#but I'm sure I would have just ended up being unsatisfied with what I had written!!

[blueepink07]

Yuno: her struggling relationship with autonomy

(character analysis)

One aspect I have always loved about media characters is their attempt to be perceived as mature, despite their young age. Some succeed, others struggle to hide what they see as their childish side.

Yuno is no different in this context and I'm surprised that people don't talk about it enough.

Beginning with her age 18, it's truly a controversial age, if I may say. It's a confusing age, because you are technically considered an adult, but, at the same time, your mind is not fully developed to actually be one. In the end, you are still a child at heart and mind, despite the fact that you are legally an adult.

We don't know much of her home life and honestly I don't think it would do any good for me to make assumptions, since it's pointless in the long run and it would just lose credibility. However, one thing it's for sure based on Yuno's actions. She desires autonomy.

Yuno: Despite that, you arbitrarily assumed things about me and sympathized with me. Even though all I did was make a rational decision of my own free will.

I'm the one who chose, let you and you and you all in ~🎵

She highlights quite a lot with these phrases… She chose for herself, she is an adult who willingly decided to partake in compensated dating. Being called naive or innocent, two words that usually are used to describe little children, surely infuriated her… and she shows it.

It's funny now that I think about it. Fuuta also has the same problem, but his reactions are more childish, in the end, not doing him any justice. However, Yuno is no different. Of course, she does it in a more subtle manner, but she really does get worked up quite a lot when it comes to her being perceived more as a teenager than an adult. Her whole song it's literally about this idea. Yuno being infuriated that she is infantilized by the audience, making a sad backstory for her so they can dismiss the idea that there wasn't necessarily a big factor that provoked her to partake in compensated dating, but it's only her own free will.

I might add that the compensated dating itself is a way for Yuno to feel that she has more autonomy and she no longer needs to be treated as a child.

"An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth.[1] The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction." ~ wikipedia

Moreover, even the media promotes the fact that sexual content should strictly be watched by adults. And Yuno does end up having sex during some of these dates…

And if this idea isn't convincing enough… I think that Yuno likes to partake in compensated dating, because she knows the clients don't consider her a child. They are interested in her, in a way that makes Yuno feel satisfied with herself (at least, for a short period of time, when she is in their presence) she feels grown up and mature. She also receives money for her services, providing her with enough financial resources for Yuno to consider that she finally managed to complete one of the first steps of adulthood, to be financially stable.

Doing something that is not really socially accepted, again, can be considered as autonomy, because you do not follow the same rules that the society obligs. Yuno knows how compensated dating is perceived, but she still does it, because she thinks this action provides her "warmth".

The "warmth" that Yuno speaks about is a vague term to describe her desires. Based on her interactions, I would like to think that this term refers to genuineness and mutual understanding. Yuno, in the first VD, describes the society as being a place where "everyone eats each other". People need to point fingers at others who made a mistake, who did something that's not socially accepted to make themselves feel better.

Yuno: That’s right. You know those people who just wanna convince themselves, so they intrude in other people’s affairs even though it’s not their place—I despise them. That’s what I was saying. They only do that to make themselves feel better, don’t they? Those people don’t actually end up doing anything.

And you know what is interesting? The fact that Yuno finds more closure being in the company of some murderers. Why? Because they can also be considered some outcasts of the society that she pretty much dislikes.

Es: However, it also explains why you’ve given up. About yourself, human beings, even the whole of society, you’ve realised everything—that’s why your expression is so cold.

Teenagers usually have little power in our society. They can achieve great things, but have to go through more hardships due to the limited freedom. They need an adult to actually help them. That’s just how society is built.

Yuno's distaste for the society can explain why she has grown so fast, or, at least, thinks that she has matured enough. She was tired of the society inflicting on her rules that she, as a simple teenager, had to oblige. So, going into Milgram, starting to hear people crafting a sob backstory for Yuno, treating her like a child, despite the fact she has already done a few steps in order to sustain herself financially and emotionally as a young adult, it's truly insulting.

Es: This is just popular belief, but the law is also something the people have decided. There’s nothing, which can satisfy every single human being, now is there?

Yuno: That’s right.

However, even after all these, that doesn't mean she doesn't actually struggle with this new found autonomy that she craves.

I actually think that this autonomy is the cause of most of her suffering.

As I stated before, compensated dating is something that she decided to partake in, in order to prove her independence. She thinks that what she has chosen for herself is healing, helping her. But, if it's that the case, then why do we have these scenes?

It's difficult to admit that one of your decisions was actually… Quite wrong. Especially, when it's one of your first one's as an official adult, in the very first stage of your life when you finally have enough independence.

“Cognitive dissonance is what we feel when the self-concept — I’m smart, I’m kind, I’m convinced this belief is true — is threatened by evidence that we did something that wasn’t smart, that we did something that hurt another person, that the belief isn’t true,” said Carol Tavris, a co-author of the book “Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me).”

She added that cognitive dissonance threatened our sense of self.

To reduce dissonance, we have to modify the self-concept or accept the evidence,” Ms. Tavris said. “Guess which route people prefer?”

So which one does Yuno prefer? To convince herself that what she is doing makes her happy.

Yuno: Despite that, you arbitrarily assumed things about me and sympathized with me. Even though all I did was make a rational decision of my own free will.

Yuno: I’m not pitiable. My family gets along super well. And I’m not particularly struggling for money. I decided, of my own free will, to do it because I felt that it was necessary for me.

Sometimes, considering how many times she mentions it, for me it feels like Yuno tries to convince herself that what she is doing is good for her.

But you know what is funny to me?

She is good at making herself enjoyable for others as well as giving somewhat good advice:

Mahiru: My birthday…… the day I was born……But was there really any reason for me being born? Lately I’ve started to wonder that. Do you ever think about stuff like that, Yuno-chan?

Yuno: Eh? Not really. I mean, Mahiru-san, you’re really the romantic type, right? Not that I have anything against that. But isn’t it a bit much to think that everything in life has a meaning? If it makes you happy to think like that then go ahead, but if it doesn’t, then isn’t that in itself meaningless?

Mahiru: : ……you might be right. I’ve always just lived my life like this, so I don’t really know.

Yuno: We’ve all just gone through a bunch of things in life that happened to lead us here. It’s nothing more than a coincidence. Definitely not fate or anything. Probably. Even if there isn’t a meaning, you can still be happy that it’s your birthday. That sort of thing’s all you need in life really. So happy birthday, Mahiru-san.

Mahiru: ……no, I’m fine. As long as I don’t move too much I don’t even feel any pain. Sorry for making you worry.

Yuno: Oh, really? That’s good then. Mahiru-san, if there’s anything you want then just ask. It’s not like it’s a huge burden, I can just ask for it along with my own stuff.

Mahiru: Ok…… I’m fine for now. Sorry, for making you worry. Ah, Yuno-chan…… Today’s your birthday, right? Happy birthday.

Yuno: …Haha, thanks. Thank you, but y’know. Is it really ok for you to be saying that to me when you’re in that situation?... you really aren’t suited for Milgram, huh, Mahiru-san.

Amane: What is it… Kashiki Yuno. Don’t sit so close to me. Go away.

Yuno: Sorry for barging in when you’re getting into your worldview thing. But Mahiru-san’s finally managed to get to sleep. Humour me with some small talk while I take a break. By the way, Amane. Have you ever wished you were never born? I’ve thankfully lived a pretty fun life so far, so haven’t really. But you seem to be struggling with something. So I kinda wondered if you thought like that.

Amane: ……I don’t think that. Being born into this world is the first miracle any person experiences, and is something to celebrate. Even if after birth I was put through trial after trial, the value of that will never disappear.

Yuno: Hmm. Ok…happy birthday, then. It’s good that you were brought into the world, I guess.

But Yuno has a big, and I mean a BIG tendency to self-destruct, not intentionally.

Wanting to be independent comes with its own downfalls. At the beginning of the trial, Jackalope states that Yuno has distanced herself from social interactions. So much so, that we have never seen her actually confiding to someone else, in any of the portal timeline translations. She might have her reasons, either minimizing her problems, and using her energy to help the ones she deems to have worse than her, or, this is simply her nature to bottle up her own sadness. This again might also be the cause of her wanting autonomy and proving to herself and others that she is mature enough to manage her emotions.

Not confiding in someone else for a long time can cause depression. Something that Yuno might be struggling with during trial 3 or she is already struggling with it a bit.

Furthermore, it's interesting that Yuno admits disliking behaviors that she deems childish. For example, she doesn't like the way Haruka and Muu behave, because they are ignorant of the problems in prison and have a really childish way of thinking. Amane's hate towards Shidou, might be often wrongly interpreted as a simple child's tantrum. Kotoko's actions, responding with violence to violence, it's again, an aspect often deemed as childish and immature.

Yuno: Really? If you ask me, Kotoko is someone I would never want to make my friend, though. She’s the type who picks a conclusion from the very beginning and won’t actually talk with you.

Yuno: Well, I guess it’s arbitrary who one gets along with. But Mahiru-san in particular is something. I think both her body and mind are at their limits. Also, Mikoto-san was also attacked but apparently it ended up in something of a draw. That guy was strong, huh—how unexpected. Also Haruka and Muu-chan have become kind of bothersome. And additionally, Amane-chan and Shidou-san too, huh.

Lastly, her second MV also shows her desire of autonomy in Milgram, not only through lyrics, but through visuals too.

Beginning with her door, it looks a lot like a medieval castle door.

Her room, the way it is designed, especially the bed and the chair, also resemble a princess' room.

However:

Despite the important role that princesses played in courtly life, they had limited personal freedom. They were often kept under close guard and were rarely allowed to leave the palace or castle where they lived. This was done to protect them from danger and to prevent them from engaging in political activities that might undermine the authority of the king or prince.

Medieval princesses had little to no autonomy most of the time. Their life was dictated from the start, having the only purpose to be betrothed and give birth to children.

That’s why the design choice is intentional. Yuno feels like a princess trapped in her pretty room (the MV is quite claustrophobic, the only outside elements being a few memories), exposed to the world (the many windows imply this), the voices that keep demonizing her.

That’s why the scene where she starts breaking things in her room is so important. It serves as a sign of rebellion, to show that she is not the perfect, helpless princess that people like to portray her as. She is an adult who makes bad or good decisions, who thinks for herself. She is proud of her autonomy and is tired of constantly proving to others that she is not capable of taking care of herself.

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls in your Area 9

masterpost

“Good morning!”

Jason winced and moved the phone a little further from his face. “Is this Doctor Fenton?” 

“It's one of them! What can I do ya for?” Jack Fenton boomed, just as bombastic as his newsletter made him seem. Jason knew, deep in his heart, that Jack Fenton was indeed the one who had selected green neon bold for his headings and borders. 

Angels wept. Jason scrubbed his palm over his eye. This man had no poetry in his soul. “I, uh, had some questions about a ghost. I've read some of your articles and your most recent published paper on the topic.”

“We love ghosts!” Fenton bellowed. “Ask away!”

“Do you know a ghost called Phantom?” Jason tried.

“...Sure do,” Jack Fenton said. “Whatcha need?” 

Jason cleared his throat. “It's somewhat complicated,” he said evasively, because he didn't need these people to know he was the Red Hood. Fuck. He should have either gotten his helmet stored away or not given his real name. Phantom knew his face and that his name was Jason. Any information that got around via Phantom might tie his face to his alter ego. If Phantom said he got married to Jason, the Red Hood, that could lead to the end of the Bat family vigilantism.

“...He cause you trouble, sport?”

Jason let out a slight laugh. “You could say that, though it wasn't really his fault,” he admitted. He cast a paranoid eye out the window to be sure no siblings were creeping on him. “No, it's really more that…” Fuck, he should have planned this better. “Is there any information you can give me about how a human could contact him?” 

Not that Jason didn't have a phone number for the guy. But it made him very uncomfortable to have any basic knowledge or way to track Phantom down if he decided to leave Jason to whatever was going on. 

“I could probably do that,” Jack Fenton said slowly, now sounding like an entirely different human being. “Say, you wouldn't be Jeremy, would you?”

Jason blinked. “...How did you know?” He went with. Phantom had contact with a human guy named Jeremy? That might be his in.

“Oh, well then, you've definitely got to come over,” Dr. Fenton wheedled. It somehow came across as shifty. “You'll be wanting a whole primer on how the Ghost Zone works, won't ya?” 

“That would be immensely helpful,” Jason agreed. “But I'd hate to take up your valuable time.”

“Nonsense!” Fenton bellowed. Jason nearly lost his grip on his phone in surprise. “Come over Jeremy, I'm dying to meetcha!” 

So, there was a plan. Jason packed for a day trip and dialed up his travel agent. 

“Fuck off,” said Tim. “I'm busy. Christ.” 

“I need an airplane ticket and a rental bike to Illinois,” Jason continued. He tossed his mostly full bag on the sofa and went digging for the socks he knew he had washed the other night. “I'm going to go see some nerds about my impromptu adventure the other day.”

Tim groaned. That was the first Jason had given any hint at all about what had happened to him when he'd been ‘sacrificed.’ “What nerds?” He asked wearily. 

Jason grinned into his sock drawer. Gottem. “Why, do you all know each other?” He asked blithely. 

“Do you always antagonize people you want favors from?” Tim whined. A keyboard clacked rapidly in the background. “Jason, I swear to God, you massive bitch. Cut the crap and communicate, or I'm hanging up.” 

Jason frowned at his socks and grabbed a random pair. “You don't gotta be like that,” he said sulkily. He slammed the socks into his bag with a very unsatisfying silence. “So, the ritual doohickey sent me to the infinite underworld, I met a guy there actually and we are magically connected because he's who that dumb ritual matched me up to. He doesn't want to be stuck with a human so we are on the same page about breaking this. We started looking for answers and he took me back to Earth since it's not good for humans to be in the green dimension for too long.” 

There was silence from the other end of the line for a few seconds. “You're fucking lying,” Tim said. 

“Only by leaving things out.” A bit stung, Jason pulled a hand through his hair and accidentally ruined his good hair day. 

“What are you leaving out?” Tim rejoined swiftly.

Jason laughed at him. “You think you're getting that kinda information in exchange for plane tickets?” He asked incredulously. 

“You are the most annoying person who has ever tried to kill me.”

Ouch. That genuinely stung.

“Fuck off.” Jason slammed the drawers shut. 

“I could guess aliens or supernatural off of what you just said.” Tim ignored Jason’s very good point. “Based off of your trip to the Gotham U campus and-”

“Are you still stalking me?” Jason cut him off, incredulous. He scoffed. “Little buddy, you already got my pixie boots, Red Robin costume, and my Dad. What else do you wanna take from me?”

“I think that you were there to assess Daniel Fenton,” Tim ignored him.

Jason was silent for a moment. There was probably no point in pretending that Tim was wrong. “You already knew about the Fenton’s connection to the supernatural.” He was suddenly tired.

“His older sister is an intern at Arkham, she stepped out of line to get a chance to talk to Jeremy Waters.” Tim didn’t seem to notice that the mood had changed. He was caught up on whatever twenty level plan was whirring away internally.

Jason looked at the wall for a moment, not bothering to think about why that name was familiar. “...and that is…?”

“The guy who kidnapped you, keep up,” Tim snarked. “Her supervisor guessed what she was hinting at, shut her down, put a note about it in the private server so there was a paper trail if she turns out to be a collaborator.”

““Private” is a strong word to describe that server.” Jason rubbed at his jawline and hefted his bag out to the bathroom to gather his shaving kit. 

“Mmhm,” Tim said blandly. “I bugged her phone. The signal is absurdly bad, unexplainably bad. She doesn’t send a lot of messages, but she had a very suspicious call with Daniel Fenton where, among other things, she hinted she had inside knowledge regarding some kind of local mystery, possibly criminal activity. Her brother accused her of supporting crime.”

