#getting outside players into the game is a really cheap way out of it and seems perfectly on brand for ML

[owoanduwuchan]

ML Paris Special: A Hint for Adrien Towards the Truth?

Thanks to s5 finally giving the specials an ounce of canon relevance in the show, I think it's reasonable to think something important could happen in them.

Many of us agree that the post-wish timeline would probably stop Adrien from learning the truth until Lila steps in (which probably won't happen until she has Adrien's amoks and can make things the worst) or one of Adrien's loved ones fess up (something that's never happened before).

So, how can we possibly set up Adrien getting help in this doomed universe?

Perhaps the answer lies not in this post-wish universe. Like, perhaps the universe of Toxinelle and Chat Griffe?

Perhaps their universe is also a post-wish universe where Gabriel made a different wish. One where he's a hero and Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chat Noir (whose identity was unknown to everyone present at wish-time) are the villains he can publicly triumph over.

He could wish the peacock was never broken so that Emilie was alive but Adrien can still be puppeted. The Cat and Bug team would need to cataclysm the peacock miraculous pre-Feast and/or Fu-meeting-with-Gabriel, but canon Fu is a coward and it took months for Feast to arrive in Paris. Toxigriffe's got this.

Or you can make them not need the peacock in the end (to postpone SentiAdrien reveal) and just have them be the incompetent parents canon already proved they were. As long as the Agrestes are bad enough for our Ladynoir alters to want our Adrien to get out, the setup is there.

It doesn't have to be a full reveal either. A passing comment on how Emilie must have been blackmailed into giving Adrien the rings, or a "Who is Felix? Aunt Amelie adopted???", or even a question on what they renovated the basement into. Give Adrien a nugget that Ladybug hopes AdriChat won't follow but that eventually he will. One that when he does, finally starts letting Adrien go through what the others are depriving him of: development from reality and the truth.

[sapphire-writes]

Beyond The Play

college!Art x college!Reader

summary: Tashi needs some time alone with her man, which leaves you without a room for the night.

word count: 3.8k

rating: mature/explicit/18+

warnings: alcohol, fingering, dry humping, p in v sex with a condom, light praise, titty sucking, there's only one bed oh no!!

a/n: thanks for all the love on my first Challengers fic! hope you enjoy this one!

“You are so fucked,” Art says, taking another sip of his beer.

“Shut up.”

“He’s right,” Tashi agrees, sighing heavily, glancing at her cards.

You’re all sitting on the floor of your and Tashi’s dorm room, half-empty beer bottles littering the floor between you. You’d been playing poker for the past hour or so, swindling more of Patrick and Art’s money. It’d become a Friday night habit of yours, card games and beer with Patrick and Art. Patrick was always a maybe, he only came to visit his girlfriend a couple times a semester. 

But you, Art, and Tashi were always a solid trio. Tashi and Art had met through tennis of course, and you had met Art through Tashi after rooming with her freshman year of college. You’d become fast friends, and roommates for the next several years. You got along with Patrick well enough, you had to once he and Tashi started dating.

You could tell that had been a sore spot for Art, at least for a while. You’d suspected he’d had a thing for Tashi, and fire and ice hadn’t been the same since. You’d once asked Tashi about it and she’d only shrugged. Even though she was with Patrick for now, you knew Tashi had only one true love. 

Whatever Art felt for Tashi was easily molded into friendship, and the three of you became nearly inseparable. Which was good, even if you may or may not have developed some feelings of your own for the blond tennis player. 

But your friendship was more important. Those feelings could be pushed aside.

“God damn it,” Patrick curses, “I fold.”

Tashi snickers, revealing her cards and Patrick swears once more. 

“I need a smoke,” Patrick says, standing and leaning across Tashi’s bed to the open window.

“Oh no you don’t,” Tashi says, standing at lightning speed, “Outside, we are not getting in trouble for this.”

She grabs Patrick by the shirt collar, dragging him off the bed. He dramatically chokes, but lets her drag him towards the door.

“Art come on,” Patrick insists, reaching for his best friend.

“What? No, I wanna stay,” Art says, sandy hair falling in front of his eyes, “You don’t need a babysitter—”

“Yes I do,” Patrick insists, “C’mon five minutes, I swear.”

The boys tumble into the hall and you can hear their voices fading as they make their way outside. You stand from the floor, gathering up some beer bottles, and folding up the empty pizza box.

“Hey, d’you think you could sleep somewhere else tonight?” Tashi asks, brown eyes wide, “It’s Patrick’s last night, and y’know we really haven’t had any alone time.”

Your chest constricts at the thought. You totally get where she’s coming from but, it’s your room too. The thought of sleeping in the common area is less enticing. 

“Or at least just for a couple of hours,” Tashi backtracks, seeing your expression, “Just so we can—”

“Yeah, Tash it’s fine,” you tell her, swallowing your annoyance. Tashi’s been nothing but thoughtful and kind as a roommate, and friend. It’s an inconvenient favor, but nothing crazy. “I’ll get out of your hair for a couple of hours.”

“You’re the best,” she says, kissing your cheek, “Seriously, I owe you one.”

“You sure do,” you tell her, “I expect full payment for this.”

“Do you mean a trip to the movies with slurpees and popcorn?” Tashi asks, raising her eyebrows. 

“With extra butter,” you clarify and point at her, “You’re not cheaping out on me.”

“I’d never,” she insists, feigning seriousness before breaking into a grin. 

You finish helping Tashi clean up and begin your excommunication from your room. Walking down the hallway you bump into Patrick and Art on their way back from Patrick’s smoke break.

“What’re you doing out here? You start smoking?” Art asks as Patrick keeps walking past you, picking up the pace, “Hey where…”

“Party’s over,” you tell him, as Patrick turns the corner, eager to return to Tashi now that she’s alone.

Art frowns, confused.

“But we were—”

“Art,” you cut him off and place your hands on his shoulders, shaking him slightly, “Party’s over. Unless you’re eager to be a third.”

Art’s cheeks flush and he glances away, forcing out a laugh. Something tugs at your heart watching his half-smile appear. 

“Uh yeah ... .no thanks,” he says and you pat his shoulders before releasing them, “Wait but where are you going to go?”

You shrug, “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“You can’t just wander around campus, it’s like 2 am,” Art says, beckoning you with his hand, “Come back to my room, at least till they’re done.”

“Really?” you ask, “Cause if you’re tired I can just—”

“Don’t be silly,” Art says, poking your shoulder, “C’mon.”

Art’s room is in a separate building on campus, about a five-minute walk from you and Tashi’s building. Art is lucky enough to have a single; you’d been there a handful of times before class or practice. He keeps his room neat, aside from some clothes scattered on the floor from quick changes before practice. You smile as he hurriedly picks them up, throwing them into a hamper in his closet.

His bed is unmade, navy sheets messy as though he’d just woken up. 

“Sorry bout the mess,” he says, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“I’m not judging, you’re cleaner than most guys I’ve met,” you tell him and he laughs. 

Suddenly, it hits you how late it is, sleepiness hitting you like a train as you yawn. This triggers Art’s yawn and the pair of you stand awkwardly in front of each other. 

“Um,” Art says suddenly, “It’s late.”

“Yeah,” you agree, stomach sinking, “I can just—”

“You should stay.”

You’re silent at that. You stare at him, as he nervously plays with the hem of his t-shirt, waiting for your reaction. You’re not sure what to say. It’s fine, right? Just a friend, helping out another friend.

A friend whom you have a big fat annoying crush on.

“I mean….it’s just late and you’re tired and who knows when they’ll be done.”

“I don’t have anything with me,” you tell him, voice sounding softer, meeker than you’d like.

“Oh, here I got you,” he says, walking to his dresser. He shuffles through the drawer a moment before revealing a shirt and clean boxers, “Just did laundry today. You can….you can change in the bathroom. I even have an extra toothbrush.”

You roll your eyes at that, taking the clothes from him. 

“Okay,” you agree.

“Bathroom’s right there.”

You nod, quickly making your way across the room and into the bathroom. You close the door and quickly change, finding Art’s spare toothbrush unopened in a goodie bag from the dentist shoved into a spare drawer. You quickly wash your face, brush your teeth, and change into his clothes. The shirt is baggy, with Stanford Men’s Tennis written across the front. It smells like him, like his detergent and his cologne and you can’t help but greedily inhale.

When you exit the bathroom, Art dips in, leaving the door open as he brushes his teeth. You place your clothes in a pile on his desk, awkwardly waiting for him. When he emerges, he’s wearing only his boxers and a gray t-shirt.

“I’ll take the floor,” Art says, his face turning beet red, “You can have the bed.”

