#come onnnnnn where's the fun in that

[starpros-sunshine]

Sometimes I wonder why cold symptoms always get worse in the evenings there has to be a logical explanation for that

[tacit-semantics]

Completely failing at writing dialogue for rise leo which honestly IS a bit surprising like im not gonna pretend he’s right in the wheelhouse but he’s wheelhouse adjacent at least. Knockin at the wheelhouse door. Soliciting. Etcetera.

[hitomisuzuya]

scaramouche x fem!reader. fluff. scara being drunk and in love. drunk voicemails. soft scara. college au

i have aventurine smut planned, but i have wanted to write something like this for a long time. the lyrics are from somewhere only we know by keane.

scaramouche had plans to go out last night. but you didn't feel well, so you told him to go out with xiao without you. to have fun and not drink too much. he protested at first, saying "what kind of a man leaves his woman to go out when she is sick?" complete with trademark huff, and crossed arms.

scaramouche hates being without you. really, really hates it.

the next morning, feeling much better, you rolled over and grabbed your phone to check the time. you discovered you had several voicemails. you'd been so deep asleep that you didn't hear the phone ring.

they were all from scaramouche.

"fuck, you'd better be asleep, kitten," came scaramouche's very slurred voice, "i really hate the song playing. i wish you were here so my ears aren't bleeding alone. i don't know why xiao fucking loves this song. it's stupid pop crap. i miss you. fuck, i am so in love with you. you should feel my heart. it goes skip, skip when i think about you. it's kind of annoying--" end of voicemail.

he must've hit the recording limit.

"hey kitten, listen, it's a song you like. more pop crap, but the piano is kind of clutch, not gonna lie," you heard shuffling for a moment, he must've been taking his phone from his ear and holding it out so you could hear the song. after a few moments of hearing shrilled music, he must've put the phone back to his ear. "fuck what's it called again?" you heard some drunk sounding humming before the voicemail stopped.

smiling, you went onto the third voicemail. you heard somewhere only we know by keane come through the speaker again. only this time, you heard scaramouche's slurred voice singing the song to you. "i felt the earth beneath my feet. sat by the river and it made me complete. you make me feel complete."

scaramouche stumbled and hummed adorably to the part of the song he didn't know. your smile widened. "oh simppllee thing, where have you gone..yeah, kitten where are you? i miss you. i'll be he medicine that makes you feel better. fuck how does this song go?" the voicemail ended.

the fourth one immediately started with scaramouche singing, more slurred than before. you found out later from xiao that he'd fed the jukebox at the bar with 5 bucks to play somewhere only we know over and over so he could call you back to sing the parts of the song he wanted to sing to you.

"i'm getting old and i need something to rely onnnnnn. fuck hold on, i wanted to sing this part to you first..no, did you hear the made me feel complete part? you make me feel complete," you heard drinking noises and a heavy sigh.

"dude, scara, she is probably sleeping. you are going to wake her up," xiao's voice interrupted.

"fuck off, you shithead! i'm serenading my kitten! go put another dollar in the jukebox, i'm not done, she needs to hear this!" the voicemail ended.

the last voicemail started with him humming somewhere only we know. "i need something to rellyy on." at this point, he was just singing random lyrics. "wait, hold on..made me feel complete. something to rely on..xiao! xiao! these fucking lyrics, these fuckers really wrote this whole song for her," there was some shuffling noises. "xiao, we gotta go fucking kill keane!"

he was deadass convinced the band was in love with you and wrote the song for you so they could steal you away from him.

later that day, you played the voicemails for scaramouche. 'oh my god..i got so drunk last night" he said, dismayed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

"what? i thought the voicemails were sweet," you said, grinning at him. you gave him a quick kiss on his lips. "i'm keeping them." you had to say that before he asked you to delete them.

he sighed. "fine. keep them. not another soul hears them," he hissed. he was incapable of saying no to you.

[mattnickchrisfan]

Best Friends Brother - Matthew Sturniolo

summary: you’re best friends with nick but there’s something about his brother, matt, you just can’t resist…

warnings: pure smut, fluff, oral f!receiving, fingering, hickies, making out, dirty talk, unprotected p in v (please wrap it before you tap it), pet names (baby, sweetheart, my love, princess), slow burn (2.1k words before they get it onnnnnn), cliffhanger??

a/n: heyyyyy everyone!!! my name is layla and this is my first fanfic!!! i'm still really new to posting (but definitely not new to tumblr 😏) so bare with me as i try to get used to my writing skills. also pleaseeee message me if you have ANY requests im so open to requests as i usually dont know what the fuck to write about so i would love to make you guys happy with writing what you’re wanting. i lowkey had so much fun writing this so i really hope you guys like it. anyways enough yapping. lets get freaky!!!

w.c: 3.2k

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You couldn’t help it. 

Everytime you try to brush it off, that feeling, it just keeps lingering in the air. 

But no one knew what’s going on in your dirty mind….so it was okay right?

Right?

“Ughhh I’m so tired, I barely got any sleep last night.” You plop down onto Nick’s white couch. Nick invited you over to hang out with him for the day and spend the night at his house.

“Same! Matt and Chris hopped on Fortnite at like 2am and I couldn’t fall back asleep. Those assholes,” Nick opens a Dr. Pepper and takes a big sip.

You’d been best friends with Nick for as long as you can remember. Ever since freshman year of high school. You guys just clicked. That’s it. It just felt right. You guys became even closer after you were the first person he came out to. You guys had some ups and downs throughout high school but you eventually made up and became besties again. 

Nick’s brothers were a different story. Chris and Matt. They were triplet brothers so of course they were inseparable. They automatically became your friends too. Chris always felt like a younger brother to you. Always yelling, screaming, burping, doing anything to annoy you. Sure, you thought that Chris was a little hot but your relationship was strictly platonic. 

“Where’s Matt and Chris?” You ask Nick.

 “Probably still sleeping since they went to bed so late last night.” Nick rolls his eyes. 

Just as he does so, you hear a bedroom door open with a creek. You immediately know from the footsteps who was about to walk in the room. 

There it was. That feeling. You’ve had crushes on guys before that make you feel a certain way when they walk by you or look at you, but, he made you feel something different.

Matt. Matthew Sturniolo. Your best friend's brother. 

As you guessed it, Matt walks into the living room and greets Nick. He then stops in his tracks and looks straight at you. 

Goddamn those blue eyes. 

“Hey y/n,” he mutters. Your heart flutters as your stomach does a backflip. Act cool. “Uh- he- hey Matt!” you stutter. 

Fuck! What happened to acting cool? 

Nick side eyes you. “You good, y/n?” 

Shit. “Uh-ye-yeah, I’m good.” Nick laughs, “Why are you blushing? You weirdo.” 

“I’m not!! Um- I mean, I’m not. I’m just…it’s hot in here. I need some air.” You quickly get up off the couch and run downstairs to open the door. You start to take deep breaths. “What the fuck is wrong with me?” You say out loud. All of a sudden you hear a car door unlock in front of you. 

Matt’s car. 

You whip your head around to see Matt standing right infront of you with his keys in his hand.

“Wanna come for a drive with me?” Matt asks, taking a second to soak you in, looking at you up and down. 

You look down, trying to hide your red face as much as possible. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. I’m down.” Matt smiles, “Good.” 

That one word made you feel the need to clench your legs together. Putting the thought away, you make your way to the passenger seat of Matt’s car. You buckle your seatbelt and take a breath.

“You okay? You’ve been…kinda off lately.” Matt focuses on pulling out of the driveway but has a slight concerned look written on his face. “Who me?” You stutter. “Yeah I’m fine. I’m honestly just stressed with college and midterms. All that shit.”

You lie to Matt. Your midterms are done. 

The way you’re feeling has nothing to do with school. 

You and Matt drive in silence for a while, the hum of the engine filling the space between you. The windows are down, and the cool air brushes through your hair, but it doesn’t seem to cool the heat building in your chest. Your heart is still racing. You’re still flustered. You can feel the weight of his gaze on you, and every time you steal a glance at him, your pulse quickens.

It’s not just the way he looks at you, though. It’s the way he sees you. You’ve been friends for years, but lately, something in the way he acts has shifted. He’s been more aware of you, more present in a way that makes it hard to breathe. The way he holds his gaze a little longer when he speaks to you. The way his shoulder sometimes brushes against yours in the kitchen when you’re both reaching for the same thing. 

Matt isn’t like that with anyone else. 

And it messes with your mind. 

You look at him now, the way his hands grip the steering wheel with ease, his knuckles slightly tense from his grip. His jaw is clenched, his lips pressed together in a straight line, as if he’s concentrating on the road. But his eyes flick to you when he thinks you’re not paying attention, and you catch him studying you with that intensity. 

You try your best to ignore it, but it just keeps coming back to haunt you. 

You push the thought away and try to stay focused on the road even though you weren’t even driving. A couple minutes later, Matt breaks the semi-awkward silence. “Are you hungry? I have something that I think you might like…”

“What?!” You exclaim. 

Damn your dirty mind.

–––––––––––––––––––

You and Matt get home from the In-N-Out drive thru, burger wrappers and empty soda cups in both of your hands. As you walk up to the front of his house, Matt turns around, opening the door with his back, never breaking eye contact with you as he does so.

Why was that so hot?

He holds the door open for you and you walk inside first. He then follows behind you. “Nick! Chris! I’m home!” He yells. No one responds. “Hello? Nick? Chris?”

They’re not home. It’s gonna be you and Matt alone in his house…

“Oh fuck I forgot Nick has a shoot for Spacecamp and Chris went with him. It’s just gonna be you and me then. Is that okay?”

You try to hide your blushing face from him for the umpteenth time since you first saw him. You wanted to say ‘No Matt. If I’m alone with you, I won’t be able to stop myself from getting you to fuck me right on your kitchen table’. Did you actually say it? 

No. 

‘Y-Yeah of course, it’s fine.”

“Perfect.” Matt smiles at you and you swear you saw him look at your lips before signaling you to walk up the stairs

Could this be it? Could this be the day that you finally tell Matt how you feel? Or even better, could he admit to having feelings for you first? He did look at your lips…right? 

Matt lets you walk up the stairs first, trailing behind you. You can practically feel his eyes on you from behind and it sends a shiver down your spine. You walk towards the white couch you were just sitting on not 2 hours ago. But this time you were alone with Matt, not Nick. You eventually sit down on the couch, Matt making an effort to sit impossibly close to you. 

“You’re not really good at hiding what you’re thinking are you?” Matt says, his lips curling into that familiar smirk. “You look like you’re about to pass out.” You laugh nervously, trying to play it off, but it only makes things worse. You’re both so close, and the space between you feels like it’s shrinking by the second. That teasing smile fades from Matt’s face, replaced by something deeper, something more serious. And that’s when you both realize it: the tension has been building to this moment, and there’s no turning back now.

“Matt…I- there’s something I need to talk to you about-” 

Your words are cut off by Matt slamming his lips onto yours.

After the kiss breaks, Matt pulls back just enough to catch his breath, his chest rising and falling with the same wild rhythm that matches your pulse. His eyes are dark, filled with something raw, something that makes your stomach flip and your heart race.

He runs a hand through his hair, clearly trying to gather himself, and there’s a brief silence between you two, heavy with all the unspoken things that have been building for so long. The air is thick with desire, but there’s an undeniable tension—an internal conflict brewing beneath the surface.

“God, y/n,” Matt mutters, his voice low and strained. “I’ve wanted that for so long. I can’t believe I’m finally—” He cuts himself off, and when he looks at you again, his gaze is both intense and vulnerable. “I’ve tried to push it away. I’ve tried to pretend like I didn’t feel this way. But every time I see you, it just—God, it kills me.”

You swallow hard, the weight of his words sinking into you. 

He feels the same. He’s thinking the exact same thing that you’ve been dreaming about for God knows how long.

The kiss has left you breathless, but now there’s a different kind of tightness in your chest. You want more. You need more. But you can’t ignore the voice of reason that’s still whispering in your mind, warning you of the consequences.

“Matt,” you begin, your voice trembling despite your best efforts to stay calm. “This…this isn’t right. We can’t just do this. What about Nick? He’s your brother. And my best friend.” You don’t know why you were saying this as you were wanting this for just as long as Matt has. 

The mention of his brother seems to hit Matt like a punch to the gut. His jaw tightens, and for a moment, he looks like he’s struggling with something deep inside himself. He reaches for your hand, his fingers warm against yours, and when he speaks again, his voice is thick with emotion.

“I know,” he breathes, shaking his head slightly, his thumb brushing the back of your hand. “I know this isn’t right, y/n. I know I should be thinking about Nick. I am thinking about him. But every time I’m around you… it’s like I can’t think about anything else. You’re all I’ve ever wanted. I just… I can’t pretend anymore.”

You meet his eyes, your heart pounding as his words sink in. I can’t pretend anymore. There’s something in his tone, something raw and honest, that makes your breath catch in your throat.

“I want you too,” you admit softly, your voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Matt. But how can we do this? How can I do this knowing it might tear everything apart?”

Matt moves closer, his forehead pressing gently against yours, and you can feel the heat radiating off his body. “I don’t have an answer,” he murmurs, his lips brushing yours as he speaks. “I don’t know how this is going to work, but I can’t keep pretending that I don’t feel this way. I don’t want to hide it anymore.”

You close your eyes, trying to steady the storm inside you. You’ve wanted this for so long, but the guilt is suffocating, and the reality of what you’re about to do hits you like a tidal wave.

“We can’t keep doing this behind his back,” you say, your voice shaking. “What happens if he finds out?”

Matt exhales sharply, his lips brushing against your ear, sending shivers down your spine. “I don’t know,” he admits quietly. “But I know that I can’t keep pretending that I don’t want you. I can’t ignore what’s between us anymore.”

You pull back slightly, looking at him, your hands trembling as you rest them on his chest. You want to lean in again, feel his lips against yours again, but the weight of the situation is heavy, too heavy to ignore.

Matt’s hand slides down your arm, his fingers brushing against yours as he takes your hand in his, squeezing it gently. “You’re not going to hurt him. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know that right now, in this moment, all I can think about is you.”

He leans in again, his lips barely grazing yours. “I don’t care what happens next,” he says softly, his voice a low rasp. “I just know that I need you. And I don’t want to let go of this… of us.”

You can’t deny it any longer. You want him.

“Fuck it.” You smash your lips to his once more, your body needing to taste him again, craving him. At first, it was soft, sweet, gentle. It then turned to a hot and rough kiss, as if you guys were making out to make up for all these years your feelings have been bottled in. He opens his mouth and lets his tongue explore yours, fighting for dominance.

Was it wrong?

Yes.

Did you care?

Fuck no. 

You feel Matt’s hands start to roam your body and you can’t help but feel a sensation starting to tingle down there. Matt groans into your mouth, begging to taste more. You loved the way his lips worked perfectly with yours, soft and pillowy. You make out for what feels like hours before you pull back from the kiss, panting, lips red and swollen. 

“Bedroom. Now” You demand. 

Without saying anything, Matt scoops you up and you straddle your legs around his waist and wrap your hands around his neck, never breaking eye contact. As you guys walk to his bedroom, Matt looks like he could float, lust dancing in his eyes. 

“You don’t understand how long I’ve been waiting to do this.” He’s lost in your eyes, drunk off your taste. He needed more. 

Matt plops you down onto his bed and you feel his hands start to roam your body. “Matt..” You whisper. “I need you.” You reach the bottom of his shirt and he guides your hands to slowly take it off of him. You run your fingers through his toned abs. “Oh my god, y/n.” You glance at the obvious bulge in his sweatpants. His hands continue to explore your body as he starts to kiss your neck, sucking and biting lightly at the sensitive skin, admiring the purple marks he’s claiming you with. 

“Fuck, Matt, your hands feel so good.” 

“Wanna see what else my hands can do?”