Jason groaned. “I’m going to interview their parents.” He checked that the razor blades were stowed away correctly before snapping shut the travel case. Then he noticed that his bathroom mirror could use a wipedown. He left his bag for a moment to dig for the cleaner.

“Probably for the best,” Tim said, definitely misunderstanding his purpose. “They seem…” He trailed off when he couldn’t find an appropriate adjective.

“You should read a book,” Jason said, because he saw an opportunity to be an asshole. “Anyway, I wanna get out to the area tonight and see them in the morning. What’s my flight?” He spritzed the glass and watched his reflection blur. It was oddly comforting to not have to stare at his green eyes.

‘That ghost zone was the same green as the Lazarus Pits,’ Jason thought dully. He didn’t really want to think about it. But he had a pretty good idea why he hadn’t had the reaction to the place that Danny expected a human to have.

“Kon could take you,” Tim said sweetly, which was basically a death threat. It was enough to jar him back to the real world. Kon was still not feeling chill about the Titans Tower scuffle. It probably wasn’t good for him to be so petty, but Jason was not going to be the one to tell baby Superdork that.

Jason winced. “I was thinking more like United.”

Tim snickered. 

[hxlxnaaa]

can i pretty please have the extended version of what happens in zaynes exclusive tutorial……. asking for a friend……..

ⁱ ᵃᵐ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈ….

𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥

★ synopsis: an extended version of zaynes exclusive tutorial 5-star ;)

★ character: zayne

★ cw: first person pov, quickie SMUT!!!!, a lot of the dialogue is just taken from the card

★ word count: 3.5k

★ a/n: i literally have not wrote smut since i was at least 13...i lowkey blacked out writing this so if it sucks i'm so sorry. it was good practice though so ty for the request!

Internally, I was dreading this. As a Deepspace Hunter, low-key yet high end, relaxed events were not something I was accustomed to. While it was a nice change from the chaotic atmosphere of my own work, I couldn’t help but worry I may embarrass myself.

When Zayne first invited me, I was a bit surprised he’d ask me of all people. I was sure the man was convinced I’d, at some point during the night, make a fool of him and myself. Though I was pleased he thought of me, and honored to be chosen, it put the stakes of the night higher.

I tried to make myself as fancy as possible, without overdoing it, because I was convinced these people would know I was trying too hard. I mean, they were all top med school alumnus who probably made more in a day than I made in a year.

Walking in with Zayne, the club lighting was low with soft jazz playing in the background. I scanned the perimeter, and observed the people around. Nearly everyone had brought a companion, and I smirked to myself. Mentioning I could tell why he brought me along, I gestured for him to lean down to my level.

“Did you feel left out because everyone else brought someone? Is that why?”

Zayne looked back at me, “Yes. It’s why I invited you.”

“Lame… I thought you’d make up an excuse and deny it.

Bantering with him for a second, one of his classmates approached us. The two make small talk with each other, when the man finally introduces himself as Steven to me, reaching out for a handshake. Before I can even respond, Zayne quickly grabs my hand instead.

“Let’s find a place to sit down and talk.”

-

Sitting at the bar with Zayne and his classmates, I get to finally turn off my brain and just listen. All of them go on and boast about him, Steven particularly going on about his pool skills. Zayne sits comfortably with the attention, and it’s safe to assume he’s well accustomed to being the center of it all; though it didn’t last when I quickly caught his eye, as he gave me a helpless look.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” He whispered to me, an edge to his voice that was practically begging me to get him out and away from these people.

Zayne grabs his drink, assuming I was going to agree, and I stop him. He gives me a confused look as I turn my body to fully face him. Deciding to have some fun, the drinks I’ve had giving me some liquid courage-

“I haven’t seen Dr. Zayne play pool either… Is he really that good?” I smiled at him.

He pauses, lips forming into a tight line, “Ah, so you’re ganging up on me.”

I was pushing the right buttons.

While another classmate comes up to Zayne, doting all over him like the others, as he goes on about “hands on learning” with him.

I smirk inwardly, taking a sip out of my wine glass. Oh yeah, I thought to myself, I’m gonna use that one.

After the man leaves, Zayne playfully pinches my ear, “I could see you eavesdropping from a mile away, did you find anything interesting?”

I looked up at him through my eyelashes, “I heard…” Pretending to think for a second, I looked around the room, then back at him, “you’re incredibly considerate to your juniors and are highly respected by everyone, Dr. Zayne”

He sighs, looking away, clearly unsatisfied with my answer. “I guess you can be nice…” I tapped his shoulder.

Zayne raises an eyebrow, “You guess? Do I not treat you well?”

Shrugging, I shake my head and raise my hands, feigning innocence, “It’s hard to say…” I take another sip out of my glass. “You never did any ‘hands-on’ learning with me.” Sticking out my lower lip in a pout, “And everyone says it’s an honor to be taught by you, sir…”

Putting down my wine glass, I sigh, “I wonder when I’ll get to experience it…”

“It seems you truly do want to learn about surgeries.” Zayne retorts.

“Who says it has to be for work?”

He looks at me, almost startled.

“Follow me.”

-

On the club's second floor, the billiard hall is tucked away, secret, and empty.

Perfect.

Walking forward, I circle around one of the pool tables.

“Why are we playing pool all of a sudden?” Zayne asks from behind me.

I flip my hair and look at him over my shoulder, “Because I wanna learn from you of course. Dr. Steven was praising your pool skills, but you’ve never mentioned them before.” I pushed my back to the table, leaning back on my hands.

Zayne walks up to me, “He was drunk and just rambling.”

“Oh? He said you were really good…” Cocking my head to the side to look at him, he stared back at me with intent, “Like a professional.”

“Maybe because a surgeon has steady hands.”

“Then-” I stood up straight again, crossing my arms and smiling sweetly, “it’d be nice if I could get some tips from you.”

“While I can’t give any tips per se, we can play.” He looks at me and smiles back, “If you want.”

Picking out two cue sticks, handing me the shorter one, he walks to one of the tables in the corner, “Have you played before?”

“Once or twice. People say I have potential,” Zayne raises a brow at my confidence, “but I ‘can play’.”

“Are you gonna be strict with me, sir?” I playfully swing around the cue stick. Zayne crosses his arms, leaning into me, “Strict teachers make outstanding students.” He states, “Let’s start.”

Gesturing for me to go, I lean over the table, feeling his eyes boring into me. I hold my breath as I hit the ball, the only sound in the room the echoes of the balls scattering.

Zayne chuckles under his breath, and I look back at him, “Did I do something wrong, sir?”

“You have more than enough strength. If you adjust your posture, you’ll see better results.”

“I need you to help me identify my weak spots via ‘hands-on learning’, sir.”

I watch as his facade begins to crumble a bit, before he quickly regains himself, “We’ll have to work on your posture then.”

Coming up next to me, I stand up straight as he leans down over the table, “Like this. Place your right foot back…” He strikes, graceful as ever. When I try, I look like a klutz.

Bent over the table, he comes up behind me. “Relax,” He whispers, “you’re too tense.” He places his hand on my back, and almost as a reflex to his touch, my waist immediately bends. “Now you’re too relaxed.” He clicks his tongue as I become jelly under his touch.

“Relax your left arm. Allow it to bend naturally.” His arm snakes up under mine, “Your head, right arm, and the cue stick should form a straight line.”

He places his hand softly on my cheek, shifting my head to the left, “How is it?”

“It,” I winced at the uncomfortable position, “hurts a little.”

I hear him smile, “That means it’s correct.”

Making a face, I try to give him my most pitiful look.

“You’re so harsh, sir.”

He grabs my chin, making me face the table again. The gesture makes me gasp.

“Don’t tilt your head.” Zayne remarks, “You messed up your posture again.”

“Is there an easier way? Like something I can do without much trouble?”

“Yes, but are you sure you want to do it?”

I groan, my body feeling stiff from holding this pose for so long, “Bring it on.”

I feel him shift from beside me, “Don’t move for now.”

Zayne comes up behind me, positioning himself where his chest is flush against my back. Reaching his arms around me, one of his hands comes up to grab mine. Lowering his head, I feel his breath on my neck as his lips settle next to my ear, “Your rhythm with the cue stick…isn’t quite there yet.” My eyelids flutter closed at his voice, “You need more hands-on training.”

He directs me carefully, “You should neither be too fast nor too hesitant.” His words sound distant as all I can focus on is the feeling of his body pressed against mine, as heat spreads in between my thighs.

My hand is enveloped in his, and the back and forth motion of the cue stick slows down, “Move the cue stick three or four times..” He instructs, everything about this feeling overwhelmingly provocative, “Stop at the point closest to the ball…”

“Did you get that?” He whispered, turning his head away from the pool table to face mine.

“Yeah…” Was all I could muster back.

Softly smirking, he turned back to follow my vision, “Keep your eyes on the ball, one…two…three…” I think I may actually combust if he keeps this up.

“Stop, and pull back the cue stick.”

He loosens his grip on me, “Snap out of it. Are you even listening to me?”

No, not really Zayne. I can really only focus on not grinding back into you right now.

“Ah yes,” I cough, “Pull back the stick…”

“Very good, just like that…” I bite back a whimper and the urge to rub my legs together at his praise, he knows good and well what he’s doing.

“Now…strike.”

I hit the ball, and when it goes in I snap out of whatever hypnotic haze I was in.

“It’s in!”

Zayne pulls back, and I stand up straight, placing my hands on my hips. “Did you see that? It was a great shot! I’m so cool…” Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I flash him a smile.

“I did.” He smiles warmly back, “You’re not a total beginner.”

“Maybe it’s because I practice shooting all the time. Or, it’s possible I’m a prodigy…” I started regaining my confidence after it had ever so slowly faltered on the pool table.

“Perhaps.” Zayne shrugs, “To be honest, all you need to be good at pool is…”

He leans over the edge of the table, looking over at me. My breath hitches at the sight.

“A steady hand, precision, and a calm attitude.” His eyes bore into mine, “Once you’ve locked into your target, don’t let go.”

I swallowed. Even though he was clearly talking about the ball, it felt oddly personal.

He has me play a bit more, teaching me as I go. I easily earn his praises and they ring like music in my ears.

“If a student does a good job,” I remind him, “shouldn’t they get a reward?”

He considers it for a second, “What do you want?”

Confidence bubbling up again inside of me, I sigh dramatically. “Well, it might be difficult to hit this next ball. Help me.”

“Is that all?” Zayne asks, clearly not convinced. Pausing before coming to help me, I give him a smug look, “What’s wrong Dr. Zayne? Are you scared?”

I was pushing my luck, and loving every second of it.

He frowned, “Provocation doesn’t work on me.”

“Then come here.” I nodded toward the pool table, giving him a sweet smile.

Zayne inches towards me, only moving slightly closer.

“Closer.” I demand, “Or else I can’t reach it.”

He gives me a confused look, “What exactly…”

I grab him by the collar, pushing him back onto the table. Zaynes cheeks turn pink as he stares up at me with a shocked expression. Lips slightly agape, I can see a million thoughts running behind his eyes. The dumbfounded look on his face makes me want to take him on the table right now.

“Look,” I pout, “the ball’s so far away. I think it’s time to use a cue rest.”

I tap the cue stick on each side of his head. Zayne narrows his eyes at me, “Using cue rests would be overkill.” He sits up, and I use the stick to slowly tug out his tie, “And this,” he glares, “is inappropriate.”

Though he feigns annoyance, the look in his eyes is a dead giveaway.

“But…” I pull the stick away leaning towards him, my breath dusting his ear, “I think you’re enjoying it…” He looks down and away at the table, clearly embarrassed, “I shouldn't have taught you so much” he mutters.

Running my fingers through his dark hair, I slowly tease my hand down his body, caressing his face, down to his chest, down to where I see where he’s aching for me to touch the most. I coo at him when I see the desperate look in his eyes, and quickly snap my hand away before I reach the bulge growing in his nice slacks.

Zaynes face is red hot as he sits up on the table enough that he’s eye level with me, “Who taught you to use your teacher as a cue rest…” he frowns.

“Well,” I place my hand on his chest over his heart, “this cue rests heartbeat is going to ruin my accuracy.” I tut.

“Is it my heartbeat affecting your accuracy, or yours?” His hand comes up to caress my cheek, “If you actually want to learn, I can show you another way…”

Zayne leans in, lips almost to mine before I grab his shoulder and push him back. He looks at me, wide eyed at the denial.

“Sir, this seems to be lacking professionalism.” Crossing my arms across my chest, his lips curve at my attempt to scold him.

“Weren’t you just using me as a cue rest?” He leans back in, “Talking about professionalism… is a bit too late.”

As he grabs me by my waist, I push him back onto the table again as a reply. The gesture only lasts a few seconds before Zayne smiles at me, quickly sitting up and using his hand around my waist to reverse us; flipping me onto my back and onto the table, he settled in between my legs. I squeak at the sudden change, as he now hovers over me, my head caged between his arms.

“Why don’t you let me show you…” Zayne pulls back, standing up straight. He grabs his cue stick, “Watch closely, I’m only going to do it once.”

Pushing his chest against mine, he goes for the ball right behind my head. His head hovers right above my face, and I lean up to place a kiss on his adams apple right as he strikes the ball. I have half a mind to bite into his neck, but he quickly stands back up as he watches the ball go in.

He looks down at me, and I’m sure I look utterly disheveled. From where he stood in between my thighs, my dress had ridden up high enough that every inch of my bottom half was almost on display for him to see. My hair was splayed out around me on the table, and my chest heaved with the breath I was so desperately trying to catch.

The sexual tension that had slowly built up throughout the night was now thick enough to cut with a knife. Smiling softly, Zayne tilts my chin up, caressing my jaw as his thumb slowly parted my lips, dipping it past my teeth and pressing it against my tongue. “Pretty little mouth…” he mutters, staring at the way his finger sits in between my lips. I look up at him through half-lidded eyes, sucking down on his thumb.

He frowns, “Always such a tease.” Zayne sighs, picking up my ankle, pressing a kiss to it. I craved his lips on mine, but I always enjoyed the shows he’d put on for me. He continued to kiss up my calf, closing his eyes as he felt my skin against his lips.

“Zayne.” I demanded, and he looked at me annoyed, as if I was interrupting something.

“Yes?”

“Kiss me…”

He leaned down, nose brushing against mine, but not meeting my lips. I pushed myself up, trying to connect us, but he pulled away at the last second. Frustrated and tired of his games, I grabbed Zayne by his tie, crashing my lips against his, pulling him down on top of me onto the table.

“Behave.” He groaned as I took his bottom lip in my teeth, tugging softly. Grabbing my wrists with his hand, he pinned them above my head. Zayne’s free hand roamed up my thigh, fingers dusting over the place I was praying for him to touch the most.

I squirmed under him as he toyed with the lace on my panties, never dipping his fingers past. His grip on my wrists tightened, lips leaving mine so our eyes could meet. Waves of lust crashed in his green eyes.

“What do you want?” His lips kissed down my neck and chest.

“You to touch me.” I whimpered.

He tsked, “Beg.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You heard me. Or do I need to teach you how to do that too?” Zayne nipped at my collarbone, then kissed the skin.

“Please…”

“What was that?”

“Please, Zayne.” Everytime I said please, his fingers inched closer to the arousal pooling in between my thighs, “Zayne, please, please, fuck, please.”

I felt him smile against my skin, and he dipped a finger inside of me.

Clenching around him, I moaned at the satisfaction.

Zayne groaned, “God, you’re so wet. You’ve been eager all night…” Pumping in and out, I stifled my whimpers and moans against his shoulder. He let go of my wrists, and my hands flew to his collar, gripping for dear life as he added another finger.