“Art no,” you insist, “It’s your room. I’ll take the floor, it’s only fair—”

“Yeah that is not happening,” he says, satisfied smirk on his face, “Tashi’d kill me if she found out I made you sleep on the floor.”

“We could…..” you wet your lips, struggling to get the words out, “We could share the bed?”

Art watches you, his eyes wide. You watch his Adam’s apple bobs as he contemplates your question. Suddenly your pulse quickens, and embarrassment floods your body, and your face flushes. You turn away from him, scooting onto the bed.

“I mean only—”

“—if you’re comfortable,” Art finishes and you shut your mouth. You both giggle at the overlapping sentences.

“Yeah, I’m comfortable, Art,” you tell him, patting the space beside you, “Come on.”

Art moves onto the bed and you push closer to the wall. He’s so close when he lies down beside you, stretching his arm above your head. You’ve grown accustomed to the moonlit room and at this distance, you can almost count each eyelash that frames his blue eyes. 

“Is this okay?” he whispers, minty breath wafting over your face, making your head spin.

“Mhmm,” is all you can manage as the heat of his body warms you under the covers.

He’s silent then and you lay there for a moment, watching each other, listening to your shared breathing. Art chuckles then.

“What?”

“It’s just…” he trails off, “Nothing, it’s silly.”

“What is it?”

“You’re the first girl I’ve shared a bed with,” he admits, shyly glancing away from your gaze.

“Art Donaldson,” your tone is teasing, “I find that rather hard to believe.”

“It’s true,” he insists, brows furrowing together, “I mean….I’m not saying—wait” he wets his lips nervously, “I’m not a virgin—”

Your eyebrows raise, a smile curling at the corner of your lips. No, you did not doubt that. 

“Not that anything’s wrong with that, I just—wait and not to imply—”

“Art!” you cut him off, reaching forward and pressing your fingers against his lips, “I’m kidding. Don’t freak out.”

“M’not,” he mumbles, lips moving against your fingers.

“I’m fucking with you, Donaldson,” you whisper, taking your hand back, “I know you’re a gentleman.”

“Thank Christ,” he says with an exaggerated exhale causing you to giggle once more. He watches you, a smile on his face, eyes flickering to your lips.

Your face heats up as he wets his lips. Suddenly, nervousness flutters in your belly, and your heart flutters in your chest.

“Goodnight,” you tell him, turning away from him to face the wall.

You wait for his response, hoping he’s not disappointed. Disappointed about what, you’re not sure. 

“Goodnight,” he says softly and you close your eyes.

You wake up early. Birds are chirping outside the window, golden sunlight is beginning to bleed into the room, and Art’s chest is smushed firmly against your back. His arm is curled around your middle, hand splayed under your shirt and on your tummy, face buried in the crook of your neck. He’s so warm, his presence so comforting, you just want to close your eyes and melt back into him. 

Art groans in his sleep, moving his hips slightly and your eyes snap open.

Oh, Art.

He’s pressed firmly against your backside, rock-hard, hips unconsciously grinding against you. Your mouth falls open slightly feeling him against you, the hard outline of his cock bullying against your ass. Art groans again, hand on your stomach pushing you closer to him.

A breathy sigh escapes you and your head falls back against him slightly. 

“Art,” you breathe, answered with another groan, this one edging on a whimper. His hips gyrate, cock pressing against you with need, “Oh God…”

You swallow, breathing becoming more shallow. Your pussy clenches, and you can feel the growing wetness in the boxers Art had lent you, thighs pressing together desperate to relieve some of the pressure.

“Art wake up!” 

Art wakes with a start, head pulled from your shoulder. You can’t see him, but you feel him tense, the warmth of his body ripped from yours as he lurches backward, right off the edge of the bed. He falls with a yelp, hitting the floor with a loud thud. You sit up turning toward him. 

“Fuck!” he says, scrambling to sit and hide his erection, “Shit, I’m so sorry!” His face is red and he grabs a pillow, placing it over his lap, “God–fuck, I’m so sorry I was asleep—” He keeps stuttering, unable to meet your eyes. 

“Art.”

“It’s just biological you know, just morning wood, I would never do anything without your explicit consent–enthusiastic consent!”

“Art…”

“And I would never want to ruin anything between us, ever–”

“Art!”

His head snaps toward you then, eyes meeting yours. His mouth hangs open, eyes watery as he looks up at you. He looks so sad, so embarrassed, and disappointed. And something else as well. Worried, perhaps. 

“Get back up here,” you tell him.

Art’s mouth remains open in shock as he glances at the bed.

“Now?”

“Yes, right now.”

Art scrambles to rejoin you on the bed, lying beside you. He faces you just as he did last night, sandy hair falling across his forehead. You smile softly at his disheveled appearance and his flushed cheeks.

“I’m sorry—”

“Stop talking,” you tell him, reaching forward and brushing some hair from his face. You let your hand trail around to the nape of his neck, fingers curling in his hair. “You have my consent.”

Art’s eyes widen, lips parting in shock.

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm,” you tell him, pulling yourself closer. His hand drifts to your hip, anchoring himself to it. “Explicit, enthusiastic, all yours.”

The last word has barely left your lips before he’s leaning forward, pressing his lips against your own. They’re warm and soft, he kisses you with innocent eagerness, the hand on your hip pulling you flush against him. You lift your leg, hitching it around his thigh, fingers tangling in his hair and tugging slightly, earning a moan against your mouth.

“Fuck,” he moans against your lips, “You don’t know how long I’ve thought about this.”

Something deep inside your belly warms at his admission. 

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm,” he answers, kissing you again, “Since freshman year.”

“Why didn’t you…..oh fuck..” your question trails off as Art mouths your neck, sucking and biting the tender skin.

“Didn’t want to ruin anything,” he mumbles, kissing your collarbone. 

You hum at his answer, tilting your head to give him better access. His hand moves from your hip bone, up under your shirt—his shirt. 

“Is this okay?” he asks, mouth returning to your lips.

“Yes,” you tell him, “Please touch me.”

You can feel his smile against your lips as he does what you ask, fingers grazing the underside of your breast. Pushing against him, his hand cups your breast, squeezing lightly. You pull away from his lips briefly, tugging your shirt over your head and tossing it to the end of the bed. Art’s eyes devour you and he kisses you desperately as he continues to play with your tits. 

“Fuck you’re beautiful,” he murmurs, kissing down your neck until he reaches the top of your chest. 

Art’s lips move across the tops of your breasts, as though he’s struggling with choosing which one to lavish with attention. Luckily for you, he decides rather quickly and latches his mouth to your right nipple, thumb, and forefinger, tweaking the opposite. Your back arches as he gently bites down, sucking the hardened peak harshly before releasing it with a pop. 

“Art.”

He simply moans, ignoring your cries as he brings his mouth to your opposite nipple, repeating his previous action. Pleasure winds a current in your lower belly, your thighs clench as he repeats his little torture, alternating back and forth between your breasts. You grab his hair, tugging him not too gently until he glances up at you, cheeks red, lips glossy and puckered. 

He’s too pretty.

You pull him back to your lips, kissing him feverishly while trying to rid yourself of the clothing you have left. Art feels you squirming and assists, hands moving the boxers down your legs until you’re able to kick them off at your ankles. Your hands move to him next, eager to even the playing field. 

You tear his shirt over his head revealing his toned stomach from countless hours on the court. Your mouth waters at the sight before Art is on you once more, lips capturing yours in another heated kiss. His hand returns to your hip, curling against it before he reaches further, squeezing your ass.

You smile against his mouth as he squeezes again. 

“You’re just fucking perfect, aren’t you?” he murmurs, returning your smile.

His hand grazes down the back of your thigh before venturing to the front where your legs meet. Your breathing becomes more labored the closer he gets to your hot center. 

“Can I?” he asks, so softly, you nearly drown out his question with your heavy breath.

“Yes,” you tell him, and that’s all he needs. 

Art slides a curious finger between your wet folds, gently circling your clit. Your mouth falls open as he continues.

“You’re so wet,” he remarks, dipping his finger lower, and finding your entrance. 

He lets his middle finger sink into you, met with little resistance. Your walls greedily accept him as he curls his finger upwards, beginning to pump it in and out. Stars explode behind your eyes and you moan, clutching onto his shoulder.

Art smirks, eyes aglow at the pleasured noises you emit.

“That feel good?”

“Yes—fuck,” you squeak as he presses another finger inside of you, “Oh god.”

“Yeah?” 

Art crooks his fingers against your velvety walls, pressing against that special spot inside of you that has your head lolling against him, moans spilling from your lips. His thumb joins, caressing your sensitive clit in time with the strokes of his fingers. 