Your pussy immediately throbs at his dirty words. You slowly and sensually take your shirt off to reveal your perfectly round tits. Matt might actually pass out from how good you look. His hands find the waistband of your shorts to pull it down, cold air hitting your barely covered core. Matt stares at your lacy blue thong, licking his lips as he admires how your juices glisten in the low light. He pulls your thong to the side, hooking it with his middle finger, muttering about how wet you were for him.

“I’m gonna make you feel so good, princess.”

You practically moan just from his words as he licks your aching centre, finally getting the taste he’s been wanting. You gasp from the sudden warmth of his tongue on you. “You taste so good, my love.” He then latches his lips on your clit and begins to suck lightly.

“Fuck, Matt.” You cry out, your hips starting to jolt. Your hands find his hair as you pull on his messy locks. He moans against your pussy, the vibrations sending waves of pleasure all throughout your body. Matt then slides his lanky fingers easily into core, pumping fast as his tongue continues to work magic on your bud. Your eyes roll back in your head when a familiar feeling starts to grow in your stomach as your first orgasm of the night quickly approaches.

“Matt- I’m gonna-”

Just as you speak, the band in your stomach snaps as you cum, profanities mixed with Matt’s name slipping from your mouth. Matt’s cock twitches in his pants, begging to be released as the beautiful sounds you were making was torture, not being able to be inside of you. Matt continues to fuck you with his fingers as he laps up all of your release, wiping his mouth clean. 

He climbs on top of you, attaching his lips to yours, giving you both a break before he fucks your brains out. You taste yourself on his tongue as you moan into his mouth. He begins to mark the other side of your neck with hickies as he whispers into your ear,

“I need to feel your pretty pussy wrapped around me, baby.” 

Yet again, you moan at his words, your pussy still throbbing from the previous orgasm. Matt rushes to take his sweatpants off and his pre-cum stained boxers while you slide your thong down your legs and off of you. You watch as Matt’s cock springs out of his boxers and your jaw drops at his length.

“Holy shit, Matt, if I knew you were packing so much, I would’ve wanted you to fuck me much earlier.”

He scoffs, “When have you ever not wanted me to fuck you, y/n.”

You giggle softly cause you know it’s true. You’ve been dreaming about this since the day you laid eyes on Matt. 

And now it’s finally about to happen.

Your thoughts are interrupted as Matt slams his length into your tight pussy. You scream as Matt bottoms out, thrusting himself in and out of you. 

“Fuck, you feel so good. You like the way I’m stretching your pussy out, don’t you, princess?”

Your brain is too fucked out to think of a response other than letting out a pornographic moan. Matt groans with each thrust into you and your vision starts to turn blurry as you feel your second orgasm of the night approaching. 

“You take my cock so well, sweetheart.”

Matt’s tip hits your spongy g-spot each time he pulls in and out of your sopping core and that’s all it takes before your legs begin to shake, back starts to arch, and you begin to moan louder.

“Fuck, Matt! So good- I’m close...” You cry out.

“Oh yeah? You gonna cum for me, princess? C’mon. Cum all over this cock.”

Matt feels your pussy tighten around him as your second orgasm hits you like a truck. Matt continues to fuck you through your high, feeling his climax quickly creeping up on him. 

“Shit, gonna cum.” He manages to say before asking the question of the night.

“Where do you want me, baby?” 

“Fill me up Matt. I need you. All of you.”

You feel Matt’s cock twitch as hot ropes of cum shoot inside of you, filling you up, as you wanted. Matt’s groans as he milks himself dry. He plops down beside you, both of you fucked out, panting. 

“That was-”

You couldn’t even finish your sentence because the sound of the chime indicating that the front door was opening…

There’s no way

“Matt? I’m home!!” 

Nick. He’s home.

You and Matt whip your head towards the open bedroom door as you hear footsteps coming upstairs. 

Shit.

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a/n: yall want a part 2?? OMG WHY WAS THAT SO FUCKING HARD TO WRITE well thats my first fic for yall hope you guys enjoyed!!

[mvrkieboo]

Lord, just saw that ask on what if YN is bitter. And ykw? WHAT IF THEN THERES A LOT OF REGRETS LIKE COME ONNNNNN 😫 I really wanna good ending but damnnnnnnnn that scenario on YN being bitter? UGH LURVE THE ANGSTY 🥲🥲🥲❤️❤️❤️

pt. 2 of this ask right here

You've been missing your classes. For 6 days, exactly.

For the first three days, Prof. Suh nagged Xiaojun endlessly for an explanation for your absence, but at one point, all of your lecturers stopped bothering him about it. Xiaojun began to wonder if the lecturers could finally tell that he was simply not your friend anymore—until Prof. Suh suddenly held him back again today. As always, Yangyang and Aeri tagged along.

The lecturer pulled out a fruit basket, patting on it as he gave the three college students—for some reason—a sympathetic look, it even came across as apologetic too. Was the fruit basket an apology for something?

"Listen, I wanted to visit Y/N today, but some bullshit last minute meeting got scheduled—so can you guys pass this on to her for me? Tell her I'm sorry for the messages I sent too—I didn't know at the time. Thanks, guys."

The three looked among themselves, weirded out. Why would Prof. Suh buy you a fruit basket? When Aeri opened her mouth to ask for further explanation, that's when the professor's phone rang—and he took the call immediately.

When he saw that three students were still hanging around his desk stupidly, he pointed at the fruit basket then to the lecture hall's doors—telling them to get out.

Yangyang took the fruit basket and walked out the hall, wondering why the fuck would Prof. Suh bring a fruit basket for you?

There was a folded card stuck to the basket, and they were too curious to leave it alone. Flipping the note to read the contents, it was Prof. Suh's writing, but they realised that this fruit basket was on the behalf of all of the lecturers of the faculty.

May we see you again on brighter days, Y/N.

– On behalf of all the staff of NCU's Business & Management Faculty

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ever since celebrating Jaehyun signing on to SM Entertainment as a singer together, Mark's friend group and your—well, your old friend group hung out a lot at the place where they held the party, which was at Soyeon's café in Sinchon. Geonwoo's mom liked having them come over too, so they often had a fun time together at the café.

"What's with the fancy fruit basket?" Mark got to beat Haechan to it, since everybody was curious about the fruit basket Yangyang was carrying.

"Well, we're actually hoping that you would know, Mark—has Jaehyun mentioned anything about Y/N recently? Did something happen to her?" Xiaojun smiled hesitantly at Mark, and Yangyang places

Mark leaned away from the table, confused as to why Xiaojun would ask that, especially since your name would sometimes be a taboo topic to approach. Yangyang pointed at the card and Mark opened it to read it, now eyebrows all furrowed.

"May we see you again on brighter days? That sounds pretty serious." Haechan read the writing out loud from over Mark's shoulder.

"Listen, this fruit basket is gonna go bad if we don't immediately send it to her, and the staff's money would go to waste that way. How about this—you pass on Y/N's new address to me, I'll drop it off, and then this whole thing can be settled instantly." Yangyang spoke with a jaded tone, leaning back into his seat.

"I don't know her exact address, but I do know what apartment she moved into." Mark offered, and Yangyang nodded gladly.

"Oh, Mark, that would in fact be better. I could just drop it off at the front desk and tell the person to pass it on to her."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

In the end, Mark offered to accompany Yangyang for the drop off, mainly because everyone could see Yangyang was ticked off that he had to do this, and if he ran into you, Mark being there was to mediate the situation.

One look at the apartment complex and they realised how much of a downgrade it is from your old place. Granted, anything else could be considered a downgrade compared to the luxury condo you used to live in, but your current apartment looked almost run down and shady.

Mark couldn't help but still feel a little bit bitter and envious that you were willing to move into this kind of place if it meant you could live with Junyoung. Did you really love him this much to endure living in a place like this? Mark was a broke college student too, but even he wouldn't settle to live in an apartment like this.

But, in your defense, it only looked run down because the apartment was old, dated, and looked like maintenance is done once a year only. It still had a lobby with a front desk at least, manned by a relatively old dude who looked well into his 60's.

"Excuse me, but could you please pass this on to one of your tenants? We don't know her exact unit, but it might be under the name Jeong Y/N or Lee Junyoung." Mark talked amicably, not wanting to piss off anyone in this apartment.

The older man behind the desk moved to take out a thick binded file on the shelves behind him. It was a long 3 minutes until the man finally got to the page he needed. He raised his eyebrows, looked at Mark and Yangyang, then looked at the page again.

"Kid, the unit you mentioned was a crime scene. The cleaners just arrived to wash away the blood and the mess. The tenant—Lee Junyoung—is already dead. A week ago, he stabbed his girlfriend before killing himself—but I heard the girl survived and is currently recuperating at Taeho Memorial Hospital. It's better if you brought this basket there instead."

Mark and Yangyang went blank and dead silent at the information, felt like the whole world froze for a moment, both of their bodies frozen still—then they took off without thanking the old man, bringing along the fruit basket with them into Yangyang's McLaren. On the way to the apartment's parking lot to reach Yangyang's car, Mark was already dialing Jaehyun's number.

Jaehyun was in the studio, nodding along to a beat he was really liking when his phone rang, flashing Mark's picture on his screen. Mark knew he'd be busy, and Mark always liked to text instead of calling anyway. Suddenly feeling dread and a weird sense of urgency take over him, he quickly excused himself out of the studio to take the call.

"Jae, did you know?" Mark sounded like he had the wind knocked out of him, and Jaehyun frowned at the sudden question.

"Know what?"

"Stop fucking around! If you knew, why wouldn't tell me about it? I mean—you know I still care for her and that I'm still not over her yet, so why the fu—"

"Mark! Bro, calm down. What are you talking about? You're speaking in riddles, man—I don't understand what you're trying to say." Jaehyun walked to the windows, looking down on the city as he heard Mark take deep breaths before speaking again.

That was when Mark realised Jaehyun didn't know. He messed with his hair as Yangyang began to drive the car a lot faster than what he was comfortable with. Did the dude even know the directions to Taeho Memorial Hospital?

"It's Y/N, Jae. Junyoung's dead, he killed himself—but before that, he attacked Y/N and—and she got stabbed. She's currently recovering at Taeho Memorial Hospital. Fuck, this is why her lecturer wanted us to give her a goddamn fruit basket."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

You wheeled yourself out of Dr. Kim Sejeong's office. She was a wonderful therapist, and you could tell there was progress in your mental health after you agreed to take up therapy to heal yourself—but it didn't change the fact you had felt pushed to do this the first time you entered her office.

You came to a halt when you saw two men rose from the waiting seats outside Dr. Kim's office. You felt your face going stiff, when you realized Kyungsoo and Taeyong had been waiting for you.

These were the two sneaky assholes who roped Junmyeon into their plan in convincing you to get therapy. You still remembered how hard you cried on Junmyeon's shoulder five days ago.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So you found his body." You spoke out, sounding soulless.

Junmyeon nodded beside his old partner, Kyungsoo. Taeyong was busy getting coffee at West Wing's café. A kid ran past in front of your wheelchair, giggling as it chased a butterfly with her mother just right behind her. The hospital's garden was spacious, but there were still some tricky pebbles she should look out for.

"Yep. Yoonsu hadn't been lying—Junyoung was found at the abandoned plant nursery. They were just about to renovate it when we came with a search warrant—ah, the school's director was so annoying, kept bitching about how he didn't want it to leak to the media. People like them are the reason why I decided to become a cop." Junmyeon sighed deeply, loosening his necktie at the memory.

Kyungsoo smirked at the older man, making a snide comment on how the commissioner shouldn't be so crass in front of a civilian. Junmyeon slapped him at the back of the head—it wasn't like he wanted the position, but it was thrusted upon him. Turning it down would anger a lot of people, and that included his own grandfather who had given a lot of gifts to the old commissioner for Junmyeon to be selected as his successor.

You stayed stone faced as the two bickered, and when they realised you were staying quiet, Jumyeon looked at you then shared a look with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo had told him over the phone you might possibly be suffering from a...kind of depression of some sorts after everything Yoonsu made you go through.

You needed someone to push you into the path of proper recovery.

Both men saw Taeyong walking out of the West Wing with a bag in hand, so Junmyeon nodded at Kyungsoo as he fished the inner pockets of his blazer, and Kyungsoo not so discreetly walked away, signalling Taeyong to turn on his heel too.

Junmyeon reached for your hand, forcing your closed fist to open and placed something on your palm. When you pulled your hand away, you saw it was Junyoung's nametag pin. You felt your heart skip a beat as you looked at it, buried memories unearthing themselves inside your mind.

"...you know, I couldn't stand Junyoung the first time I met him. He was more crass than me, arrogant, prideful—and most of all, he was so goddamn selfish. I hated that guy, if I have to be honest with you, Y/N." Junmyeon hunched over, placing his elbows on his knees.

He stared right ahead, watching an older brother carrying his younger brother on his back, probably boasting about how strong he was to be able to carry his little brother. Junmyeon let out a pained smile at the sight.

"But after he met you, that selfishness started to chip away. He was still arrogant and foul-mouthed—and if he was alive, I've no doubt he would still be that way—but he couldn't afford to be so selfish anymore when it came to you."

You felt your eyes water as you closed your fingers around the nametag, then you felt Junmyeon's hands cover yours, as if he was also trying to keep that nametag safe from the world like you were.

"Kyungsoo told me. About all the things you said Yoonsu said to you before he killed himself, how your own friend dismissed you when you asked to speak with your brother one last time—Y/N, you have to know that all those things he said to you will never be true, you're not selfish. You deserve to live a life beyond Yoonsu, Y/N. You deserve to live a life beyond Junyoung too. He didn't die because of you, he died because of Yoonsu's selfishness—not yours." Junmyeon spoke softly, watching you cry without making a sound.

"I know you resent your friends for leaving you, and I know you also feel like blaming yourself for it because you were the one that pushed them away first, but you can't keep wallowing in your pain all by yourself, Y/N. If they had hurt you so badly, they should apologise to you—but how could they realise what they did wrong and apologize if you're not letting them know?" Junmyeon started to wipe away your tears, even as you started to shake your head.

"But I can't seem to let it go. I don't know if I could forgive them even if they apologize to me. I don't think I'm strong enough to do it." You sobbed out, feeling so ashamed of yourself.

Junmyeon tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear before he placed a hand on the back of your head. This was the same head that his late step cousin loved so much, the same head that Junyoung sacrificed his selfishness for.

"Then get help. Get therapy, receive some counseling. Me and Kyungsoo are scared that if you continue to be like this, you might..." He trailed off, and he didn't have to finish it for you to understand what he was trying to say.

"Please? For Junyoung, at least? He loved you so much, kid. He deserves to see you live a life beyond all this pain, all this suffering...and you owe it to yourself too. Living in misery would just let Yoonsu win in the end. Don't let that asshole win, Y/N."

He saw how your shoulders slumped. You relented, and you started to nod. His hand on the back of your head stretched around your shoulders, letting you cry on his. Finally, Junmyeon felt like his debt with Junyoung was now paid tenfold. At last he got to find where Junyoung was after all these years, and the girl Junyoung loved so much was finally saved from Yoonsu's hold on her.

At last.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Detectives, if my memory serves me well, you belong to Gangnam's Police Force, not Seoul's." You grumbled, not having the strength to fight off Taeyong who was pushing your wheelchair for you.

"And that makes it illegal for us to visit you?" Kyungsoo scoffed from beside you, making you roll his eyes.

You began to tap your foot on the footpad. Kyungsoo caught it, and smirked when he realised he was annoying you. Great, he thought, it's payback for all the times you greatly annoyed him three years ago. It's even more fun when you can't find it in you to whip out snarky comebacks to use against him

"How was therapy? Can me and Taeyong finally go inform your family now? Or are you gonna stall our work for another week?" Kyungsoo side eyed you, and you whipped your head to look at him.