Tracing his thumb on my clit, two fingers curling up inside of me, Zayne always knew just how to make me come undone. He could get off on this alone, watching me fall apart underneath him by just his hands. I was seeing stars, thinking nothing could get better than this.

Zayne pulled away, and I cried out at the emptiness. He stood there for a second, just taking all of me in, “You’re so beautiful.” He took off his tie, gently grabbing me by the back of my head and lifting it up so he could tie the fabric around my mouth as a makeshift gag.

“As much as I love to listen to you, I don’t want anybody else to hear. Is that all right?”

I nodded at him and he smiled, petting my cheek, “Good girl.”

Reaching forward, I palmed his hard on through his nice, business slacks. The idea of them being around his ankles as he takes me on this table was enough to almost make me cry from joy. Sighing at the friction, Zaynes eyes fluttered closed, and I worked my hand up and undid his belt. Getting too eager, he freed himself, and slid my panties down to where they loosely dangled off one of my heels.

“I wish I could take my time with you,” He pressed his tip against my opening, “but this will have to do.” Sinking all the way down to the hilt, I choked out a muffled scream, squeezing my eyes shut as the tie killed my lewd noises.

Zayne grabbed my chin, fingers digging into my skin, “Eyes open.” He demanded, pulling out, and slamming back in, “Keep looking.”

Already overwhelmed from the stimulation he provided earlier, tears welled up in my eyes from just how good all of it felt. The impossibly delicious way he could fill me up, lips dancing across my skin as he chased after his own pleasure. His hand gripping into my hips, most likely leaving bruises, as he drilled into me; kissing my palm before biting into the skin to muffle his own groans.

Zayne’s skin glistened with sweat, the top buttons of his shirt undone, his lips red and swollen from my aggressions. He railed into me like a maniac, like he was fucking starving. Gracefully, his hand found its way back in between my thighs, finding the bundle of pleasure that made me cry out. At the feeling I blinked out tears, my eyes burning from the mascara I was practically sobbing away. I was moments away from ruining this table beneath me, and Zayne knew that.

He grabbed my neck, almost as if for stability as he picked up his pace. Desperately rolling his hips against mine, I clenched down around him “Just.. like that, oh... God." He moaned. I lifted my hips up to meet his thrusts, trying to chase my own release and his. Zayne looked me in the eyes, squeezing the hand around my neck, “My girl. Mine.” He groaned.

With one last thrust and his praise, I was screaming behind the tie, shaking from my release beneath him. Digging my nails into his biceps, his hips stuttered, and with a moan he pulled out, finishing all over my nice dress.

Zayne nearly collapsed on top of me as we laid there for a while, just soaking in the aftermath. As he pulled away, I watched him cringe at the mess he had left on me. For some reason, I started laughing.

“What’s that for?” He questioned.

I continued to giggle, “I didn’t know you were that good at pool…”

“If we had more time, I’d show you more of my techniques…”

Slapping him on the shoulder, I sat up, and he swept me off the table and back onto my feet. Brushing my hair with his fingers, he attempted to wipe away the mascara stains on my cheeks. “I know the back way out of here,” He pressed a kiss to my temple.

(divider by cafekitsune)

[redclercs]

does he take care of you? ✩ max verstappen

— or, the one where max could easily fill your boyfriend's shoes.

✐ max verstappen x fem reader, charles leclerc x fem reader.

✐ inspired by the 1975's song 'sex'.

✐ warnings: cheating, toxic behaviors, alcohol consumption, charles is a jerk ngl, angst, mdni! explicit smut!! nipple play, fingering, piv, protected sex, riding, no after-care. while the actions portrayed in this writing are consensual and safe, do not take this as an example and be smart about having sex. 2k words.

HIS eyes are on you, even from across the room. You know it from the way your skin prickles and burns, the way goosebumps lift on your arms and legs, covered by the black dress your boyfriend picked out for you. Your boyfriend, who doesn’t notice—or doesn’t care—about the man who can’t keep his off you. Has never been able to keep his eyes off you.

“Are you cold?” Charles asks as you walk away from the man he was holding a conversation with, one you were not invited to participate in.

“No,” you rub your arms with your palms, making the goosebumps disappear. “Just an air current.”

Charles eyes you up and down, something he’s done several times now. While you changed in your shared hotel room, before you got into his Pista, and before you posed at the Black Carpet for this sponsor event. And he seems unsatisfied every time his eyes leave your figure.

"What?" you taunt, eyebrows arched. He picked this dress, he cannot possibly complain about anything now. He's not even going to care about it when it ends up on the floor of the hotel room along with his perfectly ironed suit.

"Nothing, chérie," he kisses your temple softly, a flutter that makes your skin itch, but you keep your hand stuck to your side, accepting the gesture like you're supposed to. "Give me a minute?"

"Sure," you stay planted in your place as he walks away, your boyfriend. The same person you hate the most every time you are dragged to these events. "I'll be waiting right here," you add, although he's out of earshot and anyway, he won't be looking for you, not for a while.

It's always the same.

"Having fun?" Max is by your side the moment Charles disappears, this too, is always the same.

"I'm thrilled," you reply, mouth in a thin line when you turn to face him. Max has a few drinks on him already, the red in his cheeks, the tell-tale sign. "What about you?"

"It's always fun seeing you with your boyfriend," his inflection doesn't change, he's not even being sarcastic. He's bored. "Where did he go, by the way?"

There are many answers to that question and each one could be the right one. He's holding a boring conversation with another sponsor representative, he's taking pictures with his team, he's pretending to be single and talking to a floozy.

"How would I know?" you retort.

Max's expression finally shifts to an arrogant smile that has you clenching your teeth. You hate him too, sometimes.

"Want to get out of here?" Max downs the last of the drink you didn't notice him holding. His cheeks flush again, eyes brightening.

"You can't drive, Max Emilian," you shake your head and roll your eyes.

Max laughs, taking a black card from the inside pocket of his black suit. "Who said anything about driving?"

You take the elevator first, the card Max gave you is inside your purse and you have the room number memorized. It’s always this easy to slip away from Charles and the rest of the crowd, it’s not as simple for Max but he always manages to.

Your shoes are off and your hair is down by the time Max gets to the hotel room. You’ve had enough time to think your next steps through, whether you want to stay or take the lift back to the party, back to Charles and your hatred. You suspect Max does this on purpose every time—give you time to regret your choices and walk away.

You never walk away.

“He picked this dress out, you know?”

Max has sobered up by the time he crosses the door. His gaze is clearer and his cheeks have lost a shade or two of pink.

“I figured,” the corner of his mouth goes up, taunting again. “It’s ugliest fucking thing.”

“That’s a very mean thing to say,” but it’s true, you hate the dress. It should be you giving Charles fashion advice and not the other way around, but he never takes you seriously. Not about clothes and not about anything else.

Max shrugs, his suit jacket is already resting in the loveseat by the window. “Truth hurts.”

You have no more time to waste. Charles won’t miss you, but it doesn’t mean your absence won’t go unnoticed. People often wonder where your boyfriend’s prettiest accessory is when you’re not around. Most of the time all Charles does is smile and say you’ll come back in a minute.

Not another word before his hands are on you. The calluses on his fingers are so familiar now they somewhat feel like home. How can you hate someone who makes you feel like this, too?

“You’re going to break the zipper,” you breathe against Max’s neck. He’s so impatient, always. These stolen moments are brief and apart from each other, although less every time.

“Wouldn’t that be a problem?” He scoffs, although there’s humor in his voice. Yet he is more gentle trying to undo the zipper of your dress, his knuckles graze the skin on your back and you’re covered in goosebumps again.

It’s your turn to fumble with the zipper of his pants. You’re as impatient as he is but he doesn’t hold it against you the way you do. It’s a very Max thing to do in these situations.

“Why were you staring at me, then?” You ask, breathless. Max’s hands are separating your thighs, and you’re throbbing with anticipation, yet you can’t let go of the thought that’s running through your mind. “If the dress is so horrendous.”

“Seriously?” Max rolls his eyes, but his hand slides to your inner right thigh, fingers ghosting up and down, close to where you want them to be and gone the following second. Your hips buck and it’s Max’s chance to prolong your torture, still holding back his answer.

One of his hands runs up on your side, caressing your hips and the curve of your rib cage before getting to your breast. Your nipples are already perked in excitement, and the sensation that runs through you when he pinches one is nothing short of delicious. But his other hand is still resting on your inner thigh, tracing lazy circles that are running your patience dry.

“I liked the view,” Max grunts as he leans down to kiss your neck and the hollow behind your ear. “But I think, I prefer seeing you like this.”

Your hands are on his hair, pulling softly as he continues to play with your nipples. Adding his mouth now and then, twirling his tongue and grazing with his teeth. The room fills with your moaning and his panting, as you reach your hand down to his dick.

Your thumb swipes the pre-cum down his length, and Max’s breath hitches. It does every time you touch him. You pump him up and down, and this finally motivates him enough to put his fingers inside you, one by one.

This thumb presses down on your clit, and your back arches, making you let go of him momentarily, to hold on to his bicep, your nails sink into his skin.

That’s another imbalance you present to him every time. You mark him, and he can’t ever do the same.

“Fuck me, please,” you whine, his fingers aren’t enough no matter how well he knows how to use them as he pumps them in and out of you and rubs the bud of nerves that demands so much attention. “Please Max.”

He’s made you beg more before, but not tonight. You’re in the middle of another thing, you need to hurry. He can’t have you just the way he wants to, squirming and begging, whining and clenching around nothing as he burns the image in his brain. A memory to hold on to until your next meeting.

Max wastes time, albeit necessarily, looking for the condom he kept on the nightstand, while you rub your thighs together, trying your best to create friction. You sit up only after you see him open the little package, taking the condom from his hands to put it on him yourself. Your fingers are skilled as they run down his length, and Max can’t help but think not only about the many times you’ve done this with him, but with your boyfriend too.

Max watches your movements with lust-filled eyes, his breath fanning your neck, before leaving a wet trace of kisses down to your shoulder. You're desperate to have him inside you, you can't waste more time.

This is the image Max is going to cherish when he's apart from you. The way you look on top of him, how you push him down to the mattress with both palms on his chest, half-moons adorn his skin by the time his shoulders are completely down. He's going to remember the way you moaned and threw your head back as you finally, finally inserted his cock in your pussy.

There aren't many occasions in which Max is willing to waive control to anyone. But he lets you set the pace as you ride him, using his chest as support while moving your hips to hit the spots where you want him most. His hands grip your skin tightly, and there is that fear in the back of your mind that he might finally leave a bruise or a scratch that reveals your little affair.

"N–not so hard," you say, through a high pitched sound that comes right from your throat. "It's going to bruise."

And Max thinks maybe it should. He wants to squeeze you harder, to mark you and bruise you and really, really make you his. To leave evidence behind that he was with you, in you.

But he relents, he always does.

His hand goes back to between your legs, rubbing your clit harshly, quickly. The way he knows will push you through the edge and will make you scream his name.

"Pl–please keep doing that," you gasp, as your pace stutters. "I'm so close."

So is Max, the way you move on top of him, the sight of your breasts bouncing, the salt on your skin due the sweat and the way you glow have him so close to a release, he wonders how he's been able to hold it back.

He thrusts up, hitting you deeper than you had managed yourself. A surprised squeal leaves your mouth and you sink your nails on his shoulder.

"Again," you demand.

Surprisingly, you reach your climax before Max does. Throwing your head back, you let the wave of pleasure run through you, your throat aches when you produce more sounds, turning into nothing other than sensitive nerves and shaky body parts.

Max follows you soon, with a loud groan, he pulls you deeper down into him, squeezing your ass with both hands.

You feel him go soft, still inside you, and you move your hips front and back creating some friction that makes your insides pulse, ready again. Max sighs, he knows he will be hard again even before taking his cock out of you, but tonight you're on limited time.

"We have to go," he says, raspy. "Your boyfriend must be waiting," he adds, bitterly.

And you hate him again, for ruining the perfect interaction you just had. Always bringing up Charles by the end of your nights together.

"Fine," you reply, pushing yourself off him, annoyed. "Let's go."

Silence falls heavy in the room, so contrariant to the sounds that filled it just minutes ago. You fix your hair in the bathroom and Max cleans himself up, tying the used condom before tossing it to the trash.

You give him the room's keycard as he's buttoning his shirt back up. You manage to zip your dress back up without his help, and feel smug about it. Max only rolls his eyes.

"See you down there," you place a hand on his shoulder, and though he's already looking at you, you finally make eye-contact.

Max always finds himself wanting more than what you can offer to him, and tonight isn't the exception. The words 'leave him' get stuck in his throat in a knot he swallows forcefully.

"See you down there," he echoes, and doesn't turn around to watch you leave.

He's never ready to see you with another man's arm around you, much less right after being with you in this way just minutes before. But he has to settle for this, always.

You've got a boyfriend, anyway.

[lee-laurent]

Slim Pickins - Jack Hughes

Summary: Ana's got slim pickings

content: kissing, allusions to sex, fluff, minor angst, bittersweet ending

wc: 1.8k

inspired by sabrina carpenter's song slim pickins from her new album short n' sweet!

notes: i love sabrina carpenter!! and her new album EATS! i thought of writing a jack fic as soon as i heard the full song!! enjoy!!!

Guess I'll end this life alone I am not dramatic These are just the thoughts that pass right through me

Ana had given up on finding the "perfect guy." Every guy she dated just let her feelings unsatisfied and disappointed. Her friends were beyond excited to introduce her to Jack. They'd dragged her along to the bar, meeting their boyfriends there, and shoving her in the direction of Jack.

A smirk took up his face as soon as his eyes met hers. The blonde just narrowed her eyes, waiting for him to say something. Introduce himself and show her this "Hughes" charm she'd heard so much about from the girls.

"Hey, I'm Jack," he said, extending his hand with a confidence that bordered on arrogance.

Ana took it, her grip firm, but she didn't bother with a smile. "Ana," she replied coolly, already bored.

Jack's smirk deepened, and she could see he was expecting her to be more impressed, maybe even flustered. But Ana was neither.

"Nice to meet you, Ana," he continued, leaning in slightly. "Your friends have been telling me a lot about you."

"Oh, I'm sure they have," Ana said, her tone flat. She glanced around, noticing how her friends were watching eagerly, clearly hoping for sparks. The only sparks Ana felt were the ones of irritation.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her lackluster response, clearly not used to being met with such indifference. "So... what do you do for fun?"

"Read," she replied simply, taking a sip of her drink. "I'm into fiction, but I like a good biography every now and then. You?"

"Uh, I play hockey. For the Devils."

"I know," she said, not bothering to add that she couldn't care less about hockey.

The conversation dragged on, Jack trying to charm her with his stories from the rink. Ana just nodded along, letting her mind wander. She had already resigned herself to the idea that the "perfect" guy didn't exist--not for her, anyway. And Jack, with his cocky grin and predictable lines, wasn't about to change that.

But as the night wore on and she saw the hopeful glances from her friends, Ana sighed inwardly. Maybe it was time to stop holding out for someone who ticked all her boxes. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to settle for someone who could at least hold a conversation--even if it wasn't what she wanted.

With that thought, she decided to give Jack a little more attention to see where things would go.

A boy who's jacked and kind Can't find his ass to save my life

Ana watched as Jack laughed at something one of the other girls' boyfriends had said, the sound rich and easy. He looked the part--tall, athletic, with that effortless charm that had most girls falling head over heels. Her friends had raved about how he was the total package: a boy who was both jacked and kind.

But as Ana sipped on her drink and observed him more closely, she noticed the flaws in her friends' description. Like the way his eyes glazed over whenever the conversation veered away from him and/or hockey, or how he seemed more interested in impressing his friends than actually getting to know her.