“Feels so good,” you moan, “I’m so close.”

“Yeah? You're gonna come for me?” he asks, kissing your neck. Your fingers tangle themselves in his blonde hair, tugging harshly, your orgasm building deep in your belly, “Come on baby, come on my fingers, I wanna feel this pretty pussy come.”

His words send you over the edge and your pussy clenches around his digits as you come, thighs shaking from the intensity as warmth floods through you.

“That was so hot,” Art says, kissing you, still buried to the knuckles inside you, “You’re so hot. Let me fuck you, please.”

You hum against his lips as he carefully removes his fingers from your warmth. He pulls away, bringing his fingers to his lips, sucking them clean. You watch him awestruck as he moans, eyes closing at the taste of you.

“Get inside me,” you tell him, “Right now.”

Art doesn’t need to be told twice, sitting up and pulling his boxers off as you lay on your back. Your eyes drift down his stomach to his cock. It’s pretty, just like the rest of him. Long, girthy, a neat tuft of dark sandy colored hair at the base. The tip flushed red and weeping as he strokes himself. 

“Condom?” you ask, and he nods, walking to his desk and rummaging through the first drawer. 

He comes up successful, ripping the wrapper with his teeth and rolling the condom on his length before crawling on top of you. You spread your legs for him as he lines himself up, rubbing the tip along your soaked slit. 

“Art, please put it in,” you whine, hips lifting.

“Jesus, I’m not gonna last long if you keep that up,” he says, shaking his head.

Your responding giggle is short-lived as he slowly sinks inside of you, filling you to the brim.

“Oh god,” you whimper, as he rests his forehead against yours.

“You okay?”

“More than okay,” you answer, cupping his cheek. He mirrors your action and you smile, a sudden burst of tenderness exploding in your chest, tears welling in your eyes. 

Art rotates his hips, pulling back and sinking back into your inviting warmth. 

“You feel so fucking good,” he murmurs, kissing your lips, “I’ve dreamt of this for years.”

“Me too,” you admit, wrapping your legs around his waist, “God, Art, I’ve wanted this forever.”

This spurs him on, his thrusts becoming quicker, more eager at your confession. 

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” you whimper as he pounds into you, “Wanted this for so long—used to talk to….to Tashi about it—”

Art moves his hand along your side, reaching your thigh and hooking your leg over his shoulder.

“What’d you tell her?”

The new angle sends him deeper, the head of his cock rubbing perfectly against that spongy section of your walls that has your mouth dropping open in pleasure.

“Wanted you,” you manage as Art holds one of your hands above your head against the pillows, “Wanted this so bad.”

“I’ll give it to you,” Art says, his breath catching, “Fuck—oh god you’re so pretty like this, fuck.”

“Art!” you cry his name as your second orgasm builds, sneaking up on you as he slows his pace, “Why’d you—”

“Wanna savor this,” he says softly, kissing the tip of your nose. His thrusts have slowed, hips moving with leisure. 

The pressure in your belly continues to build as he smirks down at you. Tennis has done wonders to his stamina; he fucks you like he could keep this pace for hours, barely breaking a sweat. You whine, throwing your head back against the pillows as he kisses your neck, your hamstring burning deliciously with the stretch. 

“Please come for me,” he murmurs, right next to your ear, “I’ve got to feel that sweet little pussy come around my cock, please.”

You do as you’re told, spurred on by Art whispering praises and encouragement in your ear and you fall apart, clenching around his cock and milking him for all he’s worth. You feel his hips stutter, cock twitching inside your warmth as he follows your release with his own. Art’s lips find yours then, and you can taste yourself on his tongue as he kisses you like a drowning man coming up for air. 

You stay like that for several minutes, his cock softening as you kiss one another, before he slowly pulls out. He takes a moment to take off the condom, tying it off and tossing it in the trash before he rejoins you in bed.

“C’mere,” he says, pulling you across his chest. 

You lie with your cheek pressed against his pec, listening to the gentle beating of his heart. He strokes your arm with his fingers, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Did you mean what you said?” he asks, face buried in your hair, “About wanting me? This?”

“Mhmm,” you answer, putting all your cards on the table, “I may have harbored a small crush on you.”

Art picks up your hand measuring it against his own before lacing your fingers together.

“I wish I knew that earlier,” he admits, still holding your hand, “I’ve been in love with you for ages.”

You glance up at him between your lashes and he grins.

“It’s true,” he says with a smile.

“And here I thought Patrick was the only one who owned your heart,” you tease, causing him to playfully bite your wrist, “Hey!”

“Not the only one,” he admits, rolling you over onto your back, “I’m glad you got kicked out of your room last night.”

You lean up, placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.

“Me too.”

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[swappedandtrapped]

Rent Help - Part 1

Hey, first thing I'm posting here. Character consistency with AI is difficult for me, so just go with it.

It wasn't a good time in my life. The pandemic hit, making me unemployed. I stayed at home to avoid getting sick and with nothing to do I was starting to find any excuse to go out of my room. I was renting this flat with another guy I found on Craigslist, Roy.

Roy was my age, he moved in from some place outside the county a few years ago and we managed to stay out of each others' way. Maybe except a few times I heard his booming voice shout at the TV, cursing other players in some online game. He was also too comfortable in the house, taking off his shirt and staying like that even when guests came over.

Slowly, the world came back to order. The quarantines stopped, but I was still out of a job. I ended up searching for a long while. I was struggling and really tried to be frugal. Eating cheap, saving up, the usual. But my savings were about to run out.

I was desperate, and even though I felt bad doing so, I asked Roy if he could lend me the money for rent. Roy, to my disappointment, refused. He said he had really bad experiences with friends he lent money to, but never payed him back. I begged, said it was a sure thing, I was willing to do anything, sign contracts, whatever he wanted.

"Sorry man," He said. "You know how it is, I can't let my friends owe me money," He insisted. "But if you're willing to do something for me in return, I think we can still work something out." I was hesitant. "What do you mean? Like doing your laundry?" "Well. Sort of." He smiled. "Just make sure to be free this weekend so you could help me with that thing." It was either that or become homeless, so I jumped to hug him "Yes, of course! Anything! Thanks man!" "No worries. I'll give you the details Friday morning."

The week went by quick. I wasn't sure what he wanted, but I guessed it was just some house work or doing errands for him. He was straight, so anything sex related was out of the question. I relaxed and knew that I won't be kicked out of my place. At least this month.

…

Friday morning came, but my alarm didn't go off. I woke from the direct sunlight peaking through the window curtains when I knew that my window was facing west. But the first thing that I knew was wrong was the smell. Something smelled... Wrong... Like someone else's laundry. In my half-asleep state, I turned on my side to get my phone to check the time. Eyes still closed, I couldn't feel the phone on my nightstand. I opened my eyes to see where the hell was it, but my heart stopped when I first saw my hand.

It definitely wasn't my hand. Darker skin, hairier, and a bit bigger than mine. I saw it was attached to a foreign arm with the same features of the hand. Darker skin, more hair, and bigger than mine. I gasped in fright and used the hand and arm to take off the blanket and reveal what was underneath.

Not my body. This is definitely not my body. I was wearing only pajama shorts, which I never do. My chest was thick, heavy, and hairy. My gut spilling over its own weight. My legs wiggled with fat from my movement. Wait, is this… Roy's body? I touched my chin and felt the beard Roy had. I took a look up from my body and saw I was actually in his bed, which is also in his room. What the fuck happened to me? What is going on? I run to a mirror to see if my fear is true. All I saw was Roy, having the same expression of horror I had.

I screamed, only to quickly stop and cover my mouth. What the hell was this sound coming out of me? "Ahh, test, test." I tried to listen and realized I also heard Roy's voice coming my throat. MY throat! I couldn't escape it. I tried looking for a way out of this body, clawing my skin to find an opening, but all I did was hurt myself.

I was out of breath. I started to sweat. The world was spinning and I had to sit down. After crashing on the shared living room sofa, my heartbeat lowered to a normal pace, but I was still shocked. "What the fu-" I said, surprised again to hear Roy's accent through my teeth. Was this a dream? What the fuck is going on?

"Can you keep it down? It's barely 8 o'clock." a voice behind me said. My voice. My real voice. I looked up to see who I assumed was "Roy?". I stood up to face him. "I didn't think you'd wake up this early, but whatever, I guess we can do this now." "You… You knew about this?" I stammered. "Wait. Did YOU do this?!" "Don't make a big deal out of it man, I told you I'll needed you on Friday." "FOR WHAT!?" I shouted, with his booming voice. "For replacing you?!"