Taeyong cracked a smile, finding it both humorous and heartwarming to see you both bickering. You had been so despondent during the first days, it had him and Kyungsoo relieved to see you having a personality again, even if you were constantly grumpy every time they came and visited you.

"I told you already, Detective Do, I'll tell you when I'm ready. Stop trying to push me to—"

"Y/N?" The familiar voice had you silent in a heartbeat.

Kyungsoo and Taeyong stopped in their tracks, and you included since you were getting wheeled by Taeyong. All three of you stayed frozen at the doorway, seeing so many people in your private room that weren't your doctor and her usual entourage of medical students and nurses (Junmyeon pulled some strings to get you a private room once you were transferred out of the ICU ward. Sometimes you forget Junmyeon also came from a rich family like Yangyang and Chenle).

Inside your room were your remaining family members (Yuno, your father), your foster family (Geonwoo, Woojin, Soyeon), Mark, and your classmates (Xiao, Yangs, Aeri). They felt their breaths stop when they saw you sitting limply on your wheelchair, deep purple bruises all over your face.

You dug your nails into your lap and began to stand up from your wheelchair, alarming Kyungsoo and Taeyong who knew that you were supposed to change your stitches today. Everyone else in the room began to go after you too, seeing how the two men with you were panicking to see you walking by yourself.

You felt like Kyungsoo and Taeyong had betrayed you. You had immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was the detectives that called them over, even when they knew you weren't ready to face them again.

"Kid—" Kyungsoo yelled out, placing a hand on your shoulder when you were already out in the hallway, but you pulled your shoulder away from him so violently it had him going pale, worried that you might tear open your stitches.

And when Taeyong glanced down to the spot where you had been stabbed, he staggered when he saw blood seeping through the shirt the hospital had given you to wear.

"Y/N, stop!" Kyungsoo yelled out again, rushing over to stand in front of you.

The commotion caused everyone in the hallway to stop and witness the scene. Some nurses began to crowd you however, as some of them were already familiar with you and your injury, not wanting you to run and escape when your stitches were obviously ripping. Taeyong held your shoulders from behind while Kyungsoo closed in, forcing you into a bear hug to limit your movements.

You raised your arms and started to pound on his chest, tears streaming down your face at the pain of your stitches ripping open and at the betrayal you felt. The bear hug forced you to your knees, with Kyungsoo whispering something into your ears to calm you down.

"It wasn't us, kid. We didn't inform them. We don't know how they got here, okay? We wouldn't betray you like that. We didn't call them over, Y/N." He spoke softly, and quickly swept you up to carry you in his arms and into your room to lie you down on your bed.

As soon as he lied you down, your doctor came in with her team, immediately pushing everyone out of the room and closing the door in front of them.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Who are you people? How do you know my sister?" Yuno asked stiffly, obviously still frazzled from the commotion you caused earlier.

Taeyong and Kyungsoo stared at the people before them. Just right as Kyungsoo was about to tell them who they were, a voice down the hallway rang through, gathering everyone's attention.

"Detectives!" Dr. Kim, your therapist, appeared.

She staggered back a little when she saw national darling and viral sensation Jeong Jaehyun in front of her. Sejeong tilted her head at him then looked at the detectives for a proper explanation. She just heard that you made a commotion earlier and tore open your stitches.

"I'm sorry, but who are these people?" Sejeong asked sincerely, seeing that all of them were waiting in front of your door.

"Dr. Kim, meet Jeong Y/N's friends and family." Taeyong spoke tiredly, pinching at his temple.

Sejeong balked.

"No! Y/N wasn't ready to see them again, detectives, so how could you! Didn't you promise that you'd only reach them out and inform them once they're ready?" She nearly shrieked, now upset on your behalf.

Kyungsoo and Taeyong looked at your friends and family—well, former friends and family. Both detectives understood that they shouldn't let personal bias cloud their judgement on people (it's literally their job to be that way), but they couldn't help it when all they could see at the moment was Y/N's sole source of pain, now that Yoonsu's dead.

"That's the problem—we didn't inform them. We were wheeling Y/N back to her room so we could spend some time with her and see how she's doing, but when we got to her room, they were already there inside it. It's why she freaked out and tore open her stitches." Taeyong explained thoroughly, looking straight into Yuno's eyes.

"You didn't answer our question earlier, asshole—who the fuck are you, and how do you know Y/N?" Yangyang spoke out this time, stepping out of the group and coming face to face with both of the detectives.

"Okay, time out! Detectives, please take these people to the canteen downstairs to give them the rundown of it. You can't keep crowding the hallway like this, and it's also within Y/N's best interest that you don't overwhelm her once the doctor's done with fixing up her stitches." Sejeong did a karate chop in the air between your friends and family and the detectives.

"Why should we follow your orders?" Mark asked genuinely, and Sejeong sighed at him as she showed them her badges.

"I'm a psychologist working for this hospital, and I also happen to be Y/N's therapist. Please, I beg of you for the sake of my patient, go to the canteen with the detectives. I can't breach patient confidentiality, but these detectives are obligated by the law to explain to Y/N's family on what happened to her."

A/N : might post a pt. 3, but i also might not 🫨

[spaceagebachelormann]

peter with a reader who always forgets things??!?!

like she forgets where she put her sword and to drink water and he has to constantly chase after her and remind her??

that's so cute

ty babe <3

peter pevensie with a gf who forgets things.

♬ fandom: chronicles of narnia

♯ genre: fluff

♪ mars thoughts: AJAJAJAJJA I LOVE HIM SM <33 this is perfect because he’s the loml and i suck at remembering stuff 😭 also i put it as hcs cause that’s how i first imagined it in my head!! dividers by @/benkeibear

♮nav - masterlist

hes so <3

like you’re just walking around minding your own business and then you’re like “hey. wait where’s my water???”

and then your pretty bf is beside you holding it like “you forgot it AGAIN”

and then he lovingly makes fun of you for forgetting you put your water bottle in his hands before walking away and not saying anything

other than the fact he’s constantly chasing you to remind you where you put something (and this can be fairly annoying to him) he finds it cute <3

he’d try to find a way to help you remember when you put them but you forgot how to remember it 😭

you tried dw

he also. kinda hoped you didn’t because he liked being the person you came to when you needed help finding stuff

he seems like one of those people who gets rlly happy knowing he helped another person

so it’s like a huge ego/energy boost for him

BUT if he’s leaving for somewhere and won’t be back for awhile he starts writing down where you put things and gives you the paper so you can look and add to it <3

would def say “don’t forget you have the paper” to be a lovingly boyfriend bitch

ALSO ALSO if you forgot your sword it’d be the funniest thing ever to him

cause like you’re this rlly strong and talented and very pretty sword wielding girlboss

and nobody knows that seconds before you wielded the sword you couldn’t even remember where you put it

and if you forget things like drinking water or even eating cause your busy

he’s a little upset cause like. you’ll die?? if you don’t?? but he doesn’t ever like chastise you cause he knows you’re busy

so he just reminds you or brings you water and food and is kinda just like “eat”

also. he didn’t cook that food. man can’t cook for shit

but if you forget it because you’re just forgetful and not busy hed def scold you a little

it’s not that like. effective 😭 cause he’s just standing there like “you can’t not eat y/n!! >:(”

AND if it takes place in the normal world instead of narnia and y’all go to the same school i have some thoughts

you’ll be like sitting in the cafeteria kinda upset cause you forgot your lunch

and he comes up and sits with you and has like a whole extra lunch prepared

hes so <3

and if you forget to do your homework or some shit like that right before the teacher comes to collect it he slides his hw onto your desk and tells you to write your name and gets in trouble for you

and then susan gets mad at him and everytime she knows you have homework she makes you come over and helps you with it <3

and he also helps!! i feel like he’s english/history smart and susan is geography/math smart so they like choose certain subjects to help with

it gets to the point where they have a whole detailed schedule

edmund is horrified with it because it hangs on the wall and is extremely visible

hes known for trying to destroy it with lucy’s help but that’s not important

MOVINGGGGG ONNNNNN

he’s overbearing. and he knows it.

at first he tries to like not immediately think you’re leaving after forgetting something

BUT HE CANT HELP IT

he asks what you forgot and when you run back inside to get it he probably starts laughing

i’ve officially run out of ideas for this <3 but tysm for requesting it

it made my brain itch /pos

[heygerald]

Falling Without A Harness - Chapter 5

AU where Tom Ryder is still an asshole, just not a psychotic one. When he has good news, but no one to share it with, Parker invites him along to her brother's birthday party. A moment of weakness, or a moment for him to prove he's more than just his Hollywood ego?

read the story here: prev / next

"—and Jody said she was going to wear something simple, maybe jeans and a t-shirt, but I'm not really sure I want to match that vibe or go for something a little more, you know, fun. Maybe I could finally break out the bucket hat tonight," Colt's voice droned on from the phone tucked indelicately into the crevice of her neck and shoulder. Parker was only half listening, as was the usual when it came to her brother's incessant rambling about anything related to the pretty blonde camerawoman, and while he talked, she made work of slowly peeling strips of painters tape from the freshly painted wall. The ball in her hand was nicely sized by this point of the conversation. "So, anyway... uh, wait, what was the point?"

"Was there a point?" she mused aloud. "I stopped listening when you started talking about some pony she rode once at her twelfth birthday party."

She heard him snap his fingers. "Right—the birthday party."

"Hers or yours?"

"Mine! Listen, I know that you all put a lot of work into planning this shindig—"

"Shindig? God, you're old!"

"—but I would really appreciate if you told me what to expect tonight. Just a hint will do. I'm not trying to show up wearing dress shoes to a disco if you know what I mean."

Parker stuck another piece of tape onto the ever-growing ball with a blithe snort. "I never know what you mean."

"Park," he whined, much like a child, and not the thirty-something year old man that he was. Was this year number thirty-seven or thirty-eight? She should probably figure that out before putting candles on his cake. "Come onnnnnn. Just tell me. Just a hint!"

"And ruin the surprise? No way, Jose."

"But it's my birthday surprise! You can spoil it for me. I mean, realistically, no one would blame you if, maybe, you accidentally let the surprise slip. It'd be expected coming from you, actually."

She frowned. "What do you mean it would be expected coming from me?"

"Well, you know, you can't keep a secret to save your life."

Parker tossed the ball of tape into the trash and picked up the broom with an indignant scoff. "Excuse me, I am a very good secret keeper."

A long winded and high-pitched whine followed, and she winced at the volume of it. Parker switched the phone to her other ear, certain that between her brother and Melissa she had permanent hearing damage.

"Oh, so now all of the sudden you're a locked vault!" he blathered on. "Where was this dedication to silence when I got sick at Macy Lindwigs wedding and you spent the entire evening telling everyone you could find?"

An image of Macy Lindwig, dressed to the nines in a beautiful handmade wedding dress, staring in horror as her brother puked in an azalea bush three minutes before the ceremony started came to mind.

"Oh, I totally forgot about that," she snickered, the memory almost too sweet to ignore now that it had been brought back up. "You ruined her heels that night, you know. What was I supposed to do? Not tell everyone?"

"For starters. Or, at the very least, you could have refrained from blabbing about it at Christmas," he muttered petulantly. "Grandma never looked at me the same way again. She still won't let me near her rose garden."

"Cause and effect," Parker chirped. "You drank one too many tequila shots the night before, and thus, you have to suffer the fate of Grandma judging you every Christmas Eve."

"Miami Vice premiered the night before!" he argued, shouting, in what she suspected was a deranged manner. Parker hoped he was somewhere public; perhaps a grocery store or laundromat. "Just another example of how you can't keep a secret for the life of you, not even when your brother's good name is at stake. Your only true sibling, might I add."

"And here I thought I was an orphan found in a box."

She could hear Colt kicking something, palm clasped over the speaker as he whined, before he was back. "You're worse than Judas, you know. You ruin lives just for the fun of it, no silver needed."

"Are you offering silver?"

A cough. "Uh, I mean, I'm a little tight on silver at the moment. I think I have a free sub from Publix somewhere around here."

"A coupon. Wow. So generous."

"It's a punch card, and those aren't easy to fill out, you know," he huffed indignantly, obviously put out that Parker wasn't going to accept his lackluster offer. "What if I say pretty please?"

"Ha! Nice try. I happen to like Jody, so even if I wanted to tell you what we're doing tonight—which I don't—I'm not going to. She was really excited to help me plan this year."

Some spluttering followed her resolution, before he was kicking something again. Apparently, whatever he kicked was harder than he thought, however, and the next moment her brother was wheezing in pain.

"Jesus, take it easy, alright? You're going to need your toes for tonight."

In a breathless voice, he weaseled, "tonight at...?"

But Parker was no novice when it came to keeping secrets from her brother, and so she didn't fall for the trick. "Ha, nice try," she snorted while stooping to sweep her pile of dust and paint chips off the ground. Shades of green and white stained her hands, but she didn't bother to clean them off. It would be a pointless endeavor, after all, considering what they had planned for Colt's birthday party later that evening. "I'm trying to stay on Jody's good side."

"Both of her sides are good sides," was his immediate response, something wistful coloring his tone. "She's gorgeous. If you haven't noticed."

"Trust me," Parker deadpanned with a blithe glance at her own disheveled appearance, "I've noticed."

"Do you think I should bring her flowers?"

"To your birthday party?"

"Girls like flowers. Plus, she's planning the whole thing."

"I helped!"

"I'm not bringing you flowers to my birthday party, Park. It's not about you, you know."

"Right, of course, how could I have forgotten?" she deadpanned. However, despite his disinterest in showing her any gratitude, Parker smiled at the concept that there was a man out in this world so infatuated by a woman, that he not only spent all his time talking about her, but he also wanted to bring her flowers for no good reason. If only she could find someone like that who wasn't her brother. Wishes and wants, she supposed. "As nice of a thought as that is, don't bring her flowers tonight. They'll end up wilted by the time she gets back home from the party. If they aren't totally trashed first, that is."

His tone pitched higher, eagerly. "Trashed? Why would they be trashed? Are we doing some floral vandalism tonight? Oh!" Colt cried, hands clapping together. "Are we going to a wreck-it room? I've always wanted to do something like that. You know, somewhere that wasn't on a set, anyway, where I'm being beat up for a living with props."

Parker covered the speaker of her phone to curse at herself. While she hadn't ruined the surprise, Colt was like a dog with a hambone, and was not likely to let it go anytime soon.

She cleared her throat and attempted indifference. "Not even close," she said, but it didn't sound super convincing, and with an exasperated huff, she threw her hands up. "Jesus, Colt, you're going to get me into trouble! Just chill out. Jody should be picking you up soon, anyway."

"Picking me up soon for...?"

Colt's whining was interrupted by the tinkle of the front bell, and as she switched her phone back to her right ear, Parker took a moment to scoop up the paint-splattered tarp sprawled across the floor.

Melissa had been on to something with her suggestion to repaint the store, and while they had only gotten the walls finished over the past two and a half weeks, the mossy green color with gold accented picture frames really gave some life back to her shop. It still had that musty smell, as well as a pair of flickering lightbulbs from the janky electrical sockets, but they were definitely taking a step in the right direction. The color made everything feel cozier, and once they coated the bookshelves with shades of blue and yellow and replaced the overhead fluorescents with something warmer, she thought it might look like an entirely new store for the price of a few gallons of paint.

Not to mention the color stood out from the recent tan and brown trend that had swept across Hollywood hills. Win, win.

"Ugh! Stop trying to spoil your own surprise and let it happen, alright? You're going to love it," she pacified half-heartedly while booting a stool out of the way. Too deep of a breath had the smell of laquear and paint fumes killing off some braincells, and Parker dropped the tarp along with the rest of the paint materials with a cross-eyed huff. "Plus, it was all Jody's idea, so if you hate it, I would keep that to your..."

Parker paused halfway up the aisle.