Sure, Jack was kind in a superficial way--polite enough, quick with a smile, and generous with compliments (when it benefitted him). It wasn't that she needed him to be perfect-- God knows she'd given up on that fantasy long ago--but she couldn't help the pang of disappointment that she felt. Jack was exactly what everyone had said: good-looking, successful, and charming. But beneath that, he didn't really have much that Ana looked for.

"So, do you follow much hockey?" Jack asked, walking back over from where he had been with his friends.

"Not really," she admitted, her tone more honest than before. "It's never really been my thing."

Jack nodded, looking a little thrown. "Oh. Well, what are you into then?"

Ana considered lying, giving him an answer she knew he'd like, but decided against it. "Honestly? I'm more into arts and stuff like that--books, museums, writing."

Jack's smile wavered, and Ana could tell he was struggling to find a way to connect with her. It wasn't really his fault, she knew she wasn't making it easy. But as she looked at him, trying so hard to find common ground, she couldn't help but feel the weight of her earlier thoughts.

It was time to lower her expectations.

As everyone was saying their goodbyes, Jack gave her a lingering look, clearly hoping for a sign that she was interested. Ana smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks for tonight, Jack. It was... nice."

"Yeah, maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"Maybe."

Oh, it's slim pickings If I can't have the one I love I guess it's you that I'll be kissin' Just to get my fixings Since the good ones are deceased or taken I'll just keep on moanin' and bitchin'

As the weeks went by, Ana found herself spending more time with Jack. Not because she was falling for him, but because it was easier than being alone. The more they hung out, the more she realized that Jack was exactly who she thought he was--nice, handsome, but not who she'd been hoping for her whole life.

One night, after a dinner with their mutual friends, they found themselves alone, walking through the streets of Newark. Jack reached for her hand, and Ana let him take it, though the warmth she'd hoped to feel never came. Instead, she felt a dull ache of acceptance. This wasn't what she wanted, but it was better than nothing, right?

Jack stopped walking, turning to face her. There was something in his eyes. "Ana," he began, his voice softer than usual, "I really like you. I want this to work."

He was trying--really trying--and it wasn't fair to him that she couldn't muster the same enthusiasm. But life had a way of wearing down those high hopes she once held onto.

She forced a smile, leaning to press a quick kiss to his lips. "I like you too, Jack," she said, though the words felt hollow.

The continued walking, hand in hand, and Ana thought about what her perfect guy looked like. Maybe George Harrison or a young Bob Dylan. A guy with soul, who wrote her songs and poems. Wasn't afraid to talk about feelings, but was still just as attractive as Jack. But Jack was here, and he was nice, but he wasn't a young Jimmy Page.

That night, as she lay in bed next to Jack, who had fallen asleep almost immediately, Ana stared at the ceiling, her thoughts swirling. She knew she should be grateful--Jack was sweet, he cared about her--but the spark wasn't as strong as she dreamed.

Jesus, what's a girl to do? This boy doesn't even know The difference between "there," "their" and "they are"

Ana tried to focus on whatever her friends were yapping about, but Jack's text messages kept lighting up her phone. The boy didn't even know the difference between "there," "their," and "they are."

She reread his text over and over again. "I'll meet you over at they're place. Their should be plenty of parking outside if you don't wanna walk." Ana had almost chucked her phone across the room at the sight of it.

"You okay, Ana Banana?" one of the girls asked.

"Yeah, sorry, just thinking about shit."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Ana hesitated. What was she supposed to say? That she was annoyed because her boyfriend couldn't differentiate between basic homophones? That she was frustrated because she wanted more than he could offer? It wasn't fair--he wasn't really doing anything wrong.

"Nah, it's stupid. Just work stuff," she shrugged. "Continue your story."

Yet he's naked in my room Missin' all the things he's missin'

Jack sighed, pulling her body into his. She cringed at the feeling of his sweaty chest against her back. The room was quiet, just the sound of their breathing returning to normal. She turned to look at him, brushing some of the hair stuck to his forehead back. He looked at her with so much care in his eyes, massaging the skin of her thigh.

He was completely unaware of everything she thought was missing in him. So oblivious to the things that mattered to her. He didn't understand her passion for literature, her love for art, or the way she craved deep, meaningful conversations with her boyfriend.

But none of that mattered to Jack, he was just happy to have Ana by his side. And it made her feel so guilty. But if she didn't have Jack... what would she have? She'd be back to being lonely and bored with her life. At least Jack brought some excitement with him.

Since the good ones call their exes wasted And since the Lord forgot my gay awakenin' Then I'll just be here in the kitchen Servin' up some moanin' and bitchin'

The kitchen was dimly lit, the soft glow of the overhead lights casting shadows on the walls. Ana was putting away the last of the dishes from dinner, her mind preoccupied with everything she'd been thinking about over the entirety of their relationship. The rhythmic clicking of plates was a soothing backdrop to her contemplation.

Jack had been quieter than usual, his nerves evident as he fidgeted with his phone as she dried their wine glasses. Ana glanced over, noticing his unease but attributing it to work stress or something else she didn't understand.

After she finished cleaning, Jack took a deep breath and approached her, his face the most serious she'd ever seen. Ana's heart skipped a beat as she saw him pull out a small velvet box from his pocket.

"Ana," he began, "I know things haven't always been perfect, but I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Ana's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the ring. She had been contemplating the idea of settling for the last year, and now, faced with Jack's heartfelt proposal, she couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Since the good ones all call their exes wasted," she thought, reflecting on all her past disappointments and the unattainable ideal she once chased.

Then I'll be here in the kitchen, servin' up some moanin' and bitchin'. The idea echoed in her mind as she stood there, knowing that despite her doubts, Jack was offering her a commitment that she might not find elsewhere.

"Yes, Jack," Ana smiled. "I will marry you."

Jack's face lit up with joy as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Ana had come to terms with the idea that while Jack might not be the "perfect" partner she once dreamed of, he was a solid choice in a world of slim pickings. She had chosen to move forward with him, not because he was perfect, but because he was the best she could find.

Jack just might have to put up with some moanin' and bitchin'.

[flightfoot]

Any fic recs of Adrien dealing with the fallout of finding out his dad is hawkmoth?

Oh yeah, this is a popular plotline and tends to lead to some great fics!

---

Bubblegum Soul by @wehadabondingmoment

"The impulse to throw away his ring, to slam it on the ground and watch its metallic splinters chap away at his soul, got more tempting by the second. Maybe, for a moment, he would learn what it meant to be alive." (Or: Hawk Moth has been defeated and Adrien is suffering more than ever. Armed with unhealthy coping mechanisms and the knowledge that he apparently isn't human, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery.) (Except that his father isn't quite ready to give up just yet.)

Poor Adrien. His father's defeated, but that doesn't mean that he's alright. Dealing with finding out that he's a sentimonster via his father attempting to order him around... that's harsh.

And it doesn't help that while he gets one ring back pretty quickly, he doesn't realize that he has a second amok...

If you like angsty sentiadrien fic, this'll be right up your alley! It's M-rated, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because Adrien's just kind of in a bad headspace?

---

Disintegrated Pancakes by @scribeofrhapsody

Adrien had started expecting the family breakfasts. He had NOT been expecting his father to collapse in the middle of one.

I’m shocked I haven’t seen more of this sort of thing, with Adrien finding out his father’s Monarch via seeing the Cataclysm wound. I love that Alya gets involved in this, being the person Adrien runs into after fleeing the room, and then Adrien getting to talk things out with Gabriel and Nathalie. Thankfully Gabriel is at least not completely incapable of being reasoned with here, or things could have gone worse than they did. It’s a nice little read, though with an ambiguous ending (at least at the time when I write this).

---

all of your flaws and all of my flaws (are laid out one-by-one) by @coffeebanana

Ladybug and Marinette have both been acting strangely since Monarch’s defeat, and Chat Noir would give anything to know why—to be able to help them. He just…didn’t expect his answers to come when Ladybug drags him to his father’s statue in the middle of the night along with a bag full of spray paint.

If you felt unsatisfied with Adrien being left in the dark about Monarch, with Ladybug lying about Gabriel being a hero, this is a great fic to read. Marinette’s breaking down keeping this secret, seeing people treat Gabriel as the hero she told people he was, until she finally snaps and has to do SOMETHING, has to tell SOMEONE the truth. 

Which Chat takes pretty well! He knows how persuasive his father could be, and he’s mostly just relieved at finally hearing someone say that Gabriel wasn’t a hero. It’s still a lot to cope with though.

---

Of Crisp Days and Crispier Cakes by @scribeofrhapsody

Gabriel wants to not be sick. Adrien wants to make a cake. Nathalie wants a chill birthday. Maybe they can help each other. Maybe it’ll be a disaster.

So this starts off as just the cute fluff fic of Adrien and Gabriel attempting to make Nathalie a birthday cake that the summary indicates, but soon evolves into a more action-filled drama fic when Gabriel makes the terrible decision to akumatize a cashier while sick… a cashier who happens to be in the same shop as Nathalie and Adrien. Who are willing to put their secret identities at risk in order to save each other.

---

After Irritation Do Us Start by @scribeofrhapsody

It was the most difficult decision of his life, but Gabriel did it. He let go of Hawk Moth. He moved on from Emilie. Now, all he wants is to enjoy life with his son and new wife. Unfortunately, a certain nephew of his seems to be determined to unearth what Gabriel needs to remain buried.

I love this look at what could have happened if during the season 3 finale, Gabriel had decided enough was enough and given up on being a supervillain, moving on with Nathalie instead. How much better things could have been if he’d just decided to stop - though Adrien still wouldn’t be happy to discover why Hawk Moth had suddenly stopped attacking.

Oh yeah, there’s an OC here called Gerald who Adrien’s puzzled by, since he’d never heard of this guy before the past year. At the end of the story you find out why he’s included in the story. It’s not a major thing, but it is kind of funny and fits well with the rest of the story.

---

Family by @unecoccinellenoire

“You know,” Nino grins, “if you need advice on being a big brother in a year or two I’m sure I could help.” The bottom of Adrien’s stomach dropped out. — Adrien struggles with the concept of his father and Nathalie having children.

So this is a world where Adrien and Marinette managed to defeat Gabriel, taking his Miraculous, with them giving him an ultimatum: they won’t out him as being Hawk Moth so long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble and does right by Adrien. Gabriel does, in fact, move on finally to Nathalie, giving Adrien a lot of mixed feelings to deal with. He still loves them both despite everything, but he’s also angry at them and he definitely does NOT want them to have children, both because he thinks they’d like any biological child they had more (he’s also harboring guilt from indirectly being the cause of his mom’s death), and because frankly, they screwed up too much with Adrien for him to want them to inflict that on another child.

And then there’s also Adrien dealing with the realization that he’s a Senti on top of that and wondering why he and Felix look the way they do, what Emilie’s reasons were.

It’s mostly just Adrien getting to talk things out, navigating this emotionally fraught situation he finds himself in now that the dust is settled.

----

and I thought I heard you sing by @into-september

When Hawkmoth has been defeated and unmasked, Marinette is left with two problems and no solutions. First, that Adrien is further out of her reach than ever before, and no-one can tell her how to get to him. Second, that Cat Noir is far more troubled than she knew, and the only thing she can do is wait for him at the place they agreed to meet.

It’s your classic “Hawkmoth’s defeated and taken into custody but that means Adrien’s in for a rough time” sort of fic. Everyone’s worried about Adrien and wants to give him what comfort and support that they can, but he’s being hidden away from everyone (which I mean, honestly that’s a good move), so that’s not really possible. Plus, Ladybug’s noticed that Chat’s having a tough time in his civilian life, which worries her.

---

If only I could break free by megetstoread

It started with Adrien being upset about going away, but led to a lot of revelations.  

Another Sentiadrien fic here! After telling Adrien that he’s being sent to London, Gabriel takes advantage of Adrien being distraught to akumatize him. Luckily Ladybug’s right there and deakumatizes him before he can even do anything, but it shakes both her and Chat, leading to her allowing him to tell her a lot more about his home life than usual, and for her and Adrien to investigate to see whether there might be more to Adrien’s inability to stand against his father than just psychological abuse.

---

The Parable of the Caller by @nemaliwrites

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest.

But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

I absolutely adore this fic, it’s a fantastic character study for Adrien! Basically in this universe, Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about who should be Guardian, with Chat eventually convincing her that he should be the one to take it on, primarily due to the whole “the Guardian gets amnesia about Miraculous-related matters” situation, and wanting to protect Ladybug from that. Then he finds out Gabriel is Hawk Moth, they take him down, and he relinquishes the Miracle Box and his guardianship to Su Han - all without having a Reveal with Ladybug, since well, he’s not in the greatest shape mentally at the time.

It’s a real treat to see Adrien’s thoughts and feelings about one of the Heroes of Paris leaving him all these voicemails, treating him like this close friend for reasons he doesn’t understand, and just seeing Chat Noir as this outside person. He’s got a very different viewpoint on Chat when looking from the outside than he would from the inside, with being able to see his heroic and good qualities far more easily when he doesn’t know that he is Chat.

Also Marinette’s struggling in the background of the fic with the loss of her partner and guilt over sending Adrien’s father to prison. It gets touched on at various points, and you can tell that she’s having her own story off to the side that we’re just not entirely privy to, what with this tale being told entirely from Adrien’s perspective.

---

drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I’m sure everyone saw this one coming. If there’s one thing buggachat’s good at, storywise, it’s capturing raw, tumultuous emotions, frantic breakdowns as the characters desperately try to navigate bad situations. This was a real treat to read, as I’m betting most people reading this will agree, given just how popular the fic has been. It also has a ton of fanart, both by buggachat and by random fans, if you go looking for it (there’s a drowning in plain sight tag which I’d advise perusing). 

---

Not a Monster at All by @book-sandwich

Adrien Agreste overhears a conversation he shouldn't, and a revelation sends him falling onto the terrace of the only person he can trust: his good friend (?) Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Takes place sometime after the first two episodes of season 5!

As you can probably guess from the title, this is a Sentimonster Adrien, Monarch takedown fic. Adrien’s going through a tough time, and Marinette’s just trying to be there for him as his whole world’s collapsing around him. Unfrotunately, they still don’t know what the object is, or how likely Gabriel would be to control Adrien if he hinted that he knew the truth, which leaves Adrien in a precarious position - still not having done an identity reveal doesn’t help matters.

It’s a really solid fic for the genre, though since it started up before the later parts of season 5, there are a few things that don’t match up with the canon information we obtained later on. 

---

Under Oath by @eoscenes

In the aftermath of Hawk Moth's defeat, Ladybug finds her heart torn between her schoolgirl crush and her superhero partner ― who returns, after an unexplained hiatus, more irresistible than ever.

⋆☆⋆

Gabriel Agreste is unmasked, and Paris rises up in the aftermath.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng must weather Paris' anxious protesters, ravenous reporters, a scattered team of judiciary investigators, and her conflicting feelings for two different boys. In the eye of this storm is the elusive Adrien Agreste, the primary witness in his own father's trial, who might just hold the secret to finding the Peacock Miraculous.

(If only she wasn't in love with him.)

Meanwhile, locked away in Le Grand Paris hotel, Adrien grapples with his responsibilities to a city that can't decide if it hates or loves him. Keeping his daytime persona and Chat Noir separate entities becomes even harder when Ladybug, whom he has finally decided to get over, starts visiting him at night, determined to figure his secrets out.

(If only he wasn't in love with her.)

When an unknown figure returns with the Peacock Miraculous, Ladybug and Chat Noir will have to save their city once more — or lose each other trying.

I love how this fic shows Adrien just breaking down over the reveal of Hawk Moth’s identity, he’s in a Very Bad Place for a substantial portion of the fic, and being a suspect and witness in the case does NOT help. It’s got the most detailed “Adrien suffering the consequences of the backlash to his father’s prosecution” plot that I’ve seen.