"Don't give yourself too much credit. It's just for this weekend.". He started getting ready to go out. "And I don't need you to replace me, I just needed to not be me for a bit." "WHAT THE FUCK ROY?!" I started getting out of breath again. Maybe even a low-key panic attack. "Why didn't you say anything about that? I thought I was just gonna clean your room or something!"

"I don't understand why you're so upset. You're getting free rent money for basically just sitting on your ass all day." "Because you TOOK MY BODY." "Don't be dramatic, it's just for the weekend. I'm borrowing it." He put on my coat on his way out. "Couldn't you tell me before? How did you even do this?"

"That's not important, I've had this thing since I was little." He started putting on my shoes and tying his shoelaces. Listen, if you don't want this, we can switch back now, but forget about the rent. I'm not giving out free money. It's your choice."

I started to form an insult, but quickly realized this might be my only option. And is being in Roy's body for a weekend really that bad?

"And this is just for the weekend?" "Yes." "And all I have to do is stay here?" "Or go out, I don't care. I just need your body." "But why?" "That's where the money comes in. Most of the pay is for you being discreet about this." The gears in my head turned. "What, like something illegal? Sex? Don't do weird shit in my body." "Nothing sketchy, I promise, but I really need to go. I'll be back tomorrow."

He closed the door after him, leaving me still shocked at the situation he got me into.

Thanks for reading. Part 2 out soon.

[liesonmytongues]

Virgin!Steve Harrison x GN!Reader

Synopsis- Steve's been pretending to be a top notch player for years, but the truth is, he's still a virgin. You change that.

Warnings/CWs- this is very wholesome smut, lovey dovey sex, virginity loss, dub-con if you absolutely *squint*, love sick/pussy drunk men, Steve being embarrassed and guilty about jorking it to you, descriptions of masturbation

Word count- 4,000

When he was back in Hawkins, Steve had a reputation. Full of himself. A player. Always a girl on his hip��� whether or not she was his girlfriend– always bragging about his game, about his sex life.

He would tell his friends about every escapade involving a new hot chick– basing his stories off of people he saw outside. A hot blonde at the mall would turn into a ‘Filthy slut who couldn't stop begging for it’, an innocent looking brunette outside the church into ‘a crazy bitch who wanted it rough’.

Steve would try not to get too serious with girls at the school for obvious reasons– couldn’t have anyone exposing him as a liar, now could he? But every so often someone would catch his eye. It was shameful– dangerous really –the way he would get these girls head over heels for him, manipulate them in one way or another so they wouldn’t ask about what Steve really didn’t want to think about.

It was a little different with Nancy– he really did like her, much more than those other girls who were just to keep up appearances. He didn’t want to manipulate her, didn’t want to treat her like she was just another chick in the crowd– so Steve came up with a different solution. One that still didn’t include actually having sex with her. He couldn't talk the talk without the chance of someone telling her, so his stories turned more into something like ‘I can't say, Nancy’s too shy– it was a crazy night though’, and the couple of times anyone questioned him, he would intimidate them into dropping it– easy enough.

But it didn't change the fact that Steve Harrington is a virgin.

For one reason or another, he never actually got around to getting his dick wet– and, in juxtaposition to his personality, it was usually because he just…kept chickening out. He would fantasize about it– stroking himself raw with some cheap toy while he tried to imagine the feeling of a real hole– but that was where it ended for him. Sad nights alone while he got off to his next story– and for a while that was fine! For a while Steve didn't need anything other than the life he had– sports and drinking and pretty girls, that satisfied him enough without hitting third base.

Then when Eleven and the monsters showed up, he didn't have time for sex– no time for fantasizing, or jealousy, or nervousness –just surviving. And babysitting a group of kids.

Everything he’d been saying– doing –the inadequacy he felt, was completely pushed to the back of his mind for the better part of 2 years. The first time it quieted down, after they saved that poor kid and things almost seemed like they were gonna go back to normal, Steve considered trying to…regress. He wanted to feel like nothing had even happened– he wanted that control back –didn’t want to admit that everything had changed for good. It hurt to know that even if things were ok now, it would never, ever be the same. Nothing would ever be the same. That’s what consumed him until the next time the demogorgons showed up– and that, plus the constant wondering of what the fuck else was in the world made it a little hard to get it up.

Steve tried once– kissing her, rubbing her clit through her panties, fingering her while he tried, tried so hard, to just make his stupid dick cooperate– and then he realized how stupid that was. He had this beautiful, half naked, moaning girl under him– this girl he was sure he loved –and he still couldn’t push himself past his nerves for long enough to fuck her.

Nancy tried 3 more times– all ending in Steve shakily, nervously, using his hands or mouth to make her cum while he was stuck in his own head. They broke up a few weeks after the last try, and he didn’t get any more chances before that…thing took them both.

Steve's first thought was that it was another creature made by the lab– that's where he found it, that's what it had to be, right? Some other failed, murderous experiment or alternate dimensional nightmare that he had to take the brunt of, just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At first, that theory seemed right– the place they were taken looked just like the upside down’s version of Hawkins lab, with the same distant screaming from a demogorgon –but being shucked right off to ‘The camp’ was a good way to change his mind. There were other people there– too many for any type of hell Steve’s ever been to –and it seemed like they were ready to see him and Nance, a tall, scrawny guy greeting them with too much energy and too much understanding.

And the rest is history, right? For one reason or another, the thing known as the ‘entity’ wanted them there, along with a bunch of other ‘survivors’ and the things that have been torturing them for god knows how long.

You…make it a little more bearable. A little.

You welcomed Steve and Nancy better than a lot of the other survivors– and part of it was definitely to learn how to survive the demogorgon, you’d be stupid to pass up that opportunity –making sure they knew what was going to happen with much less frantic, frightened energy than Dwight. You were a godsend really, and Steve feels like he owes you his life– no matter how many times he’s died here.

You were just friends– that's all. Forget about the way his heart and stomach feel like they’re sinking in on themselves every time he sees you, or the way he looks forward to the end of trials because that means more time to spend together, or how everything you say seems to be funny, or smart, or mind melting– all of that is just because you're a really good friend, and this place is messing with Steve's ability to see that.

Plus, spending every day around the ex who was your first love is a surefire way to confuse your brain. That's the rational Steve gave on the nights spent trying not to jerk himself off to something you did that day; the nights where he failed miserably, stuffing his hand on his mouth to muffle the pathetic sounds he made every time he came, and one was never enough; the nights Steve felt disgusting for what he considered violating you, sticky with his own cum and still not able to get you out of his head.

No, you’re just friends. And sometimes, when friends are in bad situations, it gets a little confusing. What you don’t know can’t hurt you, can’t make you look at him at a gross freak, can’t ruin your relationship– but it can make you suspicious.

Suspicious because Steve was acting weird, and he hadn’t even realized it– hadn’t realized that he hadn’t made eye contact with you in weeks. Honestly, he was pretty confident that his sneaking–away skills were honed to perfection– it’d worked on the demogorgons, who would have thought that it wouldn’t work on a person? Nevermind the fact that demogorgons don’t actually have eyes to see him with.

Your breaking point came around the same time every single trial with Steve started ending in a sacrifice.

You’d tried talking to him about it, and when that didn’t work, you tried talking to Nancy. From what you’d gathered, she’d been pretty good at mystery solving in Hawkins, and since she knew Steve so well, it seemed like your best bet…but you got nothing. No hint at anything that could have happened, nothing shared when you weren’t around about why he was so awkward all of a sudden, not so much as a complaint– leaving you to do everything yourself.

No way in hell were you going to confront him with all the other survivors around, that would just lead to even more awkwardness, and you couldn’t handle that– not with everything else –but you did need to confront him. You couldn’t work together, your entire relationship was strained, and if you couldn’t find some sort of way to resolve this…tension, you were going to explode and make this whole issue even worse.

But maybe in hindsight, sneaking up on him in his cabin wasn't the best idea either. In your defense, you had no idea about his hopeless pining, and with your annoyance clouding your better judgment, it seemed like the only way to finally get him talking. And really, that had been your plan! The whole walk there you’d been thinking of just the right words to get across exactly what you wanted to say– stay calm, tell him how you feel, tell him what needed to change. It was your plan, until the moment you knocked on the door – and heard Steve moan your name at the same time.

It took a second to process what you heard, to be pulled –punched, really– out of the concentration and anger that had fueled this whole trip and really hear it for what it was, but by then there was a whole other reason you were distracted. Steve slammed open the door, flushed and sweaty, panting like a whore and looking at you with the widest puppy dog eyes you’ve ever seen.