On the far end of it, a brown and black colored dog sat patiently wagging its tail at her. Its tongue was sticking out of the side of its mouth, but despite Elon Musk's predictions about the existence of intelligent life in the galaxy, she was pretty sure that the local population of Hollywood mutts had yet to grow opposable thumbs capable of opening a door.

She blinked at it.

"Er, listen," she muttered into the phone, gaze darting past the dog, but not seeing its owner. "I have to go. There's a dog situation that I need to take care of."

"A dog? I've been asking you for years to get a dog, and now you finally decide to get one on my birthday! That's so totally fu—"

Parker hung up before he could complain any further, and slowly tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. The dog barked at her, as if excited to finally have her attention.

"Er—hi. Did you—how did you get in here?" she asked.

It responded by tilting its head to a ninety-degree angle. She stared, waiting, as if the language barrier would suddenly disappear.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't. The dog barked a second time.

"I don't have any treats on me," she said again, not sure else what to say, but certainly feeling like she should say something. It trotted towards her, and though it seemed friendly at first, when it stuck its head into her crotch to take too deep a sniff for comfort, Parker jumped backwards. "Ah—fuck! Buy a girl dinner first, huh?"

She sidestepped the dog, hands splayed out in front of her like she was a robbery victim, and did her best to avoid being felt up as the dog followed her towards the storefront. It nosed her rear end, and Parker let out an undignified squeak.

"Jesus! I know the humane society is underfunded and all, but this is a little ridiculous, don't you think?" she asked it.

The dog darted in front of her, nose going right back for the crotch, and Parker just barely managed to leap onto Melissa's sunken reading chair when an increasingly familiar head of blonde hair stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves.

"Talon, Jean Claude," he said, and as though the dog hadn't just been harassing her, it plopped down onto the floor right beside him. Dog and owner blinked at her in bemusement. "Don't seriously tell me that you're afraid of dogs."

Parker shot him a disgruntled glare in response, but Tom didn't seem to mind the heat packed behind it. Instead, he smirked at her, crossed one arm over the other, and languidly leaned back against the front counter.

It was obvious he was laughing at her, and not with her, and Parker added it to the list of all the things she couldn't stand about Tom Ryder. Worse though, she couldn't help but subconsciously smooth a hand over her hair, because where Jody was effortlessly gorgeous, Parker required quite a bit of effort not to look awful. And right now, with paint-stained pants, a half-assed pair of dutch braids, and miscolored converse, she was certainly not showing him her good side.

If she even had one, that is.

"I should have known you would have a pervy dog," she said while looking down her nose at him. Literally, too, considering she was still standing on the chair. Parker flushed a bright red at the realization and none-too-glamorously clambered down onto her feet. "And French, too. I think that's stereotyping, Ryder."

Despite the distrustful look she shot the dog, he seemed a whole lot less pervy and rabid now that she knew he had an owner, and when she approached it, its tail flapped back and forth excitedly.

"Insulting an entire country?" Tom harrumphed as she started to scratch the dog between its ears. "Maybe you should sit through PR training with me next time Gail hosts a session."

She blew a bland raspberry as she read the dog's name tag.

Jean Claude. Huh. Cute.

He let out a low whine when she hit a particularly sensitive spot, and in delight, he rolled onto his back with half-lidded eyes.

"Is this the one you were talking to the other day, or do you have any other expat mutts that I should know about? I can only be felt up so many times before I file a harassment complaint."

"Jean Claude isn't a mutt," he corrected her, disdain at the very idea of owning a mutt. Parker supposed adopting a kennel-dog was likely below him, being a superstar and what not. "He's an Australian Kelpie, pure-bred, and he certainly wasn't fucking cheap. His parents are award winning cattle dogs in the Australian circuit."

"That's an award category?"

"Hmph. Laugh all you want, but I'd bet he's better trained than you are. He's even trained to attack someone in the balls on command."

"So am I," she sassed while making kissy faces at Jean Claude. "Oh, he's cute. Yes, you are. Yes, you are," she cooed.

He ate it right up, tail flapping in every direction, and when she spared Tom a glance, she could feel the jealousy rolling off him that someone else was getting more attention. Dog or not. Parker snickered.

"Sorry you're stuck with this one," she added, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to gesture in Tom's general area. "But trust me, you're way cuter, and probably lower maintenance than he is."

Tom cleared his throat. "Are you done?"

"Jealous?"

"Of a dog?" he deadpanned, rolling his eyes beneath a pair of expensive Ray Bans—not at all disproving the theory—and Parker smiled at her private joke. "Hardly."

She leaned closer to Jean Claude, and spoke in a stage whisper, "I think he's jealous."

And—yup—that seemed to do it.

Tom pushed off the counter with a sharp huff, unamused by her teasing, and make a command in French. Jean Claude bounded onto his feet, trotted to where Tom was, and curled up between his legs.

Parker stood and planted her hands onto her hips. "Real mature."

"I can always show you his attack command," Tom threatened. "I doubt you'll find him as adorable when he attacks you. It's always a hit at parties, watching someone get their balls bitten off."

"I think I'm missing a critical component for that trick to work," she pointed out with a dry smile. "But, anyway, what are you doing here? If you came to return my books, they're yours, considering how much you paid for them the other day."

He shrugged. "Maybe I want my change."

"You came all the way here, through traffic, to get your change?" she echoed, clearly disbelieving his piss poor excuse. Under her stare, Tom shuffled uncomfortably on his feet. "Hm. I thought I was supposed to be the penny pincher between the two of us."

"Maybe it's not the money I care about. It's the principle of the whole thing."

"Ha! You expect me to believe that you have principles?"

Tom huffed, but she caught the crooked upturn of his mouth. Still, he played the victim—always acting, this one. "You're right. I don't just deserve change. I should get a full refund, considering how awful your book recommendations were. Not to mention the books practically fell apart when I touched them. Clearly, you sell cheap products."

"Clearly," she muttered, while flipping the sign on the front door from OPEN to CLOSED. There wasn't much going on outside, anyway, and she doubted she would be missing any customers by taking the day off early.

"You want to tell me what you're really doing here? Because we both know you liked my recommendations," she said matter-of-factly, moving to the cash register now. She had made a few sales throughout the day, more than a typical Friday, and so she carefully began stacking her receipts. "I mean, who wouldn't? Those are good books I gave you. Contact is in my top ten."

Tom leaned on the counter. "Books I bought."

She waved him off, stack of receipts in hand, as she locked the lower cabinet. Tom could complain all he wanted, but she did know that he liked her book recommendations. He had finished them all within a week, when he likely should have been spending more attention devoted to practicing for his audition. Granted, it was a sci-fi movie he was auditioning for, but—

She startled.

"Oh, duh!" Parker sprung to her full height with a curious look. "Did you get the part?"

Tom smirked.

It wasn't bashful or pleasant or soft like authors typically described their tall, dark, and handsome characters, but it was so very him that she hardly minded it. In fact, Parker sort of liked it. It crinkled the soft lines by his eyes, loosened the tension in his shoulders, and made him look younger. Nicer. Cuter.

"Of course I did," he sassed. "I told you I was going to get it."

She ignored his blatant peacocking to punch him in the shoulder. The action seemed to shock him, and Tom clutched the spot with his other hand—as if she had done some real damage—while Parker grinned. "Holy shit, that's great! I mean, sure, you were a shoo-in or whatever, but this is a big deal. Right? It's a big deal? You must be jumping off the walls right now!"

Tom gave a bemused huff, eyes darting over the length of her face, and nodded. "Biggest movie I've gotten yet," he said. "My first sci-fi film too, so, that's going to get my name out there even more than it was. I mean, if I thought I was well known before... after this, everyone will know who Tom Ryder is."

"That's awesome!"

Tom rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm, clearly not buying into it, and though Parker was so excited on his behalf, Tom seemed like he was fighting off indifference to the news. "Yeah, well, a role's a role, you know."

"Well, yeah," she hedged, waving a hand at him, "but this is your first sci-fi role, and it was one that you even told me you wanted to get. You must be at least a little excited for it. Sci-fi is so interesting, I bet filming it is gonna be a ton of fun."

"Sure," he echoed dryly. His smirk had returned, and though she wouldn't necessarily classify what his face was doing now as a smile, it was certainly close. "Fun. That's what I'm aiming for in my career: fun."

"Oh, please," she clucked her tongue at him, receipts shoved hastily into their folder. "You can be a huge movie star and still have fun doing it. I mean, isn't that the point? Doing something you love and all that. I'd imagine it's going to be a whole new experience for you, stepping into a sci-fi set."

He hemmed, mouth twisting between a smile and a frown. "I guess."

He didn't sound all that convinced. In fact, when Parker thought about it, she seemed to be far more excited about the role than he did. She tilted her head at him suspiciously. "Alright, well... what are you doing to celebrate?" she asked. "A vacation? Buying yourself a new car? Oooh—Legoland?"

He furrowed his brows at her in surprised. "Legoland?"

"It's what I would do," she shrugged. "Probably, anyway. I've never been because the tickets just don't seem worth the price, but if I had just landed a giant role in a giant blockbuster, I think buying a ticket would be the least of my worries. You could probably even write it off on your taxes."

He blinked at her. "Poor people are so sad to me."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and took delight in the way that he huffed in amusement. "Well? Come on—make me jealous—what are you doing?"

Tom shrugged. "Gail's throwing a big party next week to announce the role. She always does that. Invites her producer friends and talent agents and that sort of stuff. There'll probably be some sort of attraction, singers or a zebra or something."

"Casual," she snorted.

"She has a weird thing for exotic animals, I don't know."

"Seems like it. But that's what she's doing, what are you doing?" she needled further. "I mean, I assumed you would do a big party with your friends before then. You know—cops get called, party crashers—the whole scene."

Tom hesitated to answer, and when he did, he didn't sound all that much like himself. "Well, I can't really do that—she controls when I make go public with the news—has the whole timeline figured out, and manages all the press for it. She doesn't let me tell people ahead of time."

"I'm people."

He rolled his eyes. "You're a nobody," he said. Not to be mean; no, Tom was very clear in his words when he intended to be mean. Instead, he had said it nonchalantly, as if it was a universal truth that everyone understood. And, in all honesty, Parker got it. "I mean, who are you going to tell that would care, you know?"

"Okay, ouch," she muttered still, before barreling on. "Don't you have any non-work friends that you can go get drinks with?"

"All my friends are work friends."

"What about people that don't know Gail?"

Tom huffed and waved a hand at her. "That's the same thing, you know. She introduced me to everyone I know in the industry. Other than some set hands, we have the same circle."

Parker sank onto her heels, feeling slighted on his behalf, but knowing that she didn't really have a right to. Surely, Tom Ryder would have stood up to Gail if he didn't like her hands-on, helicopter parent approach to managing his life. And clearly their work relationship was beneficial to them both. He certainly didn't need a nobody like her feeling sorry for him.

And yet, she did.

Because, as she listened to him talk, it felt like he had to give up everything just to be a somebody in Hollywood. And while it might have been the norm for him, it was absolutely not the norm for everybody.

Did he even realize that?

"Fuck that," Parker said before she could think better of it, emotions getting the better of her. Colt always joked that she had a bleeding heart, but she had never thought there was anything wrong with that. "Come hang out with me, then."

Tom arched a brow at her, mouth parted dumbly. "...what?"

She shrugged, feeling a little like a specimen beneath a microscope, and struggled to explain herself. "I mean, you just said that Gail doesn't want you telling anybody that matters, and I only hang out with people that don't matter in the grand scheme of Hollywood politics. I'm getting ready to head to Colt's birthday party after this, and if you're not doing anything else, you may as well come with me. It won't be a celebration for you, obviously, but... it'll be fun."

He blinked at her slowly, surprise written in the fine lines of his face.

"We're not going to murder you," she huffed indignantly.

"I—I never hang out with Colt or those guys."

"Yeah, for good reason. They all sort of hate you for being an asshole on set to them. Like, all the time. I wouldn't want to hang out with you outside of work either, if I was them."

He scowled. "Oh, well, when you put it like that," he huffed. "Obviously, they're not going to want me to come. And, I may be an asshole, but I try not to gatecrash birthday parties."

She waved his concern away with a paint-stained hand. "First off, you won't be gatecrashing, I'm literally extending an invite. And secondly, they only hate you because you're a prick on set. What better way to prove that you're not a prick, by coming to Colt's birthday party, and—you know—actually being nice for once. Just don't be a dickwad. Or an asshole. Or any sort of thing that you usually are on a normal day."

"I think the saying is 'always be yourself'," he deadpanned.

"That absolutely doesn't apply here."

"Smartass."

Parker nudged him in the shoulder with an exasperated look. "Come on! What else are you going to do? Do some irresponsible spending and buy everyone a round of drinks. I bet they'll think differently of you after everybody is a few beers in."

Tom didn't seem too convinced with her logic. "Crashing his birthday party doesn't seem the best way to get on Colt's good side. I didn't even know it was his birthday."

"Now you do," she shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal. And—well—her brother was probably going to bitch about Tom's presence at the party, but Parker also believed that after a few shots of liquor, everyone would get over the issue fairly quick. Not to mention the party itself was designed for stress relief. Bringing Tom may actually make the night. With a conniving wiggle of her brows, Parker tried again. "I know for a fact that there's room for one more. Jody and I planned the whole thing together, and if she's allowed a plus-one, so am I. Jean Claude can even come. Colt loves dogs."

Tom seemed to sway a little further with her reasoning, and with a slow nod, he finally agreed. He certainly didn't look happy about it though.

Parker punched the air. Oh, Colt is going to love this.

"Awesome! Give me a minute to lock up, and then we can go."

"Fine," he huffed, not too unlike that of a sulky toddler. "But I'm driving."

Parker smiled. Her car was a piece of shit that barely worked on a good day. She was going to insist he drive in the first place. Plus, now, she could get really drunk.

"Fine by me," was all she said, not eager to give away that piece of information just yet. "Just promise me you won't be an asshole. I won't be able to keep my reputation of favorite sister if you ruin the night."

"I'm not going to ruin the night," he snarked with a petulant glare. Parker shrugged, grabbing her things, as he asked, "...wait, I thought you were his only sister?"

"Exactly. Now, come on, I want to get there before they start assigning teams."

The bell rang as she stepped outside, Jean Claude trotting with her, and Tom hesitated for a brief moment before what she said caught up to him.

"Wait," he called, jogging after her. "What do you mean teams?"

---

Tom's presence did not go unnoticed. In fact, it had taken a mere three minutes before Jody was elbowing her to the side, a stern, disbelieving look furrowing her brows. She had let it go in a huff, however, when Parker pointed out that Tom had promised to be on his best behavior, as well as promised to buy the first round of drinks once the game was over.

That had been a lie, of course, but she supposed she could deal with that tantrum later.

Colt, on the other hand, hadn't been so easily placated, and as the twenty odd players stood in a circle, listening to the instructor drone on about safety, he weaseled next to her with a glare.

"I can't believe you brought Ryder," he hissed for the third time that night, hot breath on her face. She would have shoved him away if the instructor hadn't already reprimanded then twice for being distracting. "I mean, seriously Park, I can't stand the guy."

"Oh, really? I couldn't tell."

"Really!"

"Well, I'm sorry," she shrugged, although the apology was half-hearted at best, and Colt seemed to know this as he narrowed his eyes at her irritably. She huffed. "What was I supposed to do? Leave him behind?"

"Yes," Colt whisper-yelled. Dan glanced over his shoulder at the pair, and in perfect Seavers' sibling unison, they plastered fake smiles onto their faces with a friendly wave. He shook his head at them, but likely didn't think they were worth whatever trouble they caused, and faced forward once more. "That's exactly what you should have done!"

"It's not that easy," she argued, hissing as well. "He looked so sad! Like a little abandoned puppy dog that had just been kicked. It was a moment of weakness!"