Still, things get better with time, slowly, gradually. It’s not all at once, or a completely linear road, but he’s got his friends, even after everything.

---

run boy run by Anonymous

Nino was sprawled on the floor of his room with Alya when his phone chimed, in the quiet of a premature autumnal sunset. It was one of those lazy evenings that had become rare lately. Contrary to popular belief, he and Alya could get studying done when in the same room, and he was elbows-deep in late assignments, which meant his phone was on Do Not Disturb, which meant the notification could only have come from one person. ADRIEN 🐈: cmoe ove rnow ADRIEN 🐈: like riggt now ADRIEN 🐈: plag NINO: that is literally incomprehensible NINO: wait is that you plagg ADRIEN 🐈: mov faster

So this is a “Adrien finds out that his father is Hawkmoth and consults with Nino about what to do” fic, with Nino throwing Hawkmoth off Adrien’s track, though inadvertently at his own expense. Love Nino’s perspective here, and I always enjoy a good Hawkmoth-takedown fic!

---

When the Morning Comes by @into-september

Gabriel Agreste has been unmasked as Hawkmoth, and the girl who was fighting him all these years turns out to be Tom Dupain's daughter. And standing between them is Adrien Agreste with his life in shatters that Tom Dupain has no way of piecing together. But baking is at least a place to start.

I love how this not only digs into Adrien’s character, but Tom’s as well, especially how both of them have been estranged from their fathers. I haven’t seen that come up much.

---

missing person (at the window) by @coffeebanana

Adrien expected to spend another night staring at the ceiling and ignoring his friends' messages, as he'd done every night since his father was unmasked as Shadow Moth. But when Ladybug falls through his bedroom window, he gets a little more than he bargained for.

---

This Distance Between Us by @coffeebanana

After defeating Monarch, the search for the Peacock Miraculous brings Ladybug and Chat Noir to a hotel room in London. But it's hard to enjoy the victory when Ladybug can't figure out why Chat's been so quiet, why he seems so sad. How's she supposed to help if she has no idea what's wrong?

This is a great Sentiadrien fic, with Chat freaking out about it and feeling like he’s not worthy of Ladybug’s affections, but not telling her what’s actually wrong because he thinks she won’t want him anymore if she knows. Of course, he’s wrong about that. Also there’s a pretty intense confrontation with Felix, pissing Chat Noir off is a bad idea.

---

Waiting series by @11jj11

First fic: Waiting

Every night Ladybug sat atop the Eiffel Tower, waiting for her partner.

---

Temporary Place To Stay by walkingonthestars

Caline Bustier hears the news. Caline Bustier worries about her student, whose father has just been exposed as Hawk Moth and arrested. Caline Bustier impulsively takes in said student. Caline Bustier does not know the half of what she's just gotten into.

[thestressedskittles]

My Little Cherry (Kakyoin x Reader, Smut)

Hngh yes anon! I apologize for making you wait for this! Also, as a side note, I'm pretty sure my ask box ate someone's request because it's saying I have more asks than are showing...

Request: ok ok so i got an ideeea...I need a smut with kakyoin catching s/o touching herself but cannot manage to make herself cum so kakyoin helps her..?

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: smut (under the cut MINORS DNI), gn!reader(no pronouns used but reader has breasts and pussy), masturbation (reader), oral (reader receiving)

A/N: This takes place just after Stardust, a few years after, and both you and Kakyoin are in University (something about Kakyoin and Jotaro being college students is such an appetizing thought ≖‿≖).

DISCLAIMER: Do NOT think it is okay to take our stories and post them somewhere else without our EXPLICIT PERMISSION. Do NOT think it is okay to take anyone else’s stories and post them somewhere else without their EXPLICIT PERMISSION. Giving credit does NOT count as permission. You may reblog our stories, but you may NOT repost our stories without OUR PERMISSION.

｡+.｡☆ﾟ｡+ﾟ ☆*ﾟ･*.ﾞ｡+.｡☆ﾟ｡+ﾟ ☆*ﾟ･*.ﾞ

With a loud, frustrated groan rumbling from your throat, you shove away your textbooks and flop back down to the bed. Today had felt off the moment you had woken up. It was hard to focus in class and on lectures, and even harder to concentrate on assignments that were due by the end of the week. They weren't hard necessarily, but you just couldn't muster up the willpower or focus to push through the oppressing haze that plagued your mind today.

Staring at the ceiling, you let your mind run with too many thoughts to keep track of. You could call Jotaro and Kakyoin, and see if they're free to hang out? You could afford the day off and you know that seeing your red-headed boyfriend would greatly improve your mood. Maybe you could even convince him of some other activities that involved just you and him. Alone. The idea gets quickly tossed out the window when you remember the major assignments that both of them had. Jotaro seems to have really buckled down when it comes to school. And as much as Kakyoin adored you, and never left you unsatisfied, his schoolwork was important to him and it would be a lost cause to try and shift his attention away from it.

With a deep sigh, your lips pull into a small smile. Just thinking about Kakyoin lifted your mood some. You remember seeing him for the first time upon joining the little ragtag group: he was respectful but somewhat distant. The more time you spent with him throughout the journey, the more found comfort in one another. What started as small talk and quick, blunt conversations turned into something more meaningful and fulfilling. The impromptu friendship had turned into something much more by the end of the journey. From there, you remember your first kiss, shared with him after reuniting from Dio's defeat. Your smile grows wider as you recall your first date, and the many that came afterwards before your mind lands on your first time with him.

Your mind fills with many replays of that night, most notably, the way Kakyoin had laid you down on the bed gently and made love to you. You remember his lips trailing up your neck, laying soft kisses along the way to his body pressing against yours, and the way you both shared a heated kiss, cut short with a simultaneous gasp when he finally pushed himself inside your plush walls. Unconsciously, your hands started to trail over your body, smoothing over the dips and curves, just how Kakyoin would do if he were here right now. Maybe this is what you need to relax.

With the redhead fresh in your mind, you continue to tease yourself as your mind conjures very lewd ideas of what you and Kakyoin do when you're alone. A hand slides to your breast from over your shirt, gently grasping the flesh and letting your other hand trail south. You let out a soft moan as you slowly press your hand down your shorts, grazing over the soft materials of your panties, already feeling a slight wet spot. You take it slow, letting your hand massage your breast while the other slowly teases you, your mind running wild with the memories of the nights you and Kakyoin shared, so vivid and fresh in your mind that you could almost hear his voice in your ear, whispering sweet nothings.

Feeling yourself clench just a little bit as you rub your little nub, your breath hitches and you finally pull your shorts down, tossing them off to the side. Biting your lip to muffle any noises, you slowly run your hands along your body, feeling the dips and curves, imagining Kakyoin's bigger ones were running along your body, gently squeezing. Letting your legs fall open slowly, you make your way to your pussy, teasing yourself. Before long, you can't seem to take your own teasing touches and you take off your shorts and panties, finally rubbing circles and drawing shapes, spreading your wetness all around, your sensitivity causing your hips to wiggle. Keeping one hand occupied on your pussy, you bring your free hand up to your breast again, eager to squeeze and massage your breast.

"Mm, Kakyoin..." You trail off. You tease your nipple through your shirt and clench around nothing. Your mind continues to fuel the fire that begins to burn in your core. You abandon your breast in favor of reaching down to spread your lips open, revealing your inner pink to the warm air. Sliding a finger down some more, you quickly coat the appendage and slide it in with a choked-off whimper. You wiggle your finger around before pulling it out and sliding it in. Your head tilts back and you groan softly into the quiet room. "More, I need more," you whimper out to the 'imaginary' Kakyoin. He loves to tease you, even when you beg so pretty for him. He just can't help but keep you on the edge. You tease a second finger before sliding it in. You take your two fingers like a champ, wasting no time in finding a satisfying pace, your hips beginning to meet your rhythm. "F-fuck, baby, feels so good," you moan out. Feeling a little extra needy, you begin to pick up the pace a bit, eager to feel the rush of an orgasm take away the stresses of today. Your mind replays your alone time with Kakyoin like a movie.

A whimper escapes your throat as the vivid imagery in your head keeps you on edge, seemingly not enough no matter how deeply you lean into them. Taking a deep breath, you push the slight build of frustration that's bubbling up inside of you down and take things a bit slower once more, choosing to tease yourself some more. You massage your breast and pinch your nipples, focusing more on the thought of Kakyoin's hands, how slim his fingers are and just how deep they can go, how they can reach right up to your sensitive spots that have you rolling your hips along to his movements.

"Kakyoin... please..." You whine out as your two digits buried inside of your plush walls try to sink in all the way, just barely grazing your innermost heat but they just don't feel the same. Even rolling your hips isn't enough to get your fingers deep enough. You decide to focus on his voice as well, how deep it gets when he's in the mood, full of lust and adoration.

"You look so beautiful, darling."

"I love how you look when I bring you to the edge over and over again..."

"Why don't you spread your legs for me, hm? Show me where you need me most, love."

Your eyes shoot open as a familiar voice rings louder than the one in your head. Your eyes lock with darkened lavender ones as Kakyoin stands under the doorway, a smirk on his lips. You feel more heat rising to your face at being caught in such a compromising position, even if it's by your lover. He wastes no time in walking over to you and climbing onto the bed.

"Do you need some help, love?" Kakyoin chuckles softly, his hands coming up to rub your legs and gently squeeze your thighs.

"Please..." You almost whimper out, pulling out your two fingers and before you can wipe them off, Kakyoin catches your wrist and brings his mouth over your two digits, humming as he swirls his slick and devious tongue over them and savors your taste. You don't know if you could blush any harder, but another rush of heat fills you up again and your walls pulse around nothing. You moan when Kakyoin slowly pulls your fingers out of his mouth, laving his tongue as he pulls them away, making your insides clench. "You taste so good, I hope you know that." He flashes you a smile and doesn't give you a chance to react as he dives straight for your glistening pussy. You gasp but it's quickly choked off by a loud moan as the redhead's lethal tongue swipes your clit and slit and begins to swirl.

Your thighs close around his head and he doesn't bother to pry them back open, loving the feeling of your plush thighs around his head. Instead, he wraps his forearms around them, squeezing your thighs roughly, hard enough to let you know there will be bruises later on, not that you care. The tip of his tongue dips just ever-so-slightly into your entrance before pulling away, applying suction to your clit and making your eyes roll back.

"Mm, K-Kakyoin, please!" You practically squeal as your hands go straight for his hair, threading through before gently grabbing onto a fistful and pulling him into your throbbing core, rolling and bucking your hips into his mouth and eager tongue. "F-fuck that feels good!"

You continue to moan and roll your hips as Kakyoin brings you closer and closer to the edge with ease. Knowing how he likes to be a tease, you make sure to hold onto him, keeping his mouth directly on your pussy as you feel the buildup becoming stronger and stronger before the swirling of his tongue, and a well-timed suck to your throbbing clit, cause a final snap and your walls pulse, coating Kakyoin's mouth and chin with your sweet release.

The whimpers and moans you make are sending Kakyoin up the wall as he groans against your core, letting you ride out your orgasm on his tongue and helping you through it, feeling his cock twitch as your plush thighs clamp and jitter around his head. He feels your hand loosen in his hair and your thighs slowly release his head from their pillowy prison. He pulls away from your core with a teasing, kitten-ish lick and sits on his knees, grinning at you, seeing you sprawled out and a blissed expression on your face as your glossy eyes meet his. This is definitely what you need to relax.

He leans down again and kisses his way up slowly until he's hovering over you and his smile widens as he comes face to face with you. He wipes your slick off his face and leans down to kiss your neck and jaw. "Are you still with me?" He asks teasingly, making goosebumps rise along your skin. You suck in a shaky breath.

You hum and gently tug his hair and your lips meet in a sensual kiss. He lowers himself onto you and you can feel his poking erection through his pants, feeling it throb. "Need some help with that?" You pull away with a coy smile, making Kakyoin hum pleasantly as he begins to nip at your neck, eager to leave some marks.

"Perhaps..." He trails off lightly, teasingly. One of his hands reaches for your wrist and begins to run it down his body before you cup the appendage and Kakyion flashes you a look of arousal and adoration, a swirling mix in his lavender eyes.

"It's all yours, my little cherry."

[anxietycheesecake]

There's something so "performative" about the finale, not sure how to articulate it. I mean, it's been like that for a while, but there were still sincere moments every now and then (probably from the cast putting all their actussy into it). It wanted to make a statement so bad, regardless of whether you think they were mocking us or not. "I'm not a normal sitcom, I'm a cool sitcom, like Seinfield. I don't fit in and I don't want to fit in. Have you ever seen my characters evolve? Oh... Oh... No, you haven't! I artificially took that back every single time! That's cool."

They wanted to remove the sense of a plot and a purpose that season 3 and partially season 4 gave it so hard it's like they couldn't think of anything else. It's funny because it's pointless and unsatisfying, even though we have managed to balance raunchy comedy and emotional scenes just fine before. It's easier this way and it get us Reddit praise. But here's the thing, it wasn't even that funny. Season 1 was just sitcom shenanigans and dark comedy and it was hilarious. Like, when was the last time you physically bent over in laughter while watching this show and are you sure it wasn't because the actors were making a funny voice or a funny face that absolutely wasn't scripted?

But I mean, all that aside, I think it's just cringe. It's giving "how you doing, fellow kids?" It's overdone and so eager to be disruptive it ends up being anticlimatic. "That's the point! We were trying to be anticlimatic!" Ok, bro, you're either a shit writer because you couldn't come up with an actual conclusion or because you genuinely thought that'd make good tv.

Comparing wwdits to Seinfield is like when wannabe great American novelist says he's writing the next Great Gatsby. No you're not. And I don't mean this as "wwdits isn't worth shit compared to actual high art sitcoms such as Seinfield" (I actually liked it better when it wasn't trying to become Seinfield); it's just... There's already a Seinfield. And there was already a wwdits that had found its footing and its voice and was doing a near perfect balancing act between comedy and drama, while keeping it humor-focused at all times. Your story is yours but when my book was starting to sound a lot like The Girls by Emma Cline minus the ABSOLUTE LITERATURE of it (arguably the best thing about The Girls), my mom was like "this not you, girl, what are you doing?" And that was MY MOM, not some random people on the Internet who are a small portion of the people who put food on my table (hopefully, heh -pay writers better, bitches >:(-). Like, dude, you're in your 40s, how can you be this petty?

At the end of the day, it was just petty. It read like fanfiction a troll would write. And they can try to gaslight us into buying it was actually such a smart move and amazing writing, but we know the truth. "We've thought about six possible endings for Guillermo's arc and haven't decided on one", "We kind of just come up with things that might be funny and work them into an episode"; things being said about a show one its fourth and fifth season. Absolutely valid, of course, but you can just admit you bit more than you could chew and wanted an easy way out. We get it, it's your job, do whatever you need to get that (far too small) paycheck, but don't put a "subversive" label on it and call it a perfect ending.

And if you're so willing to disrespect your fanbase or convince them they were watching a completely different show mere three years ago, for fuck's sake, commit to the bit and at least make it entertaining. Characters just spelling out things that are going to annoy the fans or prove to them it was silly to care about the shit and fart show for half and hour? THREE TIMES? Dude, you can be more subtle, media litecary's been dead for a while now. It's not unfunny in the sense that it's offensive; rather it was offensive how deeply unfunny it was. How can you manage to be this dishonest while doing everything in your power to make yourself seem even more dishonest??? smh

[a-killer-obsession]

Fuck it,

👒Strawhat sex headcanons

cos I'm absolutely on deaths door sick rn and I just wanna drabble my thoughts

🔞 Minors DNI 🔞

Luffy

Ace and entirely ignorant of anything. Come on now, you saw him on Amazon Lily. Next!

