another day and worth exploring, even without dipping my feet into the pond of any specific religion. When Santa is the reason for the season, you know we have gone a little bit off the rails. It’s like none of the religious super heroes can hold a candle to the man with the white beard.

If I were you, I’d start watching all the sales announcements that will drop in the next week. There might be some great bargains to scoop up, either for your loved ones, or yourself. Reciprocity, you know.

Besides, it’s easy to justify spending money on yourself when it’s on sale. And why wait until Black Friday to venture out? It’s too cold then anyway.

Dr “Ho Ho Ho!” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #retail #Christmas #shopping

3 notes · View notes