"Oh, really?" Colt drawled. Together, they glanced over at Tom to find him ignoring everyone in the group with his head stuck in his phone. When a fly buzzed too close, he swatted at it with an icy glare. "That? You couldn't say no to that?"

"I said I was sorry!"

Parker's voice hitched higher than she intended, and the instructor paused in his speech to glare at the duo. She gave him a weak smile in return, mouthing, a guilty, sorry!

The man only got two words back into his speech, however, before Colt started whining again.

"Look, I'm totally stoked about the surprise party, okay? You did a stand-up job on it and the guest list. So how could you fuck it all up so close to the finish line?"

"What the hell does that even mean?" she asked in bewilderment. Parker shook her head. "Seriously, you need to update your sayings."

"Update my—?" Colt bit off a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose to take a long, overdrawn breath. "Why was he even at your bookstore? Since when did you two become friends? What happened to the whole—asshole, asshole, asshole—bit you had going on?"

"I still think he's an asshole," she shot back. But, well, when she caught Tom's gaze across the grass, she faltered. Did she think he was an asshole at his core? Or had he simply become someone she was beginning to understand—a dog that lashed out when someone got too close? Parker rubbed circles into her temple. "And we're not friends. And, even if we were, you have no one to blame but yourself."

"Myself?" he echoed in disbelief. "What do I have to do with this?"

"You're the one that gave him my phone number."

Colt snorted, shaking his head at her. "Fat chance of that," he said. Parker, thinking he was joking at first, fell silent when he caught the look in his eye. But, if Colt hadn't given Tom her phone number, then who had? she wondered, mentally counting down the list of people it could have possibly been.

Bigger fish to fry, she reminded herself when the list made her go cross-eyed.

"Whatever. We're not friends or buddies or whatever you think we are, so you can stop worrying about that."

Colt snorted. "Oh, sure you're not. He just happens to hang out around your bookshop and you share recommendations and, oh yeah! You bring him as a plus-one to my birthday party!"

Parker scowled. "I made the guest list, I think I have a right to bring someone along with."

"Sure, someone. Not Jaws over there."

She frowned at him, thrown off by the random insult. "Jaws?" she echoed, crinkling her nose distastefully. "What does a shark have to do with this?"

Colt sighed. "No, not the shark, the James Bond villain."

"That's a stupid name for a villain."

"I didn't write the damn thing."

"Okay, well, maybe he has the arrogance of a James Bond villain, but at least pick one from this century."

"Silva?"

"Nah. Whose the the one with the weird eye?"

Colt hummed thoughtfully, gaze darting over towards Tom. "Le Chiffre?"

Parker snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "That one!"

"Yeah, alright, I'll give you that," he conceded, nodding. "He does give off Bond villain vibes with the sunglasses and hair-do."

"Right? Oh you should have seen these glasses he was wearing last time. They were huge, and yellow tinted; like Tony Stark would wear. They were so ridiculous."

Colt snickered for a moment, enjoying mocking Tom with his sister, before realizing that he was currently mad at her. He threw his head back with a subtle groan. "Stop doing that! I'm still mad at you!"

Parker gave her brother a blithe look. "I think you're looking at this all wrong."

"Wrong? What other way should I look at it?" he snarked. "With my eyes closed?"

Resisting the urge to smack him, Parker instead gestured to their instructor, the paintball gun in his hand, and then towards Tom. "You literally get the chance to chase down and shoot, Tom Ryder, bane of your existence or whatever. Shoot him. Think about all the welts and whining and, maybe, if you're lucky, the tears you can get out of this experience. Legally. Without getting fired or arrested. What's better than that, huh? It's your very own personal rage room."

Colt considered all of that silently. He swept his gaze from the large pile of paintball guns set off to the side, to the acres of arena in front of them with inflatable obstacles, and then to his blonde alter-ego sulking at the edge of the group.

He slung an arm around Parker's shoulder with the boyish grin. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Parker snorted, amused by his mood swings. "Not nearly enough. It's all Jody this, and Jody that anymore."

Jody, having finished listening to the instructor's demonstration, peered around Colt's shoulder to blink at the siblings. "What about me?"

Colt and Parker shared a silent look.

"Nothing," she said, whilst he cooed, "just talking about how pretty you are."

Jody blushed a bright rouge instantly, and Colt obviously took pleasure in that when he slung his other arm around her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he let out a happy sigh. "My two ladies. Paintball. The smell of tears and blood on the horizon. What better way to spend a birthday?"

Parker glanced at Jody, expecting her to roll her eyes, but the camerawoman instead just smiled with something soft in her eyes.

Parker responded by wiggling out of Colt's reach. "Ew, blegh, that's disgusting. They say cooties are contagious you know."

"What on Earth are cooties?" Jody asked.

"An STD," Colt replied, only half joking, and though Jody appeared mildly disturbed by his joke, Parker had known her brother long enough to appreciate his odd ball sense of humor. "And they're not contagious if you have a shot."

Jody, not wanting to know if he was serious or not, let it go as the group slowly filed forward to get their guns, face masks, and coveralls. They followed shortly after, snickering like kids the entire way through.

In the end, Colt and Jody both got white, while Parker and Tom were given black ones.

Karma, she supposed, is that she wouldn't be able to shoot the asshole after all.

"Somehow, this is a step up for your usual clothes," said asshole chirped, pinching the baggy material hanging at her waist between his forefinger and thumb. Parker swatted him away, only for Jean Claude to bark at her. "Easy, you want to get taken down before the game even starts?"

"Please, you're lucky we're on the same team," Parker teased. He didn't seem to buy it if the blithe look he shot her was anything to go by, and she huffed at him. "I bet I could have gotten the first hit on you if we weren't on the same team. I have mad skills at paintball, Ryder. Seal Team Six type stuff., you don't even know."

Tom rolled his eyes at the same time that Colt reappeared, face mask propped on the top of his head, looking just a tad too comfortable in his onesie. Jody and Dan flanked him, and Parker didn't like their smiles one bit.

"What?" she asked.

"You suck at paintball," Colt egged. "Remember Tallahassee? You were covered in welts for weeks!"

Tom snorted, and Parker considered him the greater threat considering the fact he was standing closer to her than Colt was. She glared at him to state, "I'm not joking. I could literally take you out. Any of you," she added with a stern point of the finger sweeping through the group. "All of you!"

Not a single person believed her.

Tom went so far as to snicker at her. "I don't buy that. for a second. You're a total klutz."

She gasped. "Am not!"

Colt raised a hand. "Are too. Remember when you broke your ankle trying to play hopscotch?"

"Just—stay out of this!"

He did not, in fact, stay out of it. "What was it you said, Park? Cause and effect? You suck at sports, and the effect of that, is you're about to go down on the course."

She blew a rather wet raspberry at her brother. "Please, if you and Tom were on the same team, I would smoke both of you."

They bickered for a moment, amusing some, but boring Tom, and the A-lister broke up their argument with a long-weary sigh. "Oi! Whose to say either of you could get a shot on me?" he taunted.

The siblings turned to face him.

"Is that a challenge?" Parker asked, hands planted on her hips, whilst Colt raised his brows.

Tom shrugged, unconcerned.

"In fact, I bet I'll make it a whole round without getting shot once," Tom tacked on, ego puffing his chest out as he smirked at the group standing around. Dan rolled his eyes, while Jody coughed into her hand to hide an obvious laugh at his showboating. "I'm serious. First one to hit me gets five hundred dollars—"

Thwack! Thwack!

Tom gaped at his chest, now dotted with one yellow and one blue splatter. Parker and Colt stood in front of him, guns still smoking, and while his eyes widened in anger, the pair of siblings were more concerned with claiming the prize to notice.

"First!" Colt cried.

"What? No fucking way," Parker argued. She waved at the yellow paint splatter haphazardly, almost taking out Jody as she did so. "I was so first. Tom! Tell him!"

Tom, now even more unamused by their bickering, blinked in wide-eyed disbelief at them both. "Are you fucking serious?" he shouted. "The game didn't even start yet!"

"But you just said—"

"I meant during a match. Christ, Parker, we're on the same team," he blustered, attempting to wipe off the paint, but only managing to smear it further down his chest like a bad Jackson Pollock painting. "Fuck!"

Colt, sensing a blow-out was coming, swung his gun behind his back with a wide eyed, innocent look. "Hey man, it was all her," he started. "Totally uncool. And immature. And, really, if you need me to smack her around a little after this I totally can."

Tom glared at Colt, effectively shutting him up in seconds, before turning to Parker. Everyone watched in baited breath, nervous what he might do, and while Parker hadn't been on set long enough to know what his meltdowns looked like, the ones most familiar with Tom were left stunned by his reaction.

Or, really, how utterly tame this one was to the hundred others they had seen.

"Are you happy now?" he asked.

Parker hemmed and hawed for a moment before deciding that honesty was the best policy. "I mean, I'd be happier if you gave me my five hundred dollars."

"I'm not paying you shit."

"Oh, come on," she rolled her eyes, popping a hip as she did so. "It's not like you're cash poor or anything. You're just upset that I shot you."

Tom gaped at her in disbelief. "No shit!"

Parker, shifting her gun over her shoulder, waved the other at him blithely. "You'll get over it once the game starts. It's—heh—surprisingly therapeutic."

"Shooting me is therapeutic?"

She paused, caught up in her own statement. "Er, well, not you exactly. Just someone, in general, you know." Parker swallowed when Tom continued to stare at her. Awkwardly, she laughed. "Just... wait till you get out there, and you'll see."

Tom remained silent, blinking at her for a long, tense, moment before he rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh. And—

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

His gun went off before anyone could stop him, and Parker gaped at the trio of yellow paint that was now splattered across her chest. "Fucking ow!"

Tom smirked at her, blowing the muzzle of his gun for extra flare, before swinging it over his shoulder. "Huh. I guess you're right. I do feel better."

"Asshole!"

"Yeah, well, takes one to know one, right?" he snarked.

And—oh.

She could kill him. Really, seriously kill him.

But, well, the longer she stared at him and he stared at her, eyebrow cocked and a daring smirk in place, Parker realized above the hatred simmering in her chest, she felt something kindred and wanting flutter like butterflies. Something amused by the curve of his smirk, flushed by the scorching burn of his gaze, and—dare she think—understanding at the retaliatory strike. She had, afterall, shot first.

He had only lowered himself to her level; played by her rules.

And with a strong suspicion that Tom Ryder wasn't so much an asshole as he was just looking for someone to understand him, Parker's only response to that was to throw her head back and howl in laughter.

Despite this, no one else moved for a long moment, too busy darting their gazes between Parker and Tom in case they needed to intervene, but in an even more surprising turn of events, he laughed as well. Not so outright, and not nearly as loud, but he did. Prompted by his positive reaction, it wasn't long before Colt started to laugh, and then Jody, and then suddenly everyone was knelt at the waist in laughter.

It wasn't until their instructor honked a blow horn at them, none too amused with the pre-game warfare, that they calmed down. He honked the horn a second time at Parker and Tom, threatening to kick them out if they kept breaking the rules, and while they managed to stay straight-faced, the moment he turned his back on the group, they shared matching grins.

Maybe, she thought as they got into place, it hadn't been such a bad idea to bring him along.

And maybe, her brother thought at the exact same time, Parker and Tom being friends wasn't the end of the world.

[multi-fandom-of-madness]

Like You Love Me

Pairings: Aether X Rain - implied Poly!Ghouls

Type: Smut

Summary: Rain is still fairly new, but he knows what he likes. He gets it from everyone except for Aether, and he’s determined to change that.

Warnings: Rain is a brat, dom!Aether, sub!Rain, rough oral, degradation, objectification,

Word Count: 1,719

Notes: Read here on ao3. This isn't edited, so I'm sorry if there are typos.

~

Rain loved Aether dearly. He loved everything about the quintessence ghoul, but especially how sweet he was to him. If he wanted it rough, he had his options. He had Dewdrop who he could throw around and ruin, Swiss or Cirrus if he wanted to challenge who was in charge, or Mountain if he wanted to be fucked so hard that he melts into the matress.

But Aether was so gentle and caring. He never wanted to hurt Rain in any way. There was the occasional teasing, maybe a bite mark here and there, but it always was slow and sensual.

Aether didn’t feel like he knew the in’s and out’s of Rain well enough to bring him into something kinkier. He’d only been topside for a few months, and for the first month or so, Rain was too shy to make any advances. Although he’s seen the way Rain acts with the others, he doesn’t want to push it and break the bond that they’ve grown.

Don’t get the water ghoul wrong, he loves the special treatment, but hearing about how he collared Swiss and pulled him around as he pleased, watching Dewdrop shift in his seat to try and get comfortable with the bruises on his ass, or how Mountain always comes back with a goofy grin and a limp in his step…he gets a bit jealous.

They’re curled up in Aether’s bed, Aether reading a book and Rain scrolling through his phone, head on Aether’s chest and pressed stubbornly to his hip. The minute Aether slipped off his shirt and slipped on his reading glasses, Rain’s cock began to chub up. No one could resist Aether when he looked like that.

“Why don’t you treat me like the others?” He asks, not looking up from the video on his phone.

Aether blinks. “What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’?”

“You just asked the vaguest question, and aren’t going to explain?”

Rain sighed and rolled over dramatically. “Why don’t you rail me into next week?”

“What the hell are you on?”

“Nothing yet,” Rain huffed. “Can’t you just…throw me around? Rough me up a bit?”

“I thought you liked me being gentle with you.”

“I do. But I would also like to be fucked into next week.”

“Where is this coming from?” Aether asked, pulling his glasses off. His cock was twitching with the implications of what Rain was implying.

“Just…I dunno…jealous?”

“Of what?”

“Oh don’t act like you don’t grin every time you see Dewdrop struggling to sit right for a week after one of your little escapades.” “So you want me to…punish you?” He inquired, a joking tone to his voice.

“Well I mean…have I done anything wrong?”

“You interrupted my reading for no good reason other than the fact that you’re thinking with your dick.”

“I feel like that shouldn’t count.”

“I feel like you’re acting like Dew,” Aether countered.

Oh. Rain grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Am I?”

“You’re starting to,” Aether sighed, putting his glasses back on and turning his attention back to his book. So he was going to ignore Rain? Well, that simply won’t do.

Rain laid back down, kicking up a purr to lure Aether into a false sense that Rain wasn’t going to try anything. After a few minutes of comfortable silence he lifted his head to be level with Aether’s plush stomach and…

“Did you just fucking bite me?” Aether asked, amused.

Rain pulled off and frowned, sitting up. “That doesn’t get a reaction out of you?”

“You didn’t even draw blood,” Aether pointed out.

“Come onnnnnn…I want you to make me get all slutty. Don’t you like it when I’m slutty?” Rain begged with a joking tone.

“Are you sure you aren’t in heat? Do I need to get Mountain in here?”

“You are no fun.” Rain crosses his arms and pouts, his tail thumping against the bed for extra dramatic effect.

“I just don’t want to hurt you,” Aether said sympathetically, tilting his head.

“But I want you to hurt me.”

“You really do love to run your mouth,” Aether scowled. Rain grinned when he realized that he was finally getting somewhere.

“Maybe I do. I like the sound of my own voice,” he paused, giving himself enough time to straddle the quintessence ghoul, rolling his hips against him.

“Are you just going to be a brat to get what you want?” Aether asked, putting his hands on Rain’s hips, using his own strength to move the water ghoul.

“Is it gonna work?”

“In some ways.”

“Then yes.”

Rain grinned, leaning down to kiss Aether. Aether ran a hand up his back, grabbing at the back of his neck, causing Rain to moan. The moment Rain’s mouth opens, Aether slips his tongue inside.

Rain squirms on top of him, trying to get some sort of friction on his cock. There’s a slight fight for dominance that Rain quickly loses. Just because he wants to be roughed up doesn’t mean he can’t pretend to pose a challenge.