Zoro

Fucks, but half the time leaves lovers unsatisfied. Falls asleep immediately so he doesn't even see their grumpy pout. Bisexual but leans towards men

Loves to deep throat, giving and receiving

Always rough

Pretty even spilt between top and power bottom

Loves impact play, giving and receiving

Loves public sex, will absolutely keep going if he gets caught. Same goes for masturbation, even if Sanji starts kicking the shit out of him while he's still going

Nami

Gay gay lesbian gay. Loves those ladies! Big fan of tits especially

Fingerbangs like her life depends on you cumming. Call her the Squirtbringer TM

Loves to use toys on her lovers, especially vibrators and butt plugs. Loves to see her girl with a pretty sparkly diamond plug

Kinda vanilla otherwise though

Top for sure

Ties some absolutely stunning shibari

Usopp

Straight but what a ally fr. Respectful AF

Gets flustered so fucking quick if you flirt with him though so you'd have to be so fucking foward to get him in bed. You'd have to be practically riding him before he stops being a blushing mess

Actually pretty good in bed though, decent size and stamina. Never misses hittin that spot yah know? 😎

More vanilla than angel cake though, and will absolutely chicken out if you ask him to spank you

Talks big talk though. Good with his mouth at both ends

Switch but don't expect him to be a dominant top

Doesn't know the meaning of a quick fuck, this man ✨️ makes love ✨️

Sanji

Straight, for sure, don't mention that time with the waiter boy, or that time with that very muscular male customer, or that time when he-

Anyway *cough* loves having anything in his mouth. Practically begs to have his face sat on, can absolutely cum untouched from that alone. Sometimes gets so into it that he forgets he's supposed to put it in at some point and just ends up eating you out for literal hours till you have to literally rip him off

Don't mind the blood nose :P

Cums so quick once he's in that its frankly embarrassing, but he'll keep going after, for you~

Walk him like a dog 🐕 this boy is a BOTTOM

Absolutely has a praise kink

Needs it to be romantic every time or he WILL pout. He'll give you a quickie if that's really what you want but he prefers to take his time, set the mood, make you a nice cocktail and light some candles

The first time you play with his ass he'll act like he hates it, but then he'll end up shyly asking you to do it again

Wants zoro to destroy his ass

Chopper

MINOR, NEXT!

When he grows up tho... he is a deer... he likes deer... maybe a mink would be ideal actually

Robin

Oh she for SURE fucks

Pansexual but prefers older lovers

Loves to be a soft dom, big time into forcing orgasms out of her partner and teasing them

Open relationship with Franky, loves to play good cop bad cop with him and a sub (with her as good cop)

Abuses her devil fruit for sure, turns her partners into overstimulated, fucked out messes

Loves to ride faces but is also very skilled at giving blowjobs

Has no issue eating ass

No kinks are taboo to her even if she's not into it, she'll give everything a go though, for research

Really skilled with shibari, shares notes with Nami all the time

Reads a lot of bodice rippers and quite literally takes notes, like she fully has a notebook of things she wants to try and is working her way through it

Doesn't really care about getting off, she mostly just likes to watch other's get off. Sex is one big research project to her and shes more than happy to study

Franky

About as fucked up in bed as Wire, biggest deviant of the crew for sure. Wano afterparty you bet they had a long indepth conversation to compare notes, and Wire was happy to show Heat off for him and Robin

Bi with a preference for women

Has all manner of toys and furniture, probably made most of them himself

Usually a hard dom, but unlike Wire he has no problem being a bottom as well

He is a ride you will not survive, your wheels will come right off

Loves risky public sex (fic coming soon 😎)

You better believe when he rebuilt his body he gave himself the biggest dick you'll ever see, its ribebd for your pleasure and it ABSOLUTELY vibrates

Don't expect to be able to walk afterwards, but he's an aftercare king 👑

Brook

May not have the facilities to get off, but still enjoys watching

Often watches Robin and Franky, especially if they're playing with a sub. Sometimes he'll join in with a toy because he's hesitant to push raw bone against a lover (ha, bone) but usually he just watches

Plenty of imagination though, sometimes he'll tell Franky and Robin what to do, more in a suggestive way than a dominant way

I imagine he would feel sexual enjoyment the same way one might enjoy a good cup of tea. He may not be able to get physical relief but he still enjoys the mental tingle

Before he died he was a massive slut though, rockstar vibes, every carnal disease you can think off. Was big into having his face ridden and sex under the influence

Too old to understand labels but if you really took the time to explain he'd probably say he was pansexual

Jinbei

This one goes out to my homie 💖

Straight but has no problem with it if swords happen to cross. Which is just as well, since there's canonically two of them 🍆🍆 He'd also never suggest a threesome, but he'd say yes if you suggested it

Also enjoys watching along side Brook. They call it "Oldies Night" when the four of them get together to watch Franky and Robin destroy some sub

Super respectful! Will constantly make sure you're comfortable and allow you to guide him to do whatever feels best

Not big into kinks but happy to explore them if it makes you happy. Won't do anything that'd inflict pain though, even if you beg for it, he's too big of a softie

Has that deep generational sense of taboo and shame instilled in him that makes it hard to get him to open up about what he wants. You'd have to have been together for a really long time to get him to be honest. Even so, makes you feel completely comfortable sharing your own kinks and never ever makes you feel ashamed even if he's really not into it

Eventually you'll get him to reveal that he enjoys being edged and cockwarming

Not a big fan of young girls fawning over him cos of his ex-Warlord status. Much prefers women his own age. No real preference for basic humans vs fishmen vs even minks, they're all human in his books

God he's so strong though, given how much bigger he is than most woman he will straight up use you like a cocksleeve if you ask him to, I absolutely would, dear god

Never leaves a partner unsatisfied, but I think he'd avoid giving oral cos he'd be so anxious about his teeth and he never wants to hurt a lover

[projectjasper]

i started penning a post about how i always find it narratively unsatisfying when an arc ends with a conclusion the following arc breaks, regardless of how realistic the repetition of the same mistake might be, which is still true, but i actually want to talk about something else right now.

i feel like, at least at this stage, jack is in a position that is both generally unrealistic and untrue to the specific events of the series. 'jack and joker' has a clear focus on poverty and money and class issues, but it seems to treat jack in a very special way. he somehow manages to stand on the moral high ground above other characters. specifically, other poor characters. which is, first of all, a little ridiculous, since he was indeed a debt collector and, in fact, almost became the boss's son. and, second of all, is generally Not Great, because it does idolise the idea that if you "just try hard enough", you won't "allow" yourself to be backed into a corner and therefore won't have to do bad things.

now, don't get me wrong, i am not saying that our characters who have made mistakes are completely blameless. tattoo did shitty things (and hoy followed suit), safe did shitty things, hope frankly admitted to enjoying doing shitty things. however, if we zoom out a little, we will see that all these characters are in a situation that is inherently unfair to them. we have all of these poor people in immense amounts of debt and then we have this disgusting rich motherfucker whose entire wealth is literally based on making their lives as miserable and unfair as they are. and i think that, in this particular case, the series would have actually benefited from a dichotomy. don't get me wrong, i'm usually absolutely brimming with nuance and also asking "what lies outside of it?" but this shall be my exception. (though you could say that joke already brings some nuance to it - he is initially from a well-off family and he actively makes choices to the benefit of poor people, despite it resulting in him being ostracised from said family and its riches).

jack walks the line of being poor and managing not to do anything "too bad" like he is a fucking circus performer on a wire. and, don't get me wrong, he is genuinely a selfless character. he makes choices that a lot of other characters in the same circumstances wouldn't make. he remains in debt and continues working for the boss because he keeps trying to help people and pay off their debts first - that is admirable. however, he himself was already set up for more success than others. sure, being forced to become a debt collector isn't a walk in the park, but most other debtors didn't even have that choice. jack has to work for the boss in order to stay afloat - that is an undeniably hard task. the other people the boss collects debts from, however, have to come up with a lot of money out of thin air - that is not simply a hard task, that is an impossible one that is designed to trap them in the cycle of doing this impossible task forever. that being said, ultimately, jack is still poor. his own hamster wheel should be somewhere around the corner, that's always the case. this idea is where i wish they would have taken jack's arc.

from the moment when he refused to marry rose, there was no escape for him. finally, much like our other poor characters, he found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. (and i think that it's very thematically appropriate for jack's particular "i can't do this anymore, i deserve to live a full life" sentiment to be connected to love, since he is, after all, a lead of a romance drama). he made the decision to say "no" and from that point on, he was completely and utterly fucked. because, realistically, that conversation that he had with the boss after refusing rose was insane. i don't know what he would have done to jack exactly, if that was a genuine conversation and there was no exchange of jack's freedom for the ring, but it would not have been anything good.

so i wish jack had to make the actual tough call there, instead of having joke save him all on his own (and later take the fall for it). and if it was, at least in some capacity, jack's decision to steal that ring, he would finally be placed in a situation where every other poor character already inevitably found themselves in. because the entire system is rigged against all of them and they are eventually always forced to do things that they should have never even had to consider in the first place. but they deserve better than living a life set up for them by evil rich people who literally live off of their suffering and they are allowed - no, at some point they simply have no choice but to - fight for a better life.

this, in my opinion, would have been a much more powerful message and - not to circle back to my personal preferences - would have also not left us with joke making the very same mistake that we decided we should never make again at the end of the previous arc.

[rikas-things]

🗣️Rika's Yappfest Hours🗣️

⚠️¡¡WARNING!!⚠️

This post contains light spoilers for Twisted Wonderland Book 7! Read at your OWN RISK

💚💜💚💜💚💜💚💜💚💜💚💜💚

Hello, fellow Twist fans! I just wanted to bring something like this into question since it's been on my mind for a minute since the latest chapter update for Book 7.

I've been seeing a lot of unrest in regards to the pacing and/or additions of the character cards and whatnot and I thought I might want to add my two cents to this.

The biggest questions are what if the addition of the other dream segments were just there for padding/card development? And what if Book 7 ends up with a rushed/unsatisfied ending where Malleus or Idia don't get any spotlight?

For the first question, I think most of the unrest mainly comes from waiting for the next releases of each part. As a long time manga fan, I know the full pain of having to wait for your favorite series to get new content (cries in One Munch Man ꈨຶ⁠ ⁠˙̫̮⁠ ⁠ꈨຶ) and I'm sure you guys know that whole song and dance too.

A LOT of the comedic stuff can be annoying when all you wanna do is get to the juicy ✨drama✨ but I'm willing to bet had the part been done all the way through like the other books, they wouldn't have stung as hard.

Upon replaying certain parts (and fights) the pacing didn't come off as painful and I'm sure, again, once the part is over, we'll all have a great memory of it.

And as for the later, I think only time will tell. I think, with the wait time of each piece being the way that it is, that I doubt Yana and the writers would willingly put subpar chapters given how they want to tie everything together, themes and such included.

Asides

This is even more of my ramblings, things that aren't necessaryly related to the main talking points above. Can't you tell I wrote this late at night? 🤪

*Speaking of the dream segments, I remember there was some mention of how stuff like Savanaclaw Rook and Kalim's school could have been vignettes and on hindsight I'm just wondering...how could these be vignettes?

I only say this bc of the fact that the dream segments are supposed to be desires/thoughts of the people in the dreams, and I doubt the Twist team would want to make an entire vignette on something that was essentially a flashback.

They probably wanted to answer the burning questions of what Rook looked like before he transferred, or like, in Kalim's case, they wanted to tie up any loose ends that were not addressed in the earlier chapters.

Let's be honest: aside from Riddle and Idia, everyone's (the Overblotters) trauma didn't really get handled with a lot of the seriousness it should have been- or at least, there was a lot swept under the rug, and I think the dream segments could be a means to really explore the inner mechanics of the characters as well as how they plan to handle that trauma from here moving forward.

*"How was Silver able to keep using his magic without overblotting or building up blot?" ...I actually have a theory about this. Remember what Lilia said while confronting Malleus?

This would explain why many others can use their magic so freely, Silver included. Bc the dream world makes it so that the bodies of the hosts aren't affected apart from being put to sleep. I mean, it would be pretty lame if you're in a dream world and you could only do so much due to your magic not being the best, right? But what do you think?

That's all I gotta say for now. Think I'm wrong? Or maybe you agree with me? I'd like to discuss it. Thank you and bye bye!

[widow-maximov]

Older

Pairing: Wanda x Fem!Reader

Warning: Angst, slight mention of smut, soft, good ending.

Summary: Being a student and crushing on teachers was everyone's phase. But that was your reality that you didn't know it would come true...

Word count: 4.1K

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Who would've thought that you would be in this position. Pressed against a desk with the older Sokovian woman pressed against you keeping you in place.

With her lips reclaiming yours so roughly yet so delicately. You loved how her hands were eager to touch your soft skin. How she always had the excuse to touch you in some way.

You loved every second of it. Every touch and muttered apology, if yous were around other people, making it seem innocent when you knew deep inside what that meant.

She craved you like right now, and if you were honest. You were head over hills for her touch and for her in general. You wasn't even sure how this happened. You were just going to stop by her class to ask if she wanted you over tonight, and suddenly you were pinned against her desk.

Cheeks flashed red as her lips dropped down to your neck. Your hand gently tangled in her hair as your other hand held her a little tighter to not let her move away from you.

"Wanda.." Your quiet needy moan escaped your mouth and that almost drove her mad.

Her lips shifted to your ear, as her hot breath hit your already red ear. "Does this remind you who you belong?"

Her words were clear that she wanted an answer, but with the way her soft hand felt and her teeth teasing your poor earlobe, how could you even think about answering.

"Hm?" She reminded you as she hummed in your ear, as a way to bring you back to reality.

"Y-you.." You stuttered as your brain tried to not focus on how her hand was slowly slipping past your waistband of your pants.

A soft chuckle left her mouth as that's exactly what she wanted to hear. Placing a soft kiss on your cheek as she moved away, watching as your eyes displayed the need that she achieved.

"W-what are you doing?" You asked, trying to pull yourself together to not seem that needy, but that failed when there was a smirk across her lips.

"I just needed to remind you that no one can have you." She spoke at her hand caressed your red cheek softly.

Your brows narrowed in confusion as you stared at her angelic face. "What are you talking about?"

Your arms dropped from her shoulders as hers crossed with her eyes just burrowed into yours. "I saw how Peter looked at you by your locker."

Your brow raised at her. "Peter? He wanted notes from Ms Romanoff class. That's all we spoke about."

She hummed, but it wasn't a genuine hum, it was more sarcastic. "I saw you two laughing with each other. Come on Y/n, he likes you."

"He made a joke, Wanda. I laughed, gave him the notes and he left. I'm not understanding what is happening here. You pinned me and make me tell you what I have been telling you all the time? In another jealousy rage?" Now you had your arms crossed, your eyes not leaving her face.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the finest words to say. But in your defence this has happened before. Minus the way she acted today, making you incredibly hot for her, only to be left dry and high for her to question your feelings for her again.

You liked her jealousy sometimes but today wasn't the day you were a big fan of it. Especially when all you wanted was to spend some time with her, since both of you were equality busy with coursework.

"This isn't a jealousy rage-" She spoke up with her hands on her hips now.

"Oh no? Then please, enlighten me what you just did. Because I am quite confused what you were trying to achieve." You interrupted her almost immediately.

"I wasn't trying to achieve anything. I.. I was just making sure-" You knew Wanda would be stubborn over this. You wasn't even sure why you were even picking a fight. Maybe it was from the throbbing feeling between your legs that was leaving you unsatisfied.

Or maybe, it's the fact that this is a conversation that you are constantly having with Wanda. It's been almost a year since you have been with her and yet she keeps doubting you and what you feel for her.

"God. What is there to make sure? Is the way I feel for you not assuring enough?" You asked, getting up on your feet from the desk as you watched her take a few steps back.