“You– It’s not–! It’s not what it looks like!” Steve stumbled over his words in an attempt to get them out as fast as possible, to convince you somehow that you hadn’t heard what you just heard– convince you not to turn around and leave and never speak to him again.

“Please, please, I’m so sorry– I promise I can explain! I–”

“Inside.”

“What–”

“Inside.”

If someone asked you, it would be hard to tell them why you did what you did– shoving Steve Harrington inside his cabin was a split second decision, kissing him was another, dropping everything you’d wanted to say was a third. Maybe it was because you were so tense– it’s not easy to live like this, god knows there’s not much time for sex of all things –the rush of emotions, the shock, maybe it was because he just looked so debauched with his face red and his lips parted the way they were. Fuck, maybe it’s just because he finally looked at you again.

It didn’t really matter what it was though, did it? Not when he moaned like that, like he was starving for you, as soon as your hands were on him.

He hadn’t gotten to finish, that much was clear from how his cock was pressed twitching to your thigh– leaking a sticky patch of precum where he’d haphazardly shoved himself back into his jeans before opening the door.

“Wait– wait!” Steve pushed you back by the hips, squeezing his eyes shut and sucking in deep, sharp breaths. Even if he hadn’t said anything, it was obvious how hesitant it was.

“What–” You mirrored his confusion from earlier,

“I’ve never…done this before.” He gestured vaguely downwards, and when you followed the movements to his groin, his cock visibly throbbed.

“You’ve…never had sex? You’re a virgin?” And with that he’s right back to not looking at you– flushed even brighter than before and staring down the floorboards like they did this, like they made him hard, made you find him moaning your name, made you come inside and made him admit what he didn’t even admit to Nancy. But he feels…better. His erection has flagged a little just from the shame of the situation, but it’s not like before– when the second someone tried to have sex with him, he stopped being able to get it up at all.

“Yeah.” He breathed, loosening the grip on your waist– as if being a virgin of all things would mean you wouldn’t want him.

“Is that…all?”

“Doesn’t that bother you? I’ve only ever used my mouth, I don’t know if I’m gonna be any good…” The skin of his neck was shiny with perspiration, a droplet of sweat dripping down his jaw and fucking christ you want to lick it off–

“No? I don't care how much experience you have Steve–fuck, don't you know what you do to me?” His eyes flicked down to your groin and you could feel the shudder that passed through him–hear it too, if that quivering, breathy sigh was anything to go off. You were caught off guard when Steve suddenly yanked you forward, wrapping his arms around your waist and shoving his face into the crook of your neck–taking deep breaths, inhaling your scent while he tried to ground himself.

Less caught off guard when he pulled you in for another kiss, mashing your lips and noses together in a type of desperation that can only come from a man who's been hard for the last hour– tongue worming it's way between your lips, only pulling away long enough to breathe hot puffs of air against your face.

You didn’t protest when he pulled you back towards his bed, or when you felt him turn you around, your calves hitting the mattress only a few moment before the rest of you, falling into the old raggedy blankets and grunting when Steve climbs on top of you–because he just refuses to let go of your body for even a second, grinding his cock to your thigh in slow strokes while he tries his hardest to devour you.

“Fuck– you mean it?” He shifts to kissing your jaw–just as rough as your lips–so you can respond, murmuring variations of your name and ‘please’ and ‘say it’.

“Yeah, I mean it.” It comes out breathy and desperate, but god, there’s not a single world where you could bring yourself to care with such a pretty man looking equally as debauched above you. He gets a panicked look on his face barely a second before his hands shoot down to his jeans, ripping them open with enough force to audibly pop a thread, pulling his boxers down and gripping his cock painfully. You have half a mind to ask him what he’s doing–what was that look for? Is something wrong? Is he already done with the foreplay?–but only get about as far as parting your lips before Steve makes a pained noise, halfway between a moan and a sob, and is cumming over the front of your shirt. Thick strands accompanied by choked groans as he tries to make it stop, frantically muttering ‘no!’ under his breath again and again.

You shouldn’t be surprised–you aren’t surprised, not really–but it’s still sudden enough to make your eyes bulge a little more with every spurt. Which, of course, Steve notices immediately– flushing with shame instead of arousal and covering his eyes with the back of his free hand.

“Jesus– fuck! I’m so sorry– I didn’t mean to, I don’t know what happened–” He’s spiraling is what you distantly realize, but you’re too caught up with the fact that he just came from being told you were into him. So caught up, in fact, that the only way you can think to really calm him down is smashing his face back into yours. You have his hair between your fingers before he can utter another distraught apology, and he’s right back to melting into you.

You don’t stop him when Steve’s hands move to your pants, taking them off with much less frenzy than his own. His cock had barely softened, and when your underwear was down far enough that he finally caught a glimpse of your body, it gave a hard twitch–already raring to go a second time. God knows if it’s because it’s you or just the situation, but you can hope.

Steve looks back and forth between your hole and your stained shirt for a moment, before with two fingers, he scoops his own cum off your shirt, pressing them inside your hole achingly slowly–like he’s scared that giving them to you how you want will break you. He seems mesmerized by the way each knuckle sinks deeper, spreading you open on his fingers while his spend pushes back–oozing out before he shoves it back in again.

“Fuck– you’re so tight, so warm…” The way he's looking at you is near–reverent, huffing out a breath every time you squeeze and practically moaning when he can’t go any deeper.

“Don’t you wanna feel that–hah–around your cock? Give your body what it wants?” You were panting as much as Steve at this point, sighing and moaning softly every time he found just the right spot to focus on.

“Don't say that kind of thing!” He whined, breaking eye contact for a second so he could lean over and open his mouth, letting some spit dribble onto your hole to aid the way while his fingers sped up–trying to spread you open faster so his poor, angry looking cock could get some relief. Real relief–not just cumming in his pants like a…y'know, like a virgin.

Still bent over, Steve used his free arm to cage you underneath him–forcing your legs up and around his waist at the same time so he could keep up the rhythm. You could feel your body starting to ease open, just barely loose enough for him to put in a third finger and spread them inside you. It felt fantastic, but you could almost be fooled into thinking that he was the one feeling it–almost as noisy from just the sensation of your walls around his thick, rough fingers.

It wasn’t quite enough to make you cum, not without any other stimulation, but his enthusiasm turned you on like nothing else. He gave a few more thrusts, fingers spread out as much as possible in a last ditch attempt to prep you before he lost it.

“I’m sorry- I need it, you have no idea-”

“It’s fine, I’m fine, just put it in, please.” A mix of Steve’s pre and cum and spit eased the way as he gripped his cock at the base and finally started pushing it forward–squeezing tight to try and keep himself from coming any faster than he already would. He only managed to get the tip inside before he had to pause, shutting his eyes with a desperate, shuddering moan–nuzzling his face into your chest while his free hand glided away from its death-grip on the sheets, opting instead for holding your head, threading your hair over his palm until he had enough to tug.

You could feel his fat, leaky cockhead throb–the vibration of another moan spreading through your chest before his hips jerked enough to force another couple of inches inside you. And it hurt, it did, that same string and stretch that always came with having something new inside you, but he was just so perfect that you couldn’t focus on it. You’d noticed before how pretty he was below the belt–and it really showed now.

God, maybe you really have just gone that long without getting laid, but Steve’s dick filled you better than you can ever remember being filled. Better than your fingers, better than any toy for the sheer amount of emotion and connection, better than the vague snippets of your last fucks from years ago now.

Steve pulled himself off of your chest after a minute, taking deep breaths and scrunching up his face in concentration–then another minute before he manages to let go of his shaft and push the rest of the way inside. The moan he gives you is borderline pornographic when he bottoms out, hot enough to–along with the feeling of his stomach pressing against your groin–have you moaning with him.

His thrusts have no real rhythm, no actual skill, just the sloppiness that shows exactly how inexperienced he really is–and equally how desperate he is for you. There’s no rhyme or reason to how he chases the feeling, but somehow he still manages to tease your orgasm–to rut his sensitive cock in all the right places to make it feel good instead of annoying.

“I’m not gonna- hah, oh god- not gonna last. Christ you feel so good- you’re so perfect, you’re perfect- I love you.” Your attention was immediately snapped away from his hips up to his face, where he was staring at you with those big brown eyes–again the puppy analogy comes to mind–and the most of an emotion besides fear you’ve seen in a long time.

“Can I- ngh -cum on your stomach? Please?” It's hard to tell if he even realizes that he just said he loves you, and he's not giving you any time to process it with the way his thrusts are speeding up–just barely able to keep his cock from slipping out through his frantic movements. And it was so lewd, so wet and slick and loud–blocking out everything else except the moaning right in front of your face.