“Aeth, ple-”

“Nuh uh, baby boy. I don’t want to hear my name come out of your mouth right now,” Aether cuts, his tone of voice dropping to something more demanding.

Rain swallows thickly, realizing he was finally getting his wish. He rolls his hips with a groan. “Sir,” he tries again. Aether doesn’t stop him, so he continues. “Please, sir…please fuck me,” he breaths, lowering his head to Aether’s neck. He nips at it, and Aether scruffs him, forcing him to go boneless.

Aether rolls the water ghoul off of him, then stands up, looking at Rain expectantly. “Well?”

Rain looks back confused. “What do you want me to do?”

Aether walks back towards the bed, taking Rain’s chin in his hand gently before firming his grip almost hard enough to bruise. Rain looks at him like he hung the stars. “Get on the floor. On your knees. If you want me to fuck you, then we’re going to do it my way,” he growls.

Rain is already loving this new side of Aether, but he’s determined to see more, so he doesn’t move.

“On your knees,” Aether growls again, baring his fangs slightly and shaking Rain’s head. When Rain doesn’t move again, Aether moves his hand into his hair, then pulls.

Rain groans and rolls his hips forward as his cock kicks from the sensation. “Please…” he groans, closing his eyes.

Aether uses his grip on his hair to throw Rain on the floor. He lets go of him long enough to pull his cock out from his sweatpants. “Open your mouth,” he commands.

Rain’s head is swimming in ecstasy. He doesn’t even hear Aether speak until there’s a hand on his jaw, prying it apart, and a cock pressed to his lips.

“Since you can’t keep that pretty mouth shut, I’m going to make sure you can’t use it. If you need to, tap my thigh twice for me to stop.”

Rain moans in acknowledgement, snaking his tongue out to lap at the pre beading at the tip of Aether’s dick. Aether groans as Rain pushes his lips down Aether’s cock, closing his eyes and humming from the taste.

Aether gives Rain a moment to work his magic, then grabs hold of Rain’s horns and thrusts into him. Rain chokes at the unexpected motion and looks up at Aether with teary eyes. He pulls Rain down until his nose is pressed against Aether’s pubes.

Aether holds him there for a second as Rain gags and sputters around Aether’s cock. Rain brings a hand to Aether’s thigh and taps twice.

“Are you alright?” Aether asks.

“Y-yeah,” Rain croaks out, trying to find his voice. He’s panting and tears are streaking down his cheeks. “Just need to breathe,” he laughs.

Aether hums in acknowledgement. “Take your time. Let me know when you’re ready.”

Rain nods and catches his breath. He takes a few minutes, then looks up at Aether. “I’m ready,” he says, opening his mouth.

Aether pets through Rain’s hair then grabs hold of one of Rain’s horns again. He starts off gently this time, small shallow thrusts that hardly graze the back of Rain’s throat. Rain moans and shuts his eyes, the vibrations sending a wave of pleasure through Aether’s body.

The sensation causes Aether to push his hips into Rain’s mouth, making Rain gag around him. “Shit,” Aether groans, “I should’ve fucked your mouth ages ago. So fucking good.”

Rain does his best to relax his throat and breathe through his nose. He feels nothing but Aether. The sight of him, taste of him, smell of him. Everything is Aether. He’s absolutely intoxicating, and it makes his cock throb in his sweatpants. He brings a hand down to the front of his sweats where they’ve darkened with the amount of precum and slick leaking out of Rain.

Aether finds leverage before using his foot to kick his hand away, pulling out so that only the tip of his cock rests on Rain’s tongue. “I never told you to touch yourself,” he growls. Rain gives an apologetic look and hums. Aether scoffs and harshly thrusts into Rain’s mouth, his balls slapping against Rain’s chin. “Hands behind your back.”

Rain can’t do anything but sit there and let his mouth be used as he crosses his arms behind his back. He blinks away the tears in his eyes and stares at Aether’s blissed out face. He can feel the spit leak out of his mouth, feels his shirt getting wet from the way it drips down.

“Lucifer, you look so pretty like this,” he says. “Is this what you wanted? Wanted me to rough you up? Throw you around like a little doll?”

Rain tried to nod, but found it impossible with Aether’s grip on his horns and cock down his throat. He hummed in response as Aether pulled him back down his cock again, cumming without warning. 

He kept Rain pressed tight against him until he was sure Rain swallowed everything. Rain tapped his thigh twice, and Aether let him pull off, a string of saliva attached from the tip of Aether’s cock to his lips.

“Please-” he gasps, “wanna be your doll.”

“Good,” Aether smirks. “On the bed. I’m not done with you yet.”

[bandsandwristbands]

This is your last warning, share the fic or else ☠️☠️🔪

(any fic you're comfortable enough to share sweetie 🥰)

so I've been angsting about how much is too much to drop as a snippet, like I'd be giving you a whole chapter from the middle of a long ass fic, or spoiling the end, or dropping a few highlights out of context??

so i guess I will drop the a scene my partner chose at random lol Light spoilers for Backyard Heathens (My religious Sunan slow burn gaalee that I have not posted or finished yet 🙃)

Gaara’s swamped in paperwork; drowning in preemptive piles of legislature that he wishes could wait until after the coming festivities. The council is stubborn in their grip to hold on to ‘tradition’ but getting funding for the yearly celebration before the rainy seasons was like pulling teeth. The old fogies can’t stand to see the general morale of Suna’s citizens rising every season. Namely, they don’t like to see the younger people having fun. They have a scarcity mindset despite growing technological advancements and stronger trade agreements. 

Suffice to say, they relented in the budget but Gaara is now being punished with the duty of reallocating remaining funds appropriately. He’s trying to remember if the irrigation system will need maintenance soon when Kankuro trudges dramatically into the Kazekage office without knocking. 

“What is it?” Gaara offers flatly.

“You’re such a grumpy bitch this week. You could at least pretend-” Gaara rolls his eyes to his brother in a sharp glare, “Fine, fine. I see you’re busy but I need to drag you out into the daylight for a bit. Fazluna needs you to meet her at the front to go over the security rotations for the festival.”

“The front office?” Gaara asks but he’s already tossing the irrigation logs onto his ‘in progress pile’ to be dealt with later.

Kankuro offers a sympathetic look and leans against the door frame expectantly, “Sorry, kid. Front of the village.”

Gaara gets up and mutters that he ought to check the irrigation himself anyways, but the way he sighs begrudgingly says enough about his displeasure. 

“Come onnnnnn, some sun is actually good for you, yknow? Besides, I thought you were excited about this year, it’s the big one for you!” Kankuro’s tone is teasing as they walk. 

Gaara can admit that sun feels good, but it’s higher humidity these days, the first streaks of clouds forming stringy in the bright sky, and Gaara does not  appreciate the sweat forming on his back and neck. His jacket clings uncomfortably, but he can’t remove it because a plain shirt is improper for a young kage like himself. 

“It’s not as if this one will be any different.“ Gaara finally grumbles once the towering entrance to Suna is within his sight. 

“Think you won’t get any suitors brave enough to approach you?” Kankuro teases.

Gaara huffs derisively, “Hopefully not. I’m not interested anyways.”

Kankuro gives him a sidelong glance like he knows something Gaara doesn’t. “Not anyone from here you mean.” He titters obviously, “You’re just grumpy ‘cause none of your friends can make it.” Before Gaara can respond, they're stopping next to Fazluna just outside the Sand stone walls. They immediately launch into a very dull and standard recounting of the shift changes for the festival and Gaara is getting irritated now. They clearly don’t need Gaara for this and Kankuro dragged him away from a full desk of work for nothing. And to add insult, he had to remind Gaara why his mood was so sour. 

Although Gaara is grateful to have so many friends, he is actually kind of upset that no one can make it over to Suna for this particular one. It’s a big deal for most in his culture, a coming of age sort of thing. The Squall is supposed to symbolize renewal. Death and nurturing the seeds of rebirth. It’s also a time of indulgence, a brief reprieve from the dry, barren heat, where water is plentiful and one is free to celebrate excess. And at Gaara’s current age, people are allowed to publicly court him. 

He dreads that part. He doesn’t want to be running away from groupies (Kankuros phrasing) or politically motivated dignitaries. He wants to be able to celebrate with people he actually likes. Most of his closer friends have learned to play guard dog at these functions so even just one would be a comfort. Gaara understands regardless. They’re all busy in their own villages with their own obligations and missions. Even in a time of peace, he finds everyone pulled in many directions. It hadn’t really bothered him until he got his response letter from Lee, confirming he wouldn’t be able to sneak over to Suna in time. He apologized profusely even though Gaara had omitted the importance of this year specifically. He tries to tell himself he doesn’t feel a bit sad and a bit emptier, he already knew after all, expected the answer but he offered the invitation anyways. Lee is a bad influence on him sometimes. Gaara struggles with expectations, and he stumbles with Lee the most. Maybe it’s best Lee can’t make it then. Gaara can focus on the practical aspects and-

“Hey,” Kankuro slaps Gaara’s shoulder with the back of his hand, interrupting Gaara’s internal spiral, “What’s that?” 

Gaara blinks and follows the direction of Kankuro’s lazy point to the open desert before them. He squints against the melting mirages on the horizon and barely makes out a cloud of sand. For a moment Gaara stiffens in alarm because whatever this is, it’s approaching fast. He wasn’t warned of anyone coming to the village today, maybe one of his teams wrapped up early?? 

Then, in a blink, a flash of green in the kicked up sand. Gaara’s eyes go so wide they burn a bit, in disbelief even as he focuses his chakra out to sense who it was. The ninja beside him had stopped talking and Gaara turns his confused stare to his brother. He smirks back at him and snatches the kage hat off of the younger’s head. 

“Is that-?” Gaara wheezes.

“Yeah, Go get him!” Kankuro says it like Gaara is stupid but he’s smiling and nods towards the growing dust devil and Gaara doesn’t even think about it. 

His feet break into a sprint against his will. His gourd is tossed to the side in a rush. He’s not nearly as fast as the approaching ninja and sand begins pushing at his feet like it can propel him a bit faster. His skin is buzzing, he’s so sweaty and his face just gets hotter as Rock Lee comes into focus clearer and clearer. 

Lee pushes himself to slow down as he approaches the walls of Suna, but his heart is dancing around his chest in nervous excitement and by the time he processes the redhead running right towards him he can’t withhold his shout of excitement. 

“Gaara-kun!” He exclaims loud enough he’s sure it carried well into the village. However, once he really looks at Gaara, hair shining brightly in the midday, pretty blue eyes wide and locked directly on Lee, he almost stumbles. Suddenly it is difficult to pull in a full breath as Gaara leaps up, propelled by sand on his heels. His head blots out the sun for a brief second, but Lee can see it in slow motion, knows he’ll never forget this instant. Backlit by sunrays like a halo, eyes almost glowing when they curve up at the corners and one dimple obvious as he beams. Gaara lands right in Lee’s outstretched arms, squinting like he can’t contain the grin on his face. Lee thinks he has never seen anything so beautiful. 

They collide heavily, Gaara gasping like he’s had the wind knocked out of him as Lee skids them both to a stop. He uses the momentum to spin Gaara in a quick circle as he trips over his feet. Sand comes up to steady their intertwined weight and Lee thinks he must be smiling so hard it looks like a grimace.

An elated laugh bubbles up and out and into sweaty red hair that sticks to his chin and mouth. Lee squashes Gaara against him just a bit tighter, not sure if it’s too hard. Gaara is huffing into his neck, trying to catch his breath after a rather impressive sprint from him! And Lee can’t help another happy spin before finally releasing him onto the ground. 

Gaara lands gracefully as always, light as a grain of sand atop the shifting desert. And it’s all they can do but stare at each other in disbelief and Lee feels speechless. He watches Gaara slowly relax into a much calmer demeanor, like he’s caught himself, but he’s still got a dusting of pink across his cheeks. The corners of his mouth quirk up like he can’t quite contain it. It is rare to see Gaara so excited. Lee thrills at being the cause.

“I apologize for dropping by so last minute…” Lee manages to say on a nervous exhale. He had really thought Gaara might be mad at the surprise but the young Kazekage just shakes his head at the apology. He eyes Lee like he still isn’t sure if he’s really there. 

“I thought you couldn’t make it?” Gaara finally says, no pleasantries, a straight shooter like always. His tone is light, though, almost airy, and it gives him away.

[dirtythirtyfest]

Need some inspiration for your fic or art? Check out the prompt suggestions below the read more!

To submit prompts, find the prompt submission post here!

Questions or problems? send me an ask!

Harry's friends hire him a stripper for his birthday party!! Louis shows up in a sexy fireman uniform and sets Harry's heart alight.

Harry gets a virtual reality experience for his birthday and decides to experience what it's like to be pregnant

There's no better time to ask to get pissed on than your dirty thirtieth birthday, is there?

Harry only has one wish for his birthday, to get his boys back together for one last orgy before he turns 30. Just like they used to have back in the day.

Harry and Louis are flight attendants and FWB. Harry is keeping quiet about his birthday because he doesn't want to run the risk of being disappointed by Louis not making a fuss. At midnight local time, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, he turns thirty. Louis remembered, and does indeed want to make a fuss (in the relative privacy of the bathroom).

Just once, Harry would like to be able to go to a sex party without being recognized. He gets his wish. How this happens and what he does there is up to the author.

Harry's birthday request is to come so many times he forgets his own name. His friends help him get there. (A dark fic would be great, as would a fun, sexy, consensual orgy fic)

Harry spends the day leading up to his surprise party dropping increasingly passive aggressive hints, thinking that his boyfriend Louis has actually forgotten his birthday!

Omegaverse: Harry finds a way to sync his heat/rut to his mate's so that they can bond on his birthday. Non-traditional pairings (A/A, O/O, or any pack combo) are ok.

Harry's boyfriend finds his secret stash of lingerie/niche sex toys/highly specific porn and plans a birthday surprise

a/b/o universe, omega harry gets a birthday gift from friends which is an all paid luxury cruise for him to really start his 30’s off right, (would love a knows he’s sexy and maybe a little sassy ) harry who meets (very Alpha and super sexy louis (a bonus point if it’s the peaky blinders haircut louis goddd) ) and they just hit it off immediately and the attraction is so insane and somehow gives him the best fucking of his life for his birthday/whole time they’re on the cruise like i’m thinking harry riding louis but only using the motion of the BOAT come onnnnnn anyway harry having the best sex of his life those 2 weeks for his birthday is the end goal here lol

harry’s 30th bday he goes to a strip club where he gets to save a horse by riding cowboy louis :’)))))) after niall is like HEY ITS MY FRIENDS BDAY HAHA , first just simulated onstage but then they meet up later after cuz WHY NOT yolo harry thinks and that guy had a huge dick (confirmed lol) to do the real thing and harry gets to ride louis’s dick into the sunset, after having wonderful filthy birthday sex of course! some major harry appreciation pls :)

it’s secretary harry’s birthday, he woke up feeling fucking great and is ready for the start of his day! he goes into work, always dresses very free you know, and today decides to wear the slutty gucci skirt (YOU KNOW THE ONE) and his silver fox boss louis takes IMMEDIATE notice and like they’ve always had this tension right but the two are nothing but professional! just flirty enough you know >:) but all hell breaks loose this day and then louis gives harry the best birthday of his life, im talking 30 spanks, im talking about harry being bent over the desk getting fucked so hard it might break and THEN im talking pearl necklace (but then also a real one after the whole thing as a real present to match the sexy one louis just gave him shiftosnfoee and sure they fall in love)

shy harry trying to step into his sexiness and accepting himself decides to have a lil photo shoot done for his 30th birthday and enlists best friend louis (or zayn ehehe) to help him out and said helper is like yeah why not??? NOT KNOWING harry plans to have a very Sexy photo shoot with plenty of skirts and heels and lingerie and glitter and are those handcuffs??? clearly they didn’t know what they were getting into but ALRIGHT and harry just really like embraces the being sexy SO sexy and harry just does everything he’s directed to do and it’s so hot that after they’re done they have some of the best sex of harry’s life as he deserves lmao

Harry's 30th birthday wish is to be turned into a vampire, and it comes true :) also this means vampire sex! (girl direction would be amazing but anything is ok)

Harry visits a glory hole and gets to experience it from both sides

girl direction: 30 birthday spankings? too boring! Harry decides to gather 30 of her closest friends and have them unleash their wildest kinks and fetishes on her. go WILD, please-- no holds barred.

sub h x dom louis trying 30 new things in the leadup to his birthday or on the day of his bday things like new positions, new toys, nipple play,lingerie

Harry attends an orgy and shyly admits to a guy who hits on him that it's his birthday, and that he wants to be used by multiple partners. The guy grins and asks if Harry knows what that's called, and tells him he's a pass around party bottom. (Inspired by Andy Cohen calling Anderson Cooper on NYE.) Then he makes it happen for Harry.

something based on the fire hydrant shirt harry has worn..

harrys birthday show louis had wrecked him the morning of and left him very sensitive for the show the tassels keep brushing his sore nipples and butt plug making it hard to dance performs medicine very slutty rest up to author

girl direction for her birthday, harry asks louis to wreck her and specifically asks to make her squirt for the first time

[godfistgonnalive]

please ramble as hard as you can about pruita I need to hear what you have to say about them

grabs you by the shoulders very roughly.

ok. my favorite flavor of pruita is utterly unrequited. cuz its very funny to me. my fav thing to do is listen to music and think about unrequited pruita like L imagine 😹😹but also its kind of sad and i like how its sad but also funny

like think about the prussia cleaning game like omg.... he loves him.... its so silly.......