"Actually Y/n, no. Because I never know what you are feeling. You never open up with what you feel and I am not a mind reader." She was right, she has been patient with you but her insecurities got the best of her.

But she was right, you haven't been open about what you feeling, because if you were honest. That scared the living shit out of you. Being so vulnerable with what you feel to a woman who could easily leave you.

"You know what, I am not having this conversation with you anymore." You simply stated, as you reached for your bag and made your way to the door.

"Oh yeah, so mature of you. Leaving when it's convenient for you." She stood still as her eyes followed you shift towards the door.

You turned on your hill to face her as your hand rested on the door handle. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry for talking to a classmate?"

Maybe this was triggered by the months of hiding. Not meeting none of her family members, whilst she met yours without them knowing, It was her who made you smile like an idiot whenever a notification popped up on your phone.

"No- What? This isn't about who you talk to! You are so impossible to talk to." She was now frustrated with you, as she sighed and dropped her hands from her hips.

"Me? You were the one who keeps me hidden from everything and now is insecure-"

She pointed her finger at you with a deadly look. "Shut it." Her accent was thick as her gaze was fixated at you.

"Whatever.." You muttered as you walked out, blending in with the few people that were lingering in the halls before disappearing into the classes.

Well, you had a different plans for today. That was heading home and calm down before something would be said that can't be taken back. You needed some time to think about all of this.

And so did Wanda by the looks of it. Yous practically never fought. It was rare when one of yous even raised a voice, let alone walked out on each other.

You spent the whole day at home, in your room. Watching some movies to keep your internal fire calm. Yet not long after you felt that painful feeling whenever you were away from her.

You laid on your side and fell asleep as your phone was silenced. You knew that if you got a notification, you would check if it was her. So you fell asleep as you hugged your pillow, in hopes that your mind would be tricked that it was Wanda that you held.

The morning rolled over quicker, and the will to get out of bed was something else. You had zero motivation to go to classes today but you had to. So as usual, you got ready and headed out.

You were quite early and from miles you could spot Wanda's car. The car that held unforgettable memories. You acted like you just ended your relationship with Wanda. Even though this was just a simple fight.

As you walked through the halls and into the class, sitting by yourself, Peter joined you. Smiling widely as he handed your notes back to you. "Thank you."

You smiled back the best you could and noted as a 'you welcome'. But of course he didn't get the hint you didn't want to talk. "I'm not sure if you heard, but I am having a little party at my house tonight. I wanted to invite you."

You looked over at him before Ms Romanoff walked in. "I don't know... I'm not sure what I am doing yet."

"Come on Y/n, it's barely anyone. It's all the people you know, plus me." He puffed his chest out proudly at his words.

You sighed, as you knew you needed a distraction. "Fine, I guess I can show up for a bit."

He smiled wider, moving his hand over yours and giving it a light squeeze. "Perfect."

You chuckled a little uncomfortably and took your hand out of his grip. He got the hint and flashed you a small smile after as a way to apologies.

The day went by rather quickly, the last class was Wanda's and the want to be there was almost at a zero at this point. You managed to avoid her quite good enough.

She on the other end was worried. She didn't even know if you came in, she never got to lay her eyes on you. She hoped you would walk in through her door and smile at her.

But the reality of it was far from it. Yes, you walked in through her door, but that smile was no where to be found. You didn't even meet her eyes.

The class was painful to go through for both of yous. You both missed each other very much, if anything you both wanted yesterday evening to go different.

As class ended, she called on you and told you to stay behind. So you obliged and waited until the rest of the class left. Leaving you to stand not far from her.

"Look Y/n-" She sighed as a way of defeat, she didn't want to argue.

"What are you going to pick at now?" You asked before letting her finish, clearly fed up with this subject already.

"Nothing.. I was going to ask you something." Her voice was small, quite not like her. If you looked close enough, you could've seen the darker circles under her eyes.

Your expression softened up slightly. "What is it..?"

"My family is hosting a family dinner tonight, I wanted you to come with me.." She explained, hoping you would agree. She had a lot of time to think about your words, and her constant fighting with herself made her realise how this has been affecting you both.

You shoved your hands in your pockets, as you didn't want to just give in. "I can't, I got something this evening."

That worried her, even in the smallest fights, you always said yes to her. Maybe this was a lot more bigger than she thought. She watched as you turned and headed towards the door.

Her heart sinking with each step you took way from her. "Please Y/n... Think about it, I already messaged you the address.."

You stopped only for a moment to hear her out and exited the room. You were still quite upset with everything and that just added on. You missed her but sometimes you just had to show that just by inviting you out, this wouldn't solve anything.

Wanda just hoped you would change your mind and show up. She knew she made a mistake and she wanted to do everything in her power to save this.

If she was honest, she fell in love with you and that was important to her. You were important to her, that's why reacted the way she did. She was scared that you wouldn't feel the way she does. The love she holds dearly for you.

She wanted to have every moment she could with you, before she told you how much she loves you. Ruining everything if you didn't feel the same and never being able to hold you close again.

But of course that was just her spiralling into a rabbit hole, when it was quite the opposite. You felt the same, if not more strongly.

As the evening rolled around, you were getting ready but not for the dinner. But rather the party that Peter invited you out to. Even if something was telling you, you should stay home.

But you swallowed it down as you made your way to his place. Music blasting across the street, knocking but knowing no one would hear it so you just walked in.

Peter cheered as he saw you, he was quite intoxicated but was still himself. "Y/n! you made it!"

You flashed him a small smile as one of your friends hooked her arm around you and led you inside the house. "Of course she would, she always loved a good party."

They weren't wrong, before Wanda you partied quite a lot with those lot. That's why you and Travis talk, he is friends with Carol. Your long time best friend.

Laying your eyes on her, as you walked over to her and was instantly handed a drink. "How are you?" She asked, seeing that look on your face.

You lied- Or at least tried to. "I'm okay, you know how it is. Parents have been pushing me to do better so I have been busy."

Lie

You were busy making out with Wanda than improving your grades. They already were good enough for your parents and yourself to even care more about studying.

She nodded but she wasn't a fool. She knew there was more to it. But before she could call you out on it. Peter walked over, putting his arm around you and dragging you to the dance floor.

Both of his hands were on your hips and you were forced to have yours on his shoulders. It was hard to not imagine Wanda in his place. Her beautiful eyes that were like a million stars shining when she smiled.

"Y/n I'm so glad you came. I was waiting to tell you this for awhile now." He spoke up and the image of Wanda disappeared.

"I have been crushing on you for a while now and I guess that's my way of asking you out." Yeah now you can see it. Wanda was right and once again you never listen.

Now you're stuck with his hands on your hips. The difference between Wanda's was huge. "Peter..-"

"No, I'm not finished." He stated as he placed his finger on your lips. "I have been gathering the courage for some time now, you are so beautiful that I can imagine how every guy would be so jealous of us."

He spilled this fantasy that he made up in his head to you. If he was sober right now, this would've never left his mouth.

You stopped when Bucky made his way over to Peter. Tapping him and pulling him away, letting you escape and hide away from Travis. This was your bad feeling.

Carol managed to find you after hours of searching. "What are you doing?" She asked as she sat down next to you under the table that hid yous with the cloth over it.

"Hiding from Peter and his endless love confession." You spilled as you leaned your head on shoulder.

She laughed "That's why he is looking for you everywhere. Have you been thinking about accepting?" She asked, hoping in a way to get the information she wanted out of you.

"God no, you know I am only into women." You said as you looked up at her. Sitting up straight as you heard a chuckle leave Carol's mouth.

"Women... A woman who isn't here, am I right?" She asked, she could read you so easily it was almost scary.

You looked away at your hands, nodding at her. "Yeah, you're right. She couldn't be here even if we both wanted that to happen."

She hummed at you. "Why?"

"Her family has a dinner right now, so she's busy." You confessed, as you endlessly played with your fingertips.

"What are you doing here then? Why aren't with her?" She asked you as she turned her body towards you, to analyse your body language. "Wasn't you invited?"

"I was..." You sighed and before Carol could ask you any further questions. "We had a fight and I don't even know what I am suppose to do."

"Have yous spoke since?" She questioned as a way to find a way to help you out.

"Only when she invited me but even then, I was cold and rude and I don't even know if she wants to see me anymore." You hid your face in your hands.

Carol knew you were stupid but not this point. "I mean if she invited you out to the dinner, then I am sure she wants to see you. She probably wants to talk it out."

There was a slight silence for a moment between yous, letting gears turn in your head. You looked at her with realisation that you are about to fuck it up if you don't get to that dinner.

"What are you still doing here. Move your ass and get your girl." She already knew that look, encouraging you.

You hugged her and bolted out of there. Rushing home to change into something more formal and made your way to the address Wanda messaged you.

She was worried, making excuses that you were running late to her family but the truth was you wasn't coming. That hurt her more than anything.

She wanted to be close to you and be held by you. She needed to feel your arms around her. She kept her tears in until she heard your voice.

Almost as if her prayers were listened to and she rushed to see if this was really you. There you stood, with her mother holding the door for you. Watching as you handed her a bag with a wine bottle, just the one Wanda told you many months ago she liked.

Her mother looked over at Wanda, smiling widely. "There you are, your date is here."

She sent Wanda a wink as she left to leave the two of you for a moment before she came back to finally pull yous two away for dinner.

"You came..." She spoke as she stood glued to her spot.

You sent her a light smile. Taking a few steps towards her. "Always.."

That warmed her heart, she was desperate at this point to hug you. She wanted to feel you against her and as she took a step towards you. Feeling her body relax even before it hit yours.

Wanda's mom came out, saying the dinner was ready. Shuttering any hope Wanda had that she could be held by you. Of course she was aware that everyone was excited to meet you.

You are the only person Wanda ever mentioned since her first love break up. They were excited to see what she sees in you. It must be all good if she decided to bring you here.

And that's what it was. They all were intrigued with you and how intelligent you were. Even Wanda's dad liked you, as he took you away for a moment to show you his car collection.

That's where you gave him a bit of advice how to preserve their life span by doing certain things. It made him happy that you knew so much about cars. You weren't just some girl who went for Wanda for her wealth but rather her as a whole.

The family was satisfied with who they met, letting you breathe as you stood outside. Looking out on the amazing view from their home. The amazing nature look was beautiful.

But not as beautiful as the only woman's voice that made you turn your head. "Found you."

You smiled as you turned to face her. She looked so stunning, in the well lit area. Before you could compliment her, she was the first one to speak up.

"I'm sorry Y/n for what I have done and said.." She held herself as her expression slightly changed. "I was jealous and I am insecure... I am all those things and I was scared to tell you because why would you want to deal with problems that I am battling with."

She expressed herself in the way she was thinking. Tears slowly forming on the edge of her eyes. "I am constantly worried that someone might swoop you away and I will be here vulnerable after telling you how I feel."

"I am scared because I have zero clue how you feel, and if I come out looking like a fool that will leave me in a worse heartbreak because I never knew I could feel this way towards anyone." She let one tear drop from her eye as her hands linked with each other, fidgeting slightly from the nerves.

"God... I am so in love with you Y/n, it's almost impossible to ignore. I love those cute dimples whenever you smile. Those eyes that hold so much passion for certain things. It makes me feel crazy because I imagine so many scenarios that include you."

You weren't expecting this, you weren't even expecting for yous to talk about this. Watching as she cries, her hands shaking slightly from nerves made you act.

You walked over to her, grabbed her hands and held them tightly. Looking into her beautiful green eyes. "Wanda.."

You tried to calm her down but she kept going. "It's crazy because marriage didn't even cross my mind until I met you- Not that I am saying we should marry but one day-"

Before she could finish, you pulled her into you and kiss her softly. That way you could finally say what you wanted and keep her shut. The kiss was sweet and gentle but short.

She missed you instantly but her brain was trying to process your words now. "I never knew that's how you felt and I am sorry that with my lack of communication you had to keep that in."

"But I have something to confess too, it's way over due now." You paused for a moment to make sure she was listening. "I am in love with you too, Wanda. So in love that I realised how I don't want to mess this up. I came here to fix things and to finally tell you what I was planning on saying for some time now." You finally let it out, even if this wasn't what you had planned, it was the right moment.

As you watched every doubt leave her eyes, a shocked expression turn into a smile, that satisfied you. That look that you could witness, and you were glad you could.

"You was right about Peter. He confessed his love for me and I couldn't help but imagine us. I couldn't even picture being anywhere near him when you are the only woman on this earth that would make my heart beat almost out of my chest with every touch." You admitted, because if yous were being honest with everything then she needed to know.

She couldn't help it anymore, her lips were quick to find yours and that was a way for her to seal every word that has been said. Her hands cupped your cheeks as you held her extremely close to you.

God you loved that woman with every fibre in your body. Her salty tears were ignored because all you cared about was her. She pulled away slightly, looking into your eyes before giving you small kisses to make this moment last.

"You are the best thing that happened to me" You added as she hugged herself into your chest. Smiling from ear to ear and being happy with everything that has happened tonight.

She hummed as she acknowledged your words before looking up and speaking up. "See, I did have a reason to be jealous over Peter. I did say he liked you."

You rolled your eyes playfully, as you smiled slightly. "Yeah, well he wouldn't have the same affect on me with the way you do, when you pin me against the desk from this so called jealousy."

She chuckled as her eyes never left yours, this was what she wanted. This moment where you both feel pure happiness and nothing else.

It was you and her against everything. Now she knew everything would work itself out, even if it was going to be hard. She wasn't going to give up. Not now or ever...

⸻⸻⋙ᗢ⋘⸻⸻

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[golden-boy-of-the-gazette]

My brain keeps running back to the idea of Danny's first time having sex sooo

Gender neutral reader, nsfw, incredibly brief mention of overstimulation that doesnt even go into detail. Probably has typos and probably isnt formatted too well but I'm just getting thoughts down.

I imagine he wouldnt be too focused on it during school. Seeing as his dad sounded super strict and awful he was probably more focused on school work. Not to mention he was most definitely a loser. Is he pretty? Sure, doesnt change the fact that he was too quiet and got caught staring all the time but once he graduated and was free from the pressures of his father- y'know.

I imagine he would be nervous but wouldnt show it. He wouldn't admit that he's never had sex before so hes sloppy, incredibly sloppy. He doesn't know how to move his hips, where to put his hands- not to mention his doesnt know where the clit is at this point. He is incredibly touchy though, not even in a groping kind of way. In a just barely grazing their skin with his fingertips kind of way. Until it's not. He gets more used to it and starts to get a bit more bold, using his full palm, getting more and more greedy. He starts groping eventually of course but he's starting to want to taste. He uses his mouth. Soft kisses that get hungrier until hes biting, not knowing exactly how to give hickies but hes leaving marks regardless. Hes groping at their thighs, holding them close while he nips at their throat, imagining bitting a chunk out of it. That's what gets him going. Now hes not thinking right. Hes thinking of another design about the person hes with, thinking about killing them and leaving them on display for everyone to see. Thats what's really giving him a hard-on. Not the shitty porn star-ish moans that are reverberating in his ears, no, hes imagining them gurgling, choking on their own blood but- ah. His thoughts are interrupted by the slightest touch on his cock, eliciting a slight grunt of surprise from him.

He tries to take the lead but his movements are so sloppy and poor that he ends up being the bottom, getting ridden instead. He's fussy and loud, scratching at their thighs as he holds back tears from overstimulation. Hes not thinking about his partner during this at all, mind completely blank, only ever thinking about himself. He's muttering useless pleas under his breath that are coming out as incoherent nonsense, tilting his head back and groaning deeply- he doesnt last that long. Maybe 7 or 8 minutes. He doesnt feel bad. Hes ready to go another round but his partner is ultimately left unsatisfied anyway.