Steve was putting everything into making you feel good–fighting back his orgasm while whispering harsh ‘please, please, please’ under his breath, along with a slurred approximation of your name and those frankly beautiful, desperate hitches of breath. Your body fought to accommodate the way he sped up, battering your walls in a way that juxtaposed his confession a minute ago.

“Yes, yes cum on me, cum on me baby- fuck-” You barely managed to finish your sentence before Steve was pulling out, curling his body over you and trembling while his cock throbbed against your stomach–followed by another moan that could only be described as burning, aching, and the first shot of hot, sticky fluid on your skin, cumming so hard it managed to reach your collar, sticking to his own chest in the process and dripping down onto the sheets. His noises didn’t stop for nearly a full minute, whimpering and whining while you murmured sweet words, trying to ease him down from his high.

That’s all you expected from him–as sweet as he could be, he’s still a man from the 80’s–which is why you were surprised when he didn’t just slump over and leave you to deal with the painful way your arousal licked at your stomach, begging for relief.

You weren’t sure what to think of the way Steve climbed down the bed–until he latched his mouth to your groin, sucking and licking and taking you into his mouth, as much as he could fit at once. It took him a second, but he turned his eyes up to you, lidded and high from endorphins, giving him a lovesick, fucked out look that only served to turn you on more. And the way he kept moaning, groaning and scrunching his face up like he was the one feeling it–like you were the one fucking him with your mouth, desperate to make him cum.

And it was desperate–not a thought inside his head, only driven by the feral need to make you feel as good as he did. How could you ever not comply?

It barely took another minute of the sloppy, needy working of his tongue before you were cumming too, and Steve lapped up everything, like everything you were giving him was a gift that he needed to take, refusing to let even a drop go to waste. Distantly, in the middle of feeling like your vision was going to white out, you could feel another few drops leak out of his twitching cock, milking himself dry just from the taste of you.

He wrapped his arms around your thigh when you pried his head away, resting his face on your hip so he could keep pressing soft kisses to your skin. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t in his right mind–tired and euphoric and fucked stupid–but you let him stay, wiping his messy hair away from his forehead and petting at his nape.

“Was it…good?” He murmured, glancing up at you again.

“Christ, do you really have to ask?” He kept looking at you, blinking slowly–waiting. “Yeah. It was really good.” And he nods, sighing against your skin–then a choking sound when you followed it up with ‘I love you too’.

[listofwhyyouloveher]

can you do one with the greasers with a rly sporty reader that gets injured and can play for like a year?? thank you!! 💕

Summary: The Outsiders react to Sporty!Reader getting injured! Warnings: Mentions of injuries Author's Note: None PONYBOY CURTIS Ponyboy runs track, he knows how stressful it to be a person who does sports in the first place but he also knows how stressful it is to get an injury. He was there when it happened, you pulled a muscle really bad while running, nearly collapsing when it happened. You still got up and competed in your sport but you were wiped by the end of it. He was at your side the moment he could, water bottle and ice-pack in hand. You were being assessed by a physical trainer when they said that it would heal quickly, but you needed to spend a long time in PT and out of sports. Of course that bummed you out but Ponyboy started to tell you about he would do the PT with you, make it more fun for you. Overall just being a supportive boyfriend. JOHNNY CADE Johnny is not a sporty person, he doesn't do anything for school in that regard, but he does like playing football with the Curtis brothers and Darry says that he's pretty darn good. So when he accidentally tackles you a little rougher than anticipated, it's only natural that you get a little roughed up, but nobody was expecting this level. You had somehow broken your arm.

While you were busy holding back tears and Darry was calling the ambulance, he was wrapping your arm up in a crude sling. He kept apologizing and you consoled him, telling him you wanted a break from sports anyways. SODAPOP CURTIS The only thing that Sodapop does that's 'sporty' is those damn backflips before the rumbles and, of course, the rumbles themselves. So he's never had to deal with an injury except maybe a black eye. When he watched your ankle roll in a way that no one could presume was good during your match he cringed sooo hard. He was immediately by your side, holding your hand when your coach told you it was time to take a small break from sports. Now he just plays small games of football in his yard with you, making sure to be gentle with you since your injury but still pushing you to keep up. STEVE RANDLE I can see Steve actually playing sports, especially when he was younger. Like maybe peewee baseball or field hockey, nothing too much though. His heart nearly stopped when he saw you tumble because of something wrong with your leg. He sat there a little bit, trying to assess the situation before running over to you like everybody else. He's in utter shock, holding your hand, asking if you're alright, which you nod. Once he gets confirmation that you're ok, he just shuts up. Every once and a while he'll stroke your hair especially when you get the news you can't play till a long time. TWO BIT MATHEWS Two Bit def plays baseball, just for fun on the side but he likes it a lot actually. He's sporty, just not active, so he's never been injured by a sport or anything. However, he does come to all of your games and watches with a little cheap liquor in his flask. He nearly throws up when he sees you get injured, its not pretty. He doesn't know what to do so he just stands there, waiting for the people who do know what they're doing to give him the news/what's going on. When he learns that you'll probably be out for the rest of the season he offers to play baseball with you, so you won't lose your touch while recovering. DARRY CURTIS Darry is a massive sports nerd. He played football, he was a pretty darn good player too, and he watches all the sports channels and reruns he can get his hands on. That's why he really likes coming to your game and watching you practice, it's nostalgic and also he can sometimes give you pointers. He's HORRIFIED, when you get injured. He's rushing over, already knowledgable in some physical therapy, helping you as best as he can, trying to make you comfortable. Whispering to you that he'll train you to be back on the field quicker than when the coach says you can. DALLAS WINSTON Dallas is not fit at all. Despite his skinny nature, which is really just because he can't always eat and he's so addicted to cigarettes it would scare a junkie, he's so bad at any sport. He gets out of breath really easily and can't follow a simple game like baseball. He's rather jealous of you actually, since he always wanted to be a sporty person when he was a child, although he'd never EVER say it to you. He's very nonchalant about your injury, it doesn't affect him so why should it matter? that's his mindset, but if you ask his to run drills with you so you can stay in shape, he acts like he doesn't want to but he ends up doing it anyways. (He secretly loves doing this because of his childhood dream)

[myrfing]

Ok. Anyway, I’ve chewed on the role quest capstone since I played the quest last night and some people are right: it isn’t surprising for this game’s overall writing. The game tends to be very safe/liberal-centrist with its leanings, since you know, corporate product meant to grab as wide of an audience as possible. They wrote this to be as vague and as unrealistic as possible, to give themselves plausible deniability on top of the “it’s just a joke maaan” and maybe that’s why it’s so frustrating: because she does bring up salient points that players have been craving to see more of, but it’s once again played off or cheaply handled or overshadowed by something safer. It’s a problem of the greater time bubble and the need for an unchanging game-setting (what a trouble it would be to have to revamp the derilicts, or the refugee camps outside of ul’dah), and a problem of corporatized writing. Even on the other foot, when they do try to handle it with sincerity, it’s been bizarre, rushed, and never really sticks the landing (ex. the whole post-shb fast-trak to make the tribes friendly to the alliance now so they can friendship blast our spaceship in EW and are technically not totally excluded in the definition of the world-at-peril; they write like they’re hurriedly trying to cover hypocrisies and not because they have fully-fledged ideas). Or they omit writing any problems entirely. Hi Sharlayan, Radz. They aren’t willing to go deeper because it would require them to take an actual stance on anything—but what SE wants to do is sell its game, not really be making a thesis of any sort. Now they’re pulling in years-long unscratched itches for their readers to either conjure overconvenient solutions to, or make cheap potshot jokes out of.

Honestly, this is one of my biggest gripes with the expac’s writing, other than too on-the-nose character developments. It has a very interesting setting, a very interesting time in history of the game world, and it only knows how to handle it with baby gloves. It doesn’t really want to get political, even though it’s an inherently political subject: nationhood, regime changes, definitions of peace, etc. Certain characters occupy positions of power, but are not allowed to look at or speak of it, the WoL included. They don’t know how to handle it on a basic level, and so they don’t know how to create humor out of it. Writers can only write what they think is true, even for jokes, but they don’t even know how to obfuscate it in a way that makes sense. Apyaahi is just another character written for convenience. She has hildibrand-level ridiculousness in some of her reasonings that are supposed to be comedic, but also mostly serve to warp her points into something that can’t be taken seriously. But are also so hamfisted it doesn’t even function as comedic satire that well. Why they chose discontent with state repression and homelessness as their point-and-laugh of the day, I dunno. Maybe they sense an audience shift lately. They do like to flipflop just a tiny bit across the line from time to time so they’ll always come out with something for everyone Lol

[ndostairlyrium]

Blabbering ahead about the game in my usual broken English lol

Warning: General, mildly spoiler-y stuff. But still spoilery. Dead dove, yada yada

I tried to avoid reading opinions as much as possible, so I could share my own without filters <<

...this will be a looooong post so I'm putting everything under the cut :'

I've enjoyed this game greatly.