PRUSSIA STROKED IN HAPPINESS! WHAT THE FUCK! GAY!

and he literally was imaginging them like together on some sort of boat idk what its called like ugh

and the fucking BLOG. ive already posted these before but. my god.

he likes him so much....... its unbelievable........

like are you serious. he so very obviously has a crush on him THERES SO MUCH PROOF OF IT AND [im trying to restrain myself here from being salty about prucan shippers so i will stop myself here.]

ok im racking my brain to try and think of what to say rn cuz as much as i say i wanna talk about my ships i know deep down in my heart i dont have much to say that i can turn into coherent thoughts.

back to my thoughts and not canon content. unrequited pruita. like ok you know that hetalia itself is just gerita fanfiction. like i love gerita. who doesnt. and thats where it comes in in my version of pruita. like prussia is so in love with italy and italys like omggg germanyyyy :3 like. oh my gfod can i talk about the songs i associate with them. the answer is yes i cant be stopped.

ok puppy princess by hot freaks. fucking UGH. unrequited big fat crush ANTHEM right here.

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. prussia is the goofy friend... prussia loves italy...... and italy loves germany........ my goodness.........

NO OTHER HEART BY MAC DEMARCO. THIS IS LITERALLY PRUITA.

i love gerita truth pruita so much but not in the love triangle way like i mean thats what it sounds like but its more like a fucked up triangle like

it doesnt connect all the way... cuz in love triangles dont they usually like compete!>>! like prussia loves italy but in my pruita brain he wouldnt like.. actually really try to get with italy while he knew that germany was trying to get with him.... you know.... he wouldnt do that to his brother..... so he just keeps his crush to himself.... rip.... and thats the fun of it ! ! ! he yearns but he'll never have him... love that

LOVERS ROCK. BY TV GIRL. THIS ONE LYRIC. JESUS CHRIST.

TRYING TO SELL YOU SOMETHING THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE. UGH.

AND LOOKING OUT FOR YOU BY JOY AGAIN. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS.

IM GONNA GO CRAZY!

and peach scone. by hobo johnson.

ltierally every time... prussia calls italy cute.... god......

now. onto requited pruita.

i think theyre silly cute so much so much :3 :3 :3 hold on gotta check pixiv so i can formulate thoughts. ok like i mostly think about prussia's side of things when it comes to required pruita but in my opinion prussia is CRAZY about that man. jesus christ. and italy thinks hes super silly and loves him 🫶🫶🫶 HOLD ON I SHOULD FILL OUT ONE OF THOSE UNDERSTAND NMY SHIP THINGS HOLD ONNNNNN

got a little lazy but you understand.

i think thats all i have to say . i feel like i didnt really say much just put images and then said something along the lines of "jesus christ" or "what the fuck" but i think you undestand. thank you for asking. PEACE AND LOVE!

ALSO WAIT I HAVE MORE. i LOVE gerita marriage. they are so married. and i love thinking about prussia watching the boy hes had a big fat crush on for god knows how long get married to his brother. LMAO! and hes like crying like hes happy for his brother,... but oh man........ LMAOOOOO

i love prussia so much. make him suffer now

ok thanks for reading :heart:

edit:i just realized onm the height thing onm the ship chart i forgot to put 6 CM and instead put 6 M. oops

[decaffedthoughts]

Kinktober Fic 5

Kinks: semi-public sex and collars

Other content: hyunjin is called pet, pretty, and darling, gn dom reader, slight exhibitionism, possessiveness, marking, handjob, mention of bondage

Word count: 995

a/n: sooooo hi again, this took longer than expected, but i'll be posting my last 4 kinktober fics in the next 2 weeks or so. thanks to everyone who will still read these!

Hyunjin looks gorgeous across the room in his collar. The rest of his costume is shoddy, and barely a costume at all, really. He had told you in no uncertain terms that he just wanted to wear his collar out for other people to see. It only had his initials HH on it, so it was clearly custom, but no one knew from that that he was yours. But they would.

You knew that he would be getting hard just from wearing it. Granted, he had lasted longer than you expected him to, but it would only be getting more difficult for him to ignore by now. Soon he'd be coming over to you and begging you to bend him over a bathroom counter, or a bed if you can find your friend's room.

First, of course, someone has to come up and flirt with him. Some stupid, overconfident dude who thought a collar was a free opening to get too close and weird about it. He wouldn't last long. Sure enough, about half a sentence in, Hyunjin gave him a very strong side-eye that you could feel from where you were. You laughed into you your drink, he was honestly too good at that.

Within seconds, Hyunjin was dipping out of the crowd towards you. The guy who tried to hit on him was just tall enough that you could see him following. You wanted so badly to see his reaction as you grab Hyunjin by his collar and kiss him, but Hyunjin had gotten just a little too wide. And by the time you separated and checked again, he was gone. What a shame, you wanted to show him just how much Hyunjin was yours. It would happen again, so you would just try again then.

"Hi there, pretty boy. How's it going?" You asked slyly, knowing the exact reasons he had made his way back to you now.

Hyunjin whined, knowing that you already knew. But you were going to make him say it anyways, obviously. It would be so much less fun if you gave him everything he wanted all the time. Then he'd end up even more spoiled, and you'd have a bratty Hyunjin on your hands. Which was fun, if you were in the right mood.

"Why are we here when both know we just wanna go home. Come onnnnnn." He whined out all his words in a very impressive manner.

You had to take it as the opportunity it was to play with and tease him.

"Who said I wanted to leave? I haven't even said hello to everyone yet, we just got here."

In terms of a party, you really had just got there, but in terms of Hyunjin's patience it might as well have been a full 6 hours.

Hyunjin just pouted harder, and you couldn't claim an entire lack of arousal watching him walk around with a collar on in public. It wasn't out of place and didn't have your name on it or anything, but you could do that after. Claim him like that. He'd probably like it, Hyunjin was kind of like that.

"Come on. I need something, wearing this and having everyone look at it whenever I go past is killing me."

"Anything?" You question him, wondering how far you can push him here before he drags you out with his own two hands.

"Anything." He nods.

Hyunjin knows that's a dangerous thing to say with you, so he must be more desperate than you thought. You don't say another word for now, just grabbing him by the wrist and going to find a semi-isolated bathroom. It's basically a fucking mansion out here, so surely there's an extra room that someone won't miss.

You pull him into one by some strange back garden door, and pin Hyunjin against the wall. He goes willingly, practically limp other than what he needs to hold himself up. His pants are too tight when you go to reach under them, so he helps you, fumbling at undoing the belt and zipper. It's almost more horny like this than fully taking them off, like it shows that you just couldn't wait long enough.

Hyunjin's hands fly back to brace against the wall, knowing he shouldn't reach for you without permission when he's already pushed you this far. He's wet and hard, and you're sure it'd be a pretty dick pic in better lighting. As is, his face is a far better sight and you watch that instead as you jerk him off hard. It's harsher than he likes it, but Hyunjin said he'd take anything, so you'll take him up on that offer.

"My pretty pet in his collar. We'll have to put my name on it when we're done here so you can wear it again." You grin, imagining what it'll look like on him next time.

"Haaaa, please. Fuck, so good. Been thinking about who can tell the collar is for more than just my costume, and it means I'm claimed." It all rushes out of him, occasionally broken by high moans.

He must have been needy before you left if he's already this close.

"Mhm, my pet. Maybe someone'll come back here and listen to you going stupid from just my hand."

"Please, please!" He begs.

You know he's still listening to you, not gone that dumb yet, but you don't feel like drawing it out in this shitty bathroom.

"Cum for me, pretty. Make a mess of yourself."

Visibly giving in, Hyunjin shakes, pressing himself into the wall. Your hand is painted white, but you manage to avoid getting it on your costume. Though who knows how much it matters because you're pretty tempted to leave right after this.

"That was a good one darling, good job." You comment, licking a little of his cum off your hand and he shudders in response. "We're leaving and then I'm gonna tie you down tonight."

[salternateunreality2]

MDZS aka SephZack adventures update: episodes 14-23 SHUT UP I'M AN ADULT I CAN WATCH 9 EPISODES IN A ROW IF MY BABIES ARE IN DANGER

Cough

Anyway

Spoilers...

------

Zack: let's fight the tortoise of slaughter!!!!

Sephiroth: *stares in besotted wtf*

Zack: no, it'll be super cool, we can kill it and get the glory and solve the mystery and most importantly, I won't be bored waiting for Genesis to get back!

Sephiroth: *stares in besotted 'bruh, my leg is broke, you ribs is broke, we both got open wounds, we're starving to death, and you want to fight a giant tortoise'*

Zack: no really, I checked and we can't get out, so I'mma be super bored. Come onnnnnn, it'll be fun! 🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶♥️🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶

Sephiroth: ...this is going to be our entire relationship, isn't it? Ok.

Zack: YESSSSSS, after we make some weapons, I'll jump into its shell because apparently that's a thing I can do!

Sephiroth: ...ok

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

The fight with the dick head (literally) Tortoise of Slaughter (solid naming decision) goes great, but Zack succumbs to the infection he undoubtedly got from SWIMMING WITH AN OPEN WOUND AND PROBABLY BROKEN RIBS, THEN RUNNING AROUND THE FESTERING INNARDS OF A TORTOISE OF SLAUGHTER.

Sure, the evil sword energy probably didn't help, and I'm sure canon is saying "um, actually" as we speak, but come on, Zack. The magic grass you packed into your boo's leg wound next to the weirdly short, unsanitary sticks was limited.

---------

The whole fight, Zack is battling with the evil sword miasma, and Sephiroth is making this face:

It's very cute, I am HERE for it.

--------

Zack: 😵

Sephiroth: 😦😦😦😦 you have a fever!!!

Salty: gee I wonder why

Zack: mmm sing me a song

Salty: how about medical treatment, such as getting you out of the wet clothes, sharing spiritual energy, prying your hands off the evil sword that made you sick...

Sephiroth: ok *sings in simp*

Zack: 🥴😵‍💫 what's that song called?

Sephiroth: Wangxian, our ship name, but I don't say it out loud so the Chinese censors are happy ❤️

Zack: ❤️😵‍💫🥴🐶❤️😵

Salty: ffs, if cuteness could cure stupidity, we wouldn't be in this situation, but as it is, keep trying to fix his stupidity/fever with adorableness, it's working for my shipping heart.

---------

The next [way too many] episodes:

------

Then Wen Ning aka Cloud comes in clutch! Wen Ning is baby, and he is BEST BABY EVER ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🐥

-------

Some quick plot points:

Genesis gets degradation, Zack gets him out of it.

Gen's girlfriend helps because she's nice (?) like that.

Gen's parents die.

A war happens with zombie degradation clones.

Zack gets yeeted by the villains into a den of unmitigated horror (not Hojo's labs, but just as nasty).

Everything sucks.

I sat on the toilet to cry into my shirt, not knowing why. It was because I watched the sad thing in my room and the toilet was the only place where the sad wasn't happening. Also it took me a full several hours to realize watching a sad thing made me sad #neurodivergence #isfun #andquirky!

THEN THE BOYS GOT BACK TOGETHER FUCK YEAH!!!!!

---------

Sephiroth: you should probably not fuck around with this newfound angry spirit power...

Zack: remember my cute puppy face?

Sephiroth: fuck

Zack: 🐶

Sephiroth: 🥴

Genesis: STOP MAKING EYES AT EACH OTHER. FUCK OR GET TO WORK!

Angeal (btw he's alive): they are so fucking cute

Zack's sister: dude they so are ❤️

Genesis: we are at WAR

Angeal: I'm gonna be a bridesmaid

Zack's sister: GASP we should get matching outfits!

Genesis: 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

--------

Zack: *waits until the LAST minute to whip out his fancy angry spirit powers* Hey Idiot Poop Face, how bout that?!

Idiot Poop Face: 🤬 *chokes Zack* *it's not kinky*

Sephiroth; *is jealous anyway* *catches bb Zack as he passes out from using angry spirit powers and being choked* *my dude was like half a football field away* *then he appeared out of nowhere to catch his boo*

Salty: *clicks rewind several times because it's fucking adorable*

[sulphuryasecretcloset]

How Mose stopped worrying and learned to love Leo

“Listen, I need to go do something.” She says.

Mose nods. He knows that means Zev'sonya is off some place where Hutts aren't welcome. While neither of them like it, there are some situations that are just made easier by him staying behind. She will be back. Or he'll come get her. “Understood, Lorda.”

Zev'sonya adjusts her cloak and seems ready to leave right away. He's not surprised. She never did like to waste time. “I'll be back in about five hours, if things go without a hitch.”

“Understood.”

“Have fun watching the kids while I'm gone.”

Now those words do puzzle Mose. Junior has been asleep for over a week now. Without the little green one to keep her company, she tends to sleep a lot more. Mose is aware of how it is far more normal for a Huttlet to sleep for months, even years, rather than be awake and active like Junior has been, mostly due to the strain of their growing bodies and their fragile minds, but he finds himself missing her. The feeling of her breathing and occasionally twitching is reassuring, but he still misses her exploring new places with her innocence and enthusiasm. Why would... Wait, Zev said kids. KidS. Plural. Which means... she does not intend to bring her human.

Mose draws a sharp breath, meaning to object rather harshly, when Zev'sonya has the audacity to wink at him, actually wink at him, and he stares with a slack jaw as she trots off with a far too smug cackle. She has definitely been spending far too much time around humans!

And speaking of which... Mose slowly turns his head and, as dreaded, finds himself looking down at Leo, who is grinning up at him like an excited child about to go out on the most wonderful adventure. While there is no denying that the eternally cheerful blond has had a very positive effect on Zev, easing a lot of the burning anger she had at life, he is also the most talkative and energetic soul Mose has ever met. He sighs. This is going to be a very long day.

Ignoring Leo is what Mose usually does and it works for the first couple of hours: Leo talks while Mose pretends he can't hear him. Others would take the hint, but the blond merely keeps chattering away and tries to get Mose to engage with a wide variety of topics. Humans, such troublesome creatures. How many times in history have they set the Galaxy on fire by now?

“Let's go into town!” Leo declares, very loud and with that eternal grin on his face. Hours of basically talking to himself must finally be getting boring even to him.