[qpjianghu]

**UNDER THE SKIN 2 FINALE SPOILERS**

man... I have thoughts (and, certainly, feelings)

* *

* *

SERIOUSLY DON'T LOOK UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED

* * * * * SORRY I HAVE VACATION AND NOTHING ELSE TO DO WITH MY TIME

*

Okay!

To start at the very final scene, I can't believe the season actually ended on the cliffhanger of Du Cheng getting stabbed. I had seen that spoiler ahead of time, though I honestly wasn't even mad because it made the anticipation greater for me -- *extreme Gordon Ramsay voice* "finally, some good fucking whump." And when the credits started to roll on the finale, I was a bit disappointed, but figured the Du Cheng stabbing was just an elaborate deepfake. Because there's no way they would shoehorn that into the last 30 seconds of the season, with no confirmed season 3 at the ready... right?

Ugh. Minutes after finishing the finale, I honestly can't yet tell if I'm mad because I'm excited for more or just mad mad. Either way, it's definitely unsatisfying. Leaving viewers unsatisfied is certainly one way to ensure they all come back for another season, but that approach necessitates there actually BEING another season (prayer circle ACTIVATED), and it is still, IMO, a kinda cheap storytelling technique. ESPECIALLY when another season is far from certain (RIP to all my cliffhanger-ending shows that never continued... Prodigal Son, Flashforward, I will never sleep well at night again because of you...)

But okay, fine, cliffhanger mileage aside: The finale left me a bit cold in the same way that the season 1 finale did. In season 1, there was all this tender and intricate build-up to the resolution of Shen Yi and Du Cheng's longstanding trauma-feud and then one day Du Cheng just... forgives him? And then Shen Yi gives up his artistic destiny and becomes a police officer?? (That image of the two of them standing side by side in their uniforms always rubbed me the wrong way, and I think @lunarriviera put it best by saying it's giving extreme "take your kid to work day vibes," which is SO TRUE lol.)

Also: We never even find out who M was (do we? Did I just totally miss this?) -- which is a pretty bold narrative pivot if you underline and highlight the point you're trying to make (ie: life is messy, you can't solve every mystery, you have to learn to live in the liminal spaces of forgiveness and faith and lack of certainty, etc.). The fact that I'm not even sure if the main mystery / tension was resolved at the end of the season shows that, well, it could have been made clearer either way.

When I started season 2, I was ready to brush all of my previous reservations under the rug, because I'll tolerate almost anything just to watch two gay men solving crimes it seemed like the show was actually addressing my aforementioned quibbles. And not just addressing them: using them as narrative fuel for deep and complex character develoment, and to propel philosophical and emotional tension between our two leads. Season 2 wrestles with ideas about existential responsibility: is Shen Yi misusing his god-given gifts by working for the police? Does a person have a utilitarian responsibility to live their life a certain way? What does real criminal justice look like? And is murder actually okay if you're a lonely opera-loving middle-aged sweetie pie with doe eyes?? (I love you, Ge Yutian)

I mean, shit, this season did such a good job of convincing us that all humans deserve empathy and catharsis, and that maybe Shen Yi is onto something with his criminal psychology atlas thing, and the storylines this season were, brilliantly, devastatingly, not about the crimes or even the criminals but about the humanity of it all.

Which brings me to Fang Kaiyi.

The season very obviously set up Fang Kaiyi as a mirror for Shen Yi. Shen Yi even states this outright, both to Fang Kaiyi himself and to Du Cheng (which honestly felt a bit unneccessary, as it was giving intense Main Character Energy from Shen Yi, geez). Regardless, I actually loved the set-up and development of Fang Kaiyi and Shen Yi as foils. This is an excellent way for an episodic drama to use the B plot to shed light on the relationships and struggles of the main characters.

My problem with it is.... the resolution makes no sense! Not to be an antogonist simp on the main (because I'm really not), but: accessory to murder (which itself felt very cheesy and moustach-twirly, tbh) aside, what did Fang Kaiyi really do so wrong?* The season does such a fabulous job of building up the ethical murkiness of contemporary genetics research, positioning Fang Kaiyi at the center of a very relevant debate that, to most of us, truly does not have a clear-cut moral imperative or resolution. And this plotline so brilliantly intersected with Shen Yi's thirst for knowledge (pssst I love how he calls Fang Kaiyi's lab his "Eden") regarding the innermost workings of the human heart.

And the resolution of all this is: actually, it is all black and white. Fang Kaiyi, who pushed boundaries, is evil, insane, wrong. Shen Yi, who pulled back from the precipice, is good, steady, correct.

(For that matter, what was wrong with a young Shen Yi, that he talks about wanting to "save" Fang Kaiyi like Du Cheng "saved" him? This hearkens back to my s1 finale complaint about Shen Yi's arc resolving with "and now the wayward artist fulfills his destiny of becoming a police officer yayyyy", which I THOUGHT this season was addressing, but it turns out... not really.)

And the TLDR of it all is that Shen Yi betraying Fang Kaiyi was KINDA EXTREMELY SHITTY (Fang Kaiyi tearfully telling Shen Yi "I opened my heart to you and you betrayed me" ... he's right and he should say it!!) and also retroactively subverts all of the delicious tension of Shen Yi's character arc this season. So, was Shen Yi stringing Fang Kaiyi along the whole time, and was not once actually tempted to push past the boundaries of conventional ethics and societal norms? Please, he's an artist; he exists to tug at societal norms. Okay, so maybe he was tempted, but ultimately found his way back to Du Cheng the side of the light, to use the show's language. When and how exactly does this shift occur? It's just frustrating that this entire season teased the idea of Shen Yi hovering over a precipice and then... never actually pushed him over the precipice.

Meanwhile, Shen Yi starts ranting about how Fang Kaiyi is subverting the natural order of things and maybe there is a spiritual reason for the fetus dying (I swear I half-expected him to go on an anti-abortion rant or something). Cut to the Bejiang police crew triumphantly being like yay! we policed so well!! Anyway... it felt icky.

My other complaint with the resolution of this whole plotline is that Shen Yi's grand breakdown / revelation is shown in a flashback. A flashback! Why on earth does that not play out in real time? Was that not supposed to be the core part of what this entire season had been building up to? Also why wasn't his boyfriend Du Cheng there to comfort him??

(Btw: Gay as hell to sit teary-eyed in a room full of paintings of your archnemesis, bereft and aching...god, the fics write themselves...)

Alright, alright, enough of me complaining about subtle copaganda, I obviously knew what I was getting into here. It's just so weird to me that both seasons 1 and 2 set up these juicy questions and encourage us to dig deep into the murkiness of these gray areas only to just circle back around to... criminals bad! police good! law and order 4eva! natural order good! progress evil! Even Shen Yi and Du Cheng's extremely insanely unequivocally romantic reconciliation in the finale primarliy speaks to their recommitment to... catching criminals, I guess??

(Part of me wonders if the show is bending over backwards trying to figure out a way to keep Shen Yi and Du Cheng together without putting them in a romantic relationship, because IRL they can just.... have different jobs and still BE TOGETHER, jeepers, it's not that hard. Du Cheng is a police captain, Shen Yi runs an art therapy studio, and they're boyfriends. DONE.)

On a final note: this truly IS one of the gayest cdramas out there and I am here for ALL of the angst and pining <333

If anyone wants to chat, hmu, I'm vibrating at an intensity heretofore unknown to humankind and would love to DISCUSS. In the meantime I'm gonna go touch some grass.

--

(Full disclosure: I understand that the narrative resolutions may be a result of censored ideas and ideals, so if that's the case, I'm really just venting my frustrations as a western viewer.)

*This is may be an area where I'm just confused about the plot -- everyone was all up in arms about Fang Kaiyi gene-editing the Zhou Shanshan / Cao Jian embryo, but wasn't that... the whole point?? And I'm definitely missing something about the sketchy involvement of the hospital... but all of this is still to say, it would have been more interesting if Fang Kaiyi weren't breaking any actual laws, just psuhing ethical boundaries.

[taffywabbit]

it's so hard for me to think of what any of my personal GOTY picks might be this year, because every time I think about one of the really kickass games I played/beat for the first time this year (that's what I'm going off of btw, not release date) I then have to remember "oh right I also played Pseudoregalia in like. February. and then proceeded to play it 90 more times, including once yesterday. I think there's some compelling evidence that I might've liked that game a little bit more than this other stuff" lol

...that being said, I think my other top contenders for stuff I played during 2024 would be (in no particular order):

- Noita (obviously. I can't believe I ALSO didn't start playing this until early January, it feels like it's been way longer. funny wizard explode)

- Cavern of Dreams (easily one of the best attempts I've ever seen to recreate not only the visual style of an N64 game, but the precise FEELING of playing one as a kid and exploring for weird secrets)

- the Paper Mario TTYD remake (I ended up going for 100% on this one, it's honestly some of the most fun I've EVER had streaming a game. I've never seen a remake knock it out of the park this hard, this shit is absolutely packed full of loving detail)

- Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (I haven't quite finished it yet but I'm confident in including it here. friendship ended with Fire Emblem, I actually just need more of whatever this is)

- Zelda: Ultimate Trial (an OoT romhack that has no business being as good as it is. I jokingly called it "the Undertale Yellow of Zelda fangames" when I finished it and honestly I still stand by that)

- uhhh sure I guess Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom can go on here too (it's not a new series favorite or anything but it was still a ton of fun and I loved collecting funny Zelda monsters like Pokemon lol. very solid dungeon/puzzle design too, a real return to form)

and I guess if you want my LEAST favorite games of 2024 I'll include those too but put them under a cut:

- Corn Kidz 64 (kinda janky and imprecise controls coupled with overly punishing platforming, a really unsatisfying sense of progression, and humor and general vibes that I just found to be kinda rancid and offputting overall)

- Penny's Big Breakaway (I was SO excited to play this one, but was really disappointed. the level design is just kinda baffling and frequently makes you waste time doing side objectives for no reward or loops you back on yourself, the controls are weird and make it extremely easy to misinput and die accidentally, and it constantly throws score/combo elements in your face but nearly every move you can do will instantly take away all of your momentum unless it's 100% perfect. I couldn't even force myself to finish this one. at least the music whips ass tho)

- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (I've started and quit this one many times but this year I forced myself to play it to completion on my switch, making liberal use of savestates. it didn't help that much. I wrote a whole reflection earlier this year about the ambitious and interesting stuff this game tried to do and why it never quite works - I think I only posted it on cohost, I should probably retrieve that before it gets deleted)

- Dr Robotnik's Ring Racers (listen if you didn't have any attachment to SRB2 Kart before this "sequel" came out then I probably can't really explain to you why I loathe this thing so much in terms of actual design differences. all I WILL say is that I'm furious we got this, which is a completely different fucking game that's super overtuned to solely appeal to a very specific kind of highly technical player niche and scare everyone else away, as a REPLACEMENT for just getting a goddamn update to add CPUs to SRB2 Kart. it's all I ever wanted, and now because they turned that update into DRRR instead, I will never get it)

also I just think it's funny to put it in perspective here that I'm choosing NOT to put Donkey Kong 64 on this list, which I did 101% complete earlier this year. so that's the bar, anything on my Least Faves list is stuff I enjoyed less than the experience of streaming the entirety of DK64. I really did have more fun beating Beaver Bother 3 times than playing Corn Kidz. I don't know what that says about me

[unclassedguy]

I don't think I really enjoyed the latest chapter, and honestly from the way things are looking I'm probably not going to enjoy Jujutsu Kaisen's ending either....

I obviously like the characters, I like Yuji, I like Nobara, Megumi is alright.....I get wanting them to be happy. A lot of the stuff I draw in fact involves putting characters I like into silly situations as though they aren't in constant suffering in the source material (I'm immune to being serious 💔).

However, I feel like I'm not really vibing with this 'the trio is alright and they'll all be happy together' ending it seems Gege is setting up. I think part of it stems from the way Nobara and Megumi have been handled these past chapters. There was so much hype for Nobara's comeback.....I get it, she's a badass and fun character who's time in the story was cut awfully short.....I really do understand why so many people would want her back, but I just don't really like how close to the ending her return was and also the fact that up until that point it seemed pretty heavily implied that she had died. Not only that but her 'death' was such an important moment for Yuji and part of what made Shibuya and Yuji's story so tragic and Mahito so reprehensible as a villain. Nobara coming back so suddenly without even proper time dedicated to her (as in actual hints that she was alive and more chapters to explore the dynamics of her return and her contributions to the battle beyond one move) to make it feel even a smidgen satisfying just didn't sit right with me. The first thing I thought of upon seeing the chapter of her return was that it felt like fanservice. It felt like the type of thing a fan of the story would write for the 'hype' and not a choice that made sense. It was the same thing as Yuta returning in Gojo's body. People like Gojo, and having a chapter make it seem like he was coming back of course got the fans' attention. But in the end the story could've still worked well, maybe even better, without Yuta-jo's addition to the fight. It was unessecary.

Then we have Megumi who's been through so much for a good chunk of the story now. His body was taken over and used to hurt people he cares about, most of all his sister who is pretty much the center of his world, the person he loves the most. He'd given up, he'd sunk to the lowest depths submerged in Sukuna's evil. I feel like he sprung back pretty quickly......I don't think I'm as iffy about Megumi's return as I am with Nobara's considering Megumi actually at least got some pretty good and decent scenes with Yuji getting through to him and now also a talk with Sukuna.....but I dunno, I still don't know if I enjoyed how it was handled, particularly the fact that he just kind of comes back with no consequences after all the shit Sukuna's put his body through. I mean, he has a couple of scars sure but is that really all you'd expect after the world class beating he just got?????

Then we have Sukuna, reduced to glob of flesh. I don't mind Sukuna getting a pathetic death. After all he's done I think he deserved getting flung off his high horse and trampled on the ground. It still felt really abrupt though and like it didn't get enough time considering he's been such a big pain for months now and is one of the major antagonists. He's just suddenly gone and it felt anticlimactic and unsatisfying. I would've also liked to see at least a bit of what he was like in the Heain era.....

Hakari and Uraume too 😭. We really got none of their fight and when Sukuna is gone Uraume just....evaporates???? It honestly felt like Gege was just trying to get them out of the way so the series can end already and not an actual conclusion to their character. I wish they could've gotten more depth beyond being just Sukuna's loyal servant.

Them there's of course all the things Gege still hasn't touched such as Jin being Sukuna's twin, Kenjaku being Yuji's mom, the merger etc. Those things I guess I'm not as sad about because I'd already come to terms with the fact that Gege isn't going to get into them, at least not to the extent I would've wanted. It still sucks though.

Maybe I'm just a hater, maybe I don't understand what Gege was trying to do, maybe it's just a matter of preference. I think Gege probably tried his best with jjk using what he had and I don't think it'd be right to hate on him. And even if I am kind of dissapointed in where this story is going I don't blame anyone for liking it.

I may just not like 'happily ever after' endings or something. Not to say Jujutsu Kaisen is some super uplifting story even if the main trio has survived. There's still characters who have died and stayed dead, but it's still definitely a happier ending than what I expected.

At the end of the day, I like stories that put their characters through the wringer. I like stories that destroy everything their protagonist has ever had and turn their world upside down and accept no half-assed reparations to the damage they've caused. I like stories that fuck up everyone involved but still let at least one of them be smiling by the end, even if they're alone, because life is still worth living. Honestly, I would've preferred Yuji move on by himself than for a happy ending to be squeezed out of jjk's remains in a way that didn't feel satisfying. Though maybe I wouldn't be so sour about an ending where the trio gets to live together if we had just had more time to make it feel right. To make it feel emotionally impactful and like it wasn't just hype. I'd take a bittersweet but well-done ending over a half-assed good ending and a well-done good ending over a bittersweet ending....y'know?

Well, that's just my opinion.