I loved Rook, each companion, the more synthesized visual style, and the majority of the changes they did to make this game stand out among the others. In some parts, it really reminded me of Mass Effect, and those parts I truly adored in a visceral way.

I get the criticism about Rook's tone, but I didn't mind that they had a specific personality and you could work around it. They're a mess of a person, showing a great deal of immaturity in some parts, forced to call the shots, and to be a compass for others while trying to keep everything from falling from their hands. They're just not as player-nuanced (like, it's not on us?) personality-wise as Hawke, I think? Which is a bummer for some, and I get it, but I didn't mind :'D I'm one that deflects a lot with humor, that's my jam

I think I did good approaching this game blindly, and to keep going despite encountering some major disappointments along the way (y'all saw me complaining, I'm a "yes, but" hoe). In the end, I was enthusiast about playing it, I've been enthusiast while playing it, and I'm enthusiast now that it's over (in a very positive way).

Also, to me the combat system was super fun (I had a blast playing orb+dagger mage with the necromancer spec). I liked that it was more dynamic, that you were in control of your character only, and I adored the cheerleading going on within the team during the fights, also the action scenes were SO EPIC. There are a couple of cutscenes in particular that I watch on a daily and feel the tension on my shoulders as if I didn't know the results already :'D

Hate to bring out Mass Effect again, but... I felt that same kind of powerless urgency throughout Veilguard. Except that you're not Shepard, already a hero, you're a nobody in disgrace, somebody looking for a purpose, for then being hired by someone who has a history of dooming whoever he works with :'D in my head, my Rook has accepted because he needed something to go right. Very lol. Much lmao.

Again, bringing out Mass Effect. I always adored Mass Effect important NPCs outside the party, like Bakara for example. I experienced the same kind of attachment to those here, and I was truly frightened for some of them throughout the game, especially the ones I've known from Tevinter Nights.

...now, to the "Yes, but" that had me so frustrated to the point of wanting to stop playing:

I just wish a little bit more sensitivity by the team when approaching specific cultural references. These, along with stereotypes, have always been blatant throughout the games, and I was hoping that in this one we would move past them rather than the doubling down I saw. I can't talk on others behalf, but I could elaborate for hours on why the whole deal of Treviso and the romanticising of Crows (to the point of painting them as the good guys) are such a point of offense for me, even if I'm tired to explain that there's nothing romantic when organized crime takes control over an entire country and call it "patriotism". Moral code my ass. Glorification of mafia is never okay.

Don't pillage take stuff from real life if you're gonna turn them like living stereotypes and excuse that behavior by calling it "inspiration". It's cheap and disrespectful. Fandom has been repeating this for more than 10 years and nobody corrected this trajectory. That's sad, to say the least.

[krispdreemurr]

Why hellos! Would you share... Ummm..... Ten headcanons of your choice, please?

Or theories, if you'd prefer that!

sounds good! let's do ten minor Kris things that go into my take on them

1. their musical taste right now as a sixteen year old trends Tumblr Quirky, and a combo of Tumblr and Toriel's old CDs lead to a particularly strong interest in they might be giants. their username anywhere they can get it is bluecanary, after the lead of birdhouse in your soul. (confusing people who know Berdly is a funny side benefit.) as they get older and get exposed to more things their interest in weird and atypical things will take them down a lot of genre rabbit holes and they'll get into some weird ambient noise projects and things like you'll just find them sitting there blissing out to a single long drone and if you ask they explain it's a recording of a guy sitting in a room

2. they cut their own hair! they're uncomfortable with people being too close and touchy near their face for too long so after talking it out w toriel they're allowed to do their own haircuts. obviously they don't do them often. they have some mild sensory sensitivity re: light that they're subconsciously using the bangs to compensate for (they have not yet realized that other people don't hate going outside at 2pm bc the sidewalks are too bright)

3. they stash snacks around for later and then forget about them. this means once in a while while looking for something else they discover a bag of gummi bears taped under the bed or some shit and they're always like Score

4. most of their wardrobe is hand me downs from Asriel, and they feel uncomfortable asking for new clothes when Toriel and Asgore are both kinda Making It Work monetarily. they have one really nice long skirt that they save wearing for special occasions

5. they don't actually like the taste of moss that much. originally it was meant to be a one time Bit that they did to fuck w ralsei and the player but now they've realized they can make it a Running Bit and Susie is playing along so fuck it they're seeing where it goes

6. they rarely if ever swear because one time they swore and word made it back to toriel and they convinced themself that she's capable of detecting swearing from several miles away

7. as a prank they got a bunch of cheap kids toy ice-es figurines and hid them around Noelle's house in the weirdest fucking spots. these horrible misprinted things are still lurking in some corners and cupboards and once in a while kris just feels a deep sense of satisfaction settle over them and Knows

8. they don't like glitches and such in games, at least not the way Noelle does. they tend to really project onto the leads and want to help them get The Best Possible Route with everything being done the way the protag would want it, and doing weird sketchy route breaking stuff makes them uncomfortable in ways they can't name. (yes it does turn out they also hate it when they're the protag)

9. their main stims are bouncing up onto their toes a lot when excited and brushing their hands rapidly over fabric when they need to calm themself down. they'll also play out piano notes on their thighs and stuff when sitting down, and they doodle endlessly in class. none of this happens when the soul is present.

10. they really love their friends and want the best for them and want everyone to be happy and they're just a good weird kid who deserves better

[ikanasocking]

Fix what is bothering you

Liam and Kyle were living together in a small flat. Four rooms. Either of these boys had his own, a kitchen, a bathroom and a small space they had to share together. Even while living together both guys rarely had anything in common or spend much time together.

Kyle was obsessed with cars and football. His dream was to become a professional player in an international club and being known all over the world. So he trained for it. Six times the week. Good for him was, that his parents were paying for everything. And not to mention, they could pay for everything he wanted. Never the less, Kyle was not able to get his body in the shape he wanted it. No matter how much he trained, his body would not pack on muscles. So Kyle looked very thin. His black hair were short. His face was kind of long and his eyes were brown.

Liam on the other hand did not care about sports or cars. Liam did not work out much but still, his body showed some definition. Liam was an average height, blonde hair, green eyes. The most day he spend outside of the flat to get away from his roommate. He owned the flat but was forced to take someone like Kyle, so he could pay for his live. Still in university he had a lot of bills to pay. That was the reason Liam was more in the library than at home. The other reason was, that Kyle always had friends over.

And this was the only thing both guys had in common. A few of their friends. The friends in question were, Lars, Martin and Nils. Martin and Nils were more friends with Kyle and used Liam more as an easy to manipulate friend that would do stuff for them. Lars on the other hand was more friends with Liam. Liam might be introverted and did rarely speak up to someone, he did with Lars. And Lars understood how he felt. So he supported him, the best was he could. Even when the others were talking bad behind Liam’s back, he would even stand up for his friend. But he would never said that directly to his face. He did not want him to know that the other were talking about him.

Weeks went by and the trash talk about Liam began to stack up, because he was gone from the flat even more than usual. Kyle, Martin, Nils and Lars were sitting together in Kyle’s room. Martin and Nils were muscular guys. But also pretty smart, what you would not believe on first sight. They were interested in cars and football as well. Lars was a pudgier guy who was not into cars, but shared a passion for football. The only one in the group that as actively playing. And that not on a gaming console.

“I swear, Liam is not even keeping up with his chores. He leaves me to do all the work”, Kyle said after they finished another game on the console.

“Seriously? He should be doing all your chores as well. This looser is not even a real man”, Nils said.

“What do you mean by that?” Lars asked.

“You did not pick up on the signs? He is checking us out every time he sees us. Bet he is mostly not here because he always gets hard when he sees one of us”, Nils laughed.

“I don’t think he is gay”, Lars said and sipped on a glass of water.

“Oh he is absolutely a faggot. One that wants to be dominated by real men, like us”, Martin laughed as well.

“Well I guess you are interpreting, too much into this. He is in the library and learns for his exam. And he is not here because it is too noise to concentrate.”

“Yeah sure. I am living with him and I thin Martin and Nils are right. He is a faggot. Pick up the signs. He is not interested in cars or football. Which straight guy is not interested in one of those things?”

“A lot? I cannot follow those arguments. Isn’t Liam your friend?” Lars asked.

“Our friend? Oh please. I am just living with him because it is cheap.”

“We keep him around because he always jumps when we ask for something. He is not really a friend. More a way to get stuff for free”, Martin said.

“I cannot believe it. You are just abusing the poor guy?”

“Sure. He is letting us using him. It is his fault that he is not standing up to us like a man”, Nils said.

Lars stood up and looked at the others.

“I cannot believe you are treating a guy like him so disrespectful. He is a caring person who just wants to make a living. Guess I was wrong thinking you would care for anything else then yourself.”

With that Lars left the group, without having a look back. After he left the room all three boys looked at each other and began to laugh.

“Never thought Lars would be as gay as Liam. Bet he will run right to his boyfriend, crying about how mean we were”, Kyle said.

“Yeah. Bet they would make a great couple.”

With that they continued talking shit about Liam and now Lars as well, while playing football on the console.

What they did not account for, what the open window, so Lars heard everything they said about him as well. And he would not stand for this. These guys would need to learn some respect. So he went to the library, where Liam would normally be. He found him. His head resting on the desk between bunches of books.

“Poor guy. Must have gotten not much sleep lately”, he thought and went over to him.

Carefully he put his hand on his shoulder and Liam sat upright immediately.

“Sorry I will put the books back, this instant”, he said.

“It’s okay. It’s just me”, Lars said and Liam looked at him.

His eyes were red from the sleep and it looked like he had cried recently.

“Oh, what are you doing here? Aren’t you with the others?” Liam asked while gathering the books.

“Well not anymore. I was worried about you. They were talking about some concerning stuff?” Lars said.

“Like how they think I am gay?”

“How do you?”

“Sometimes I was outside of the flat waiting for you all to leave before entering. Are you here to make fun of me right here?”

“Actually I was not making fun of you in the first place.”

“Okay. So you are just here to tell me, these guys are taking advantage of me?”

“You should calm down, Liam. I am neither here to make fun of you nor to tell you the shit they are talking about you. You seem stressed. Why not come with me, to my place and let us talk there.” Liam offered him with a smile.

“If you insist. I have no fight left in me to discuss about this” Liam said.

With that they put the books away and went to Lars house. He was still living with his parents. He was still in an apprenticeship and money was an issue for him as well. So he saved some from living with his parents and his brother. When they arrived at his home it was already evening. Lars led his friend to his room, informed his parents about the guest and sat with his friend there.

“So, Lars. Why bothering with all of this?”

“Because I care about you.”

“Yeah but your friends will not be thrilled seeing you with a faggot like me”, Liam said.

“How much do you know about what they said?”

“Enough. I know how they think about me and that they are only taking advantage of me.”

“And you did not try to change it?”

“How? I need the rent from Kyle. I cannot get rid of him. And when I am getting on the bad site of Nils and Martin, they will make Kyle harass me even more. You know how tiering it is to live with a guy who thinks I am his house bitch? Only there to clean for him and do all the work he does not want to do? I gave up fighting a few months after he moved in with me.”

“But why did you not tell me? I thought we were friends”, Lars said.

“Because I thought you think like the others.”

“You did not hear how I stood up for you every time they talked bad about you?”

“Once I heard you saying something. But they all just laughed and turned on you. So I began to isolated myself, to not get you in more trouble then you already were.”

Lars just blinked at Liam. He could not believe that this guy was going to such extends for him.

“But”, he began, when he noticed the tears in Liam’s eyes.

“I need a moment”, Liam said and Lars stood up.

“Sure. If you want, you can stay for the night. I don’t mind. We can talk later, if you want.”

With that he left the room. After the door was closed he sighed heavily. He could hear Liam cry, but had no idea how to comfort him.

“Troubles in paradise, brother?” Liam’s brother asked and came out of his room.

“What would you know?” he said and looked at him.

“Oh calm down, Liam. It was just a joke.”

“Sorry I am a little bit tense, right now.”

“Might have something to do with the cutie crying in your room?”

“I am not in the mood for your jokes, brother”, he said approaching his younger brother.

He was a little bit more on the pudgier site as well. Lars and he shared a lot of his looks.

“Oh man, you are tense today. Want to talk about it? I am sure you will feel better after it. You could also go to mum for a talk, but I guess better stick with me”, he laughed and Lars entered his brother’s room.

The room was slightly messy with stuff laying around everywhere. Lars and his brother sat down on the bed and Lars brought him up to speed with all that happened.

“And you are sure you have no feelings for this guy?” His brother asked after he was done explaining.

“Man again with the”, he began.

“I mean yeah you are straight. Sure. Straight as a circle brother. Maybe out parents are not seeing it. But I know what you are looking at online. And some of your teammates told me some stories. Maybe it is time to be true to yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have a delicate taste in man and some, I would call it, interesting fetish. Most of it contains men. So I ask myself, do you care about Liam because he is a friend, or is he your friend?”

Lars said nothing and just looked at the floor.

“I mean hey, it is okay to play something for your friends, your parents or me. But at least be true to yourself. With your other little problem, I might have a solution for this.”

“You have?”

“Do you think you are the only kinky one in this family? A friend send me something. A website that is supposed to grant wishes. Might be worth a shot. I have not tried it.”

“That sounds like complete scam and a reason to get a virus on your pc.”

“Maybe it is maybe not. Well it will not download something, so no virus. But even if it is not working, maybe it will give you and Liam some comfort. A wish can sometimes change a lot of things.”

“Well send it over. I will see if it helps.”

“Always happy to help you, brother. I guess your guy calmed down by now. So you might want to make him cry again.”

“Har Har.”

With that Lars brother send him the link to the website. Lars went over to his room and opened the door silently. Liam was lying on his bed sleeping. Lars decided to let him sleep. He took a blanket and tugged Liam in. He took of his socks and went to his pc. He powered him up and opend the link, his brother send him. A small textbox appeared and the text.

“Type in your wish and we will make it come true.”

He began typing.

“I wish for Liam to be happy and find someone he deserves.”

He pressed enter and the site loaded.

“Wish granted”, was all he received.

He turned around to Liam and looked at him. If he was brutally honest, he looked kind of cute. His penis began to pulsate and pressed against his shorts. Lars was disgusted with himself. There was his friend who was having a hard time and he could not even help him, but got a hard on by just watching him sleep. If he was honest to himself, yes he was kind of gay. He liked Liam a lot. But he would never tell him. Liam deserved someone who would really appreciate him. And who knew if he even was gay? Lars continued staring at his friend before going to bed as well. They slept in the same bed all night.

The next morning Lars woke up to find Liam was not lying next to him. Confused he looked around and found his friend at his computer. Typing in a wish to the wish granting website. Crap he forgot to close it yesterday and shut his pc down. Liam was done and pressed the enter button. The same thing as with Lars happened and the wish was somehow granted. Liam turned around to find Lars now sitting upright in the bed.

“Morning”, he said and Lars nodded.

“I am sorry for what happened yesterday”, Lars said.

“Don’t be. At least you showed me you care. And creating a website to make a wish was a sweet move of you. Thank you.”

Liam said and came back to the bed. He put back his socks on and sat down then.

“I guess I should go home now. Your parents might not be happy seeing you with another boy in a bed”, Liam said and wanted to go, when Lars took his arm and pulled him back. Liam was surprised, tumbled back, before falling on the bed. The lips of the boys met each other, after Liam fell down. A short and unwanted kiss was the result.

Surprised both boys moved their hats back.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to”, Lars began and looked at Liam.

He did not say anything. He was still processing what had happened right there. But after a short time Liam made a move and kissed Lars again. This time not by accident. Lars was completely surprised by this. But he did not fight it. It felt way too good. His penis got hard again. When their lips parted Liam looked at his friend with a sad expression.

“I am sorry, Lars. I did not know what’s gotten into me. Please forget what happened. It will not happen again”, Liam said and wanted to go again.

Tears filling his eyes again. Lars still got his arm, so Liam could not get away. Instead of pulling him back, Lars just got up and then approached Liam.

“Why would you say that? Did you not enjoy it?” Lars asked and moved his hand to Liam’s crotch.

He could feel, that the boy was hard.

“I did, but you and I”, Liam tried to put a sentence together but his emotions were too much.

“Let me tell you something, Liam. I was in the closet for so long. I guess it is time to come out. I enjoyed your company all the years. Not only as a friend. I was fantasising about more with you. Liam, I am in love with you”, he said and Liam looked shocked at him.

“But, your family, your friends”, Liam began.

“If they are not accepting it, they are neither my family nor my friends. I have not