Mose scowls. “No.” The ship is parked a safe distance from the small town that seems to be beckoning the blond and Mose is perfectly happy to stay right there and laze about until Zev returns. There is no reason for them to head into town.

“Come onnnnnn, Mose. Pretty please?”

Mose doesn't hesitate. “No.”

Leo's eyes narrow a tiny fraction for the briefest of moments, then he shrugs and smiles. “Well, you can stay here, but I'm going. And going alone, you know I might get into trouble, stuff like that happens, and Zev is not going to be happy that you let me wander into danger by myself, you know. What if I get hurt? Oh, she won't like that at all. She will be quite disappointed in you.”

Once again the audacity of a biped has Mose slack-jawed and staring, then he sighs and has little choice but to trail after Leo marching towards the town with a jaunty whistle. Zev would indeed be very upset if something bad was to happen to her idiot, and Leo is bound to get into some kind of trouble if he is allowed to spend time in town without supervision. Mose toys briefly with the idea of merely grabbing him and holding him down with his tail until she returns, but something tells him that Leo would be whining so loudly his ears would bleed, and punching him unconscious is too risky with that frail human skull of his.

Turns out that heading into town achieves the impossible; Leo turns even more talkative. And determined to use every credit he has in his pockets once he finds the marked place.

“What do you think about this?” “Do you think she'd like these double-bladed ones?” “Hey, this would look cool on you.” “Wow, can you believe the price of these?” “Check this out, I would look awesome in this!” “Maybe we should get some of these for Junior?” “I'm telling you; the ship could use a little colour inside.” “A man, or a Hutt, can never have too many blankets.”

It never ends. Mose is going to get back at Zev for this.

Leo has grabbed a dangerous amount of candy to buy from a horribly decorated cart when he grins up at Mose. “What do you want? My treat.”

Mose glares. “Ylesian white worms.” He deserves tasty snacks for putting up with this.

Minutes later, Mose is rummaging his left hand around in the big glass container he's carrying under his right arm until he has a big haul of worms in his grip. He shoves them into his mouth as he shuffles along after the still talking Leo and wonders how Zev is doing. He knows she can look after herself, but he still worries. She's so awfully impulsive...

Lost in thought, he doesn't notice how Leo turns a corner, freezes and stops talking mid-sentence.

Mose nearly smacks into the man's back due to the sudden and unexpected stop and he's about to ask what the hell is wrong with him when he sees what Leo sees: five stormtrooper helmets on top of wooden sticks stuck in the ground. There are pools of dark, coagulated blood on the ground under the helmets.

Oh.

For a long time they just stand there, staring, until Mose can't handle the tension. Or the complete absence of a smile on Leo's face. “Did you know them...?”

Leo keeps his gaze on the helmets and answers in a too quiet voice. “I don't know. I can't see their operating numbers.” The green eyes that are usually bright with mischief are dark and solemn.

Silence follows his words and Mose awkwardly remembers a time when he'd asked Zev if there wasn't a way to shut Leo up and she had replied that the only thing worse than a talking Leo is a silent one, and he's now inclined to agree. This is making Mose's hide crawl with unease.

“Maybe they deserved this.” Leo suddenly says in that too quiet manner. “Maybe. A lot of them were not good people and they did a lot of bad things.” A hard swallow. “But... not all of them. Mikey only joined because his family told him to. Kiergan joined so he wouldn't end up in jail with his brothers. Hauroko, it was the only way she could go after her dream. Corin, he didn't have a choice at all. Kinnon, Jana, Heiden, Mokae, Cordè, none of them would have deserved this, but the ones hunting down Troopers these days wouldn't have cared and put their heads on spikes anyway.”

Mose had entered a mercenary's hut with Zev once, years ago, and found himself surrounded by eight Hutt skulls mounted on the man's walls. Knowing that the Hutts were probably cruel cretins who deserved it had not made the sight any less unsettling. But this situation does give Mose the opportunity to ask something he's been wondering about for a very long time. “Why did 'you' join?”

Leo, Leave-it, whatever you want to call him, has never struck Mose as an imperial fanatic or a war monger. Why would someone like Leo join the stormtroopers?

“Back home where I grew up, they were portrayed as the heroes.” Leo says, still staring at the helmets. “In the news, everything we saw and read, they were the good guys. They were the ones who saved others from mercs and pirates and all kinds of scum. My dad was in complete awe of them. If it hadn't been for him not wanting to leave my mom and me, he would have joined in a heartbeat. We were mere miners, nobodies, while the guys in white kept everyone in the Galaxy safe.” Leo finally closes his eyes. “After my father died, I decided I wanted to do some good before I followed him into the afterlife. I was already sick by then, my mom too, so I knew I had limited time. Becoming a stormtrooper meant I could afford medicine for my mom, travel the Galaxy and see other planets while helping other people as well. I thought it was the best idea ever. By the time I realized the truth, it was too late. I needed the credits for mom's medicine, I didn't want to leave Kiergan and Hauroko to face danger alone, and after my mom died, they were all the family I had left so I had to keep them safe at least. I couldn't leave.”

Mose doesn't know what to say. He feels bad for asking, but he can definitely relate to wanting to protect your friend even if it means risking your own life.

Leo turns away from the helmets. “I've changed my mind. Let's just go back to the ship.”

Just as Leo walks by him, Mose looks over at the blond. “Are you okay?” It's a stupid question, of course he's not, but he still asks as an awkward gesture to show concern.

Pausing next to him but keeping his gaze on the horizon, Leo sighs. “Yeah. I just forgot.” And before Mose can ask him what he'd forgotten, the human continues. “I forgot for a moment that every single soul on this planet hates me.”

Again, Mose can relate only too well and he knows how bad of a feeling that is. It's the worst kind. It makes you feel endlessly lonely. And worthless. But it's not true. “I don't hate you.” He offers.

That causes Leo to glance up at him with a ghost of a sad smile. “Really?” There is fragile hope in that simple word.

“Yeah.” Mose confirms, shifting the glass container to his other arm to reach out with his right hand and he gives him a couple of worm-free pats on the blond head. “Really.”

Leo's smile turns into something so warm and grateful that it makes Mose's heart clench in a way that usually only happens around Junior and the little green man. Fine, he can be a little nicer to him. After all, Leo's basically a kid too by Hutt standards.

-

“Higher!” Leo's voice demands.

“Then stop squirming!” Mose snaps back.

“I'm not squirming.”

“Yes, you are.”

Zev'sonya frowns as she approaches the ship and hears her two companions arguing from somewhere on the other side of the craft. What is going on? Rounding the front of the ship, what she sees makes even less sense than anything she could have conjured up as possible scenarios.

Leo and Mose are both frozen, staring at her, but what makes it odd is the fact that Mose has pulled himself as high up as he can, has his hands under Leo's arms and is holding him up to face the panel just under the transparisteel of the cockpit.

Blinking, Zev'sonya only absently registers that the grey panel in front of Leo has the outline of what looks to be a drawing of a yellow twi'lek and that his hands are clutching a can of spray paint each, because she's too startled by the sight of him hastily slurping the tail of what looks to be a white worm into his mouth.

“Lorda, you're back...” Mose says awkwardly, slowly lowering Leo to the ground.

“What is going on here?” Zev'sonya demands to know.

“We're decorating the ship!” Leo declares through some hasty chewing.

“Decorating the...” Zev'sonya echoes, struggling to believe what she's hearing in addition to what she's seeing. At least Mose has the decency to look embarrassed. Leo just looks delighted at the sight of her. “I leave for half a day and you both lose your minds?!”

“Aw, come on!” Leo whines. “All the cool ships have decorations.”

“We got bored.” Mose mumbles.

She stares at them for several long seconds, trying to digest the weirdness of it all until she decides she can't. This is just too weird. Zev'sonya turns on her heel and stalks inside the ship. Starting up the engines, she gives them just enough time to scramble on board before Zev'sonya shuts the doors and takes off towards space.

It is hours later when she allows Leo into the cockpit and only after he has brushed his teeth twice. “I can't believe you ate worms.”

“You know,” her idiot says with a big grin, slouching in the co-pilot seat with one leg over the arm-rest, “if you really want to pull off the act as a culinary expert, you're going to have to be more open to new foods. I'm telling you; Mose is right. They're really good. Spicy with a hint of liquorice.”

Zev'sonya glances over at him without turning her head. “And if you want to pull off the act as a stupid blond, you need to stop using big words like 'culinary'.” Leo laughs, not bothered at all, as usual. He then sits up properly and leans a little forward towards her with a grin. “So, are you going to tell me what you were up to today? It wasn't a job, right? Was it an evil scheme for me and Mose to spend time together so that he'd grow dangerously fond of me and we'd become best buddies? Because if it was, I can tell you it really worked!”

Fighting back a smile, Zev'sonya turns her gaze to the stars ahead. There would be no need to make Mose like Leo because she knows he already likes him just fine. She never would have brought Leo on board the ship if that wasn't the case, her selfish heart be damned. As much as the idiot annoys him at times, Mose has shown Leo far more patience and leniency than most souls they have encountered in their years together. He even gave his approval of their relationship before Zev'sonya could handle mere the thought of it. “It was a private errand.”

“Roger that.” Leo says, instantly backing off by slouching back in his seat and flinging his leg over the arm rest again. “Oh, for your information; once we park some place, me and my buddy are finishing the art work on the ship. Just so you know. We cannot be stopped!”

“I had my chip turned off.” Zev'sonya says, gaze firmly locked straight ahead. Yet, even without looking at him, she senses Leo freezing up before deflating from having inhaled a lot of air to cover a grand speech about his and Mose's plans. “Wh...” He sits up straight again and his reflection in the transparisteel shows his confusion and concern. “What?”

“You heard me.” Zev'sonya feels a clench of unease in her gut. Had it been a mistake? She glares over at him. “Didn't you say last week that you'd always dreamed about having kids?”

“Yeah.” Leo blurts out. “But, like, I wasn't... It's not... Didn't you then tell me it would be crime for me to breed and pass on my stupidity?”

Zev'sonya nods. “It would. Which is why I'm going to make sure our kid inherits my intelligence.”

Eerily enough, Leo goes quiet for a moment. He looks down at where his hands are nervously fidgeting and clears his throat. “Zev. Are you sure? It would change everything. And... I might not be around to-”

“Shut up.” Zev'sonya snaps. She knows he is thinking about the death sentence hanging over his head, is worrying about the thought of her having to raise a child alone, but Leo seriously needs to get through his thick skull that she is not going to let him die.

“No.” Leo counters, his voice firm with unbreakable stubbornness. “Dammit, if you want me to even consider this, I need to know that you have really thought this through. I love how impulsive you are, Zev, but this is the one thing I can't have you decide on a whim. I can't. Okay?”

Zev'sonya takes a calming breath before facing her idiot once more. “Fine. Listen up; I want this too. I know what I'm getting myself into. And even without you, I wouldn't be alone. I've got Mose. I've got Din and Corin. I know Kiergan and the others will love any child that is part you. Happy? I even had the doctor do research on Miner's Lung to make sure it was safe for a kid.” She scowls at him. “But that is just stupid talk because we'll both be there all the way. End of discussion.”

Leo stares at her with disbelief and growing giddiness before he breaks into a wide grin and nods.

“Good.” Zev'sonya leans back in her seat. “Now the only problem is that we have to wait two days before we can get to work on this.” She makes a face. “I can't believe you ate those worms.” “What?” Leo suddenly looks devastated. “But-”

“Your mouth is not getting anywhere near me with worm-breath.”

“I brushed my teeth! Twice!”

“I don't care! Worm-breath!”

“Zev!” “WORM-BREATH!”

[hummingbird-games]

Dev Diaries

July 5, 2023

Again. Very upset I can’t just be a game consumer and consumer only BECAUSE I’m making my way through Itch.io, playing jam games, talent surpassed, I’m homebound 🎶🎷

Guys 😭 the entries for Otome and Josei jam this year?? I’m finally in a place where I can play more entries and it’s just banger after banger. If you worked in any capacity on one of those entries, I love you. I am in awe of you. I hope you only get the best things in life. I want to do highlights, but that’ll be a future post, and I haven’t decided if it’ll be on the main HBG blog or my review side blog. 

As for the real purpose of this Dev Diaries? I’m at an impasse. Firstly, I want to toot my own horn and celebrate that after a small break from direct work on Crushed, I just finished a full, thorough playthrough for note taking purposes (and to get my mind right, as my mom would say). Y’all, it’s still a banger. I’m still very much in love with what’s been created, and even more excited impatient for y’all to play the game! Which brings me to the impasse.

CGs, more voice acting, and [redacted] are things I’ve kept in my back pocket for Crushed but held off on because 1) it was a jam entry 2) supposed to be a learning experience and cathartic writing exercise 3) a pallet cleanser before I begin another period of long game development, possibly longer than HSD:JY and 4) self-funding. I like money. It does not like me apparently. 

I keep saying that the character sprites--and onnnnnne minor coding issue I recently discovered, Jesus be a FENCE, EYE 😑-- are what’s keeping us from a clear release date, and honestly they’re the only things needed if I wanted to publish the game and never look at it ever again. So, I propose an idea that’s been kicking around in my head. It has pros and cons but the ultimate goal is what players want because on my end, I’ve made peace with whatever happens. 

Option 1 - We push back Crushed to Fall/Winter 2023. You get a finished base game PLUS I hoard some funds now so we get some of the cool things in my back pocket! Maybe I even request some assistance LOL!

Option 2 - Crushed is released the moment it can be out (still aiming for this summertime). In the meantime, I upload the complete but unfinished build to the Ko-Fi page under a monthly subscription or one time ko-fi fee (whichever is best). Those who can’t wait any longer can play sooner, and those who can wait...can wait. Lol. 

Personally, I lean towards the second option only because this was a jam entry and it while I like dreaming big, this wasn’t supposed to be the fruits of that labor. I don’t want to set a precedent where I throw my all into jam entries that are supposed to be something small, low stress, fun, and a chance to grow as a creator. But option one has me giddy because wouldn’t it be CUTE to release a winter game during winter??? Ehh?? Ehh??

I’m going to abuse the polls feature again because honestly, I never know how many of y’all read these devlogs 😂 I’d like the majority to win, and I can reblog a poll a bunch of times to annoy y’all into a response LOL!!

Of course, if you have thoughts, please feel free to comment! I’m headed back to play some more jam entries and maybe start tackling my reading goal for the month.

- Gemini 💛

Psssttt: If you’re reading this YOU SHOULD PLAY BAND CAMP BOYFRIEND AND TROUBLE COMES TWICE and then go rate and review the games. cool. bai!

[thenewfuture]

…what. what just happened.

i suppose a break from this whole disaster might in order, but still. huh.

Right, right, right!? You all think so too, yeah?

So a tour around an amusement park sounds like just the thing we need! So come onnnnnn!

As I said, without Mikan, it would be quite disingenuous.

Mikan...that bitch...

Putting that aside, I'd love to check out an amusement park! I wanna see all the rides!

I could use a break from all the heavy stuff that happened recently...

It doesn't sound that bad to me either, provided I can go.

Whatever...

I'm not opposed to it if everyone else is fine with it.

See, Sea, Ci, C! Everyone wants to go toooo! Don't keep them waiting girl!

Plus I wanna! IwannaIwannaIwannaIwannaIwannaaaaaaaa!

*sigh* Very well then.

If it is what everyone wants, then let us begin another exciting inclusion of: "Sonia's Island Tour"!

Sounds like fun. May I join?

Ah! Y-You...?! Where'd you come from?!

Apologies, I heard a lot of commotion coming downstairs so I decided to check it out. I was going to make myself known, but didn't exactly know where to cut in. I didn't want to be rude.

It sounds like fun, and I never went on one of the tours before. May I please come along?

Oh, well um....

...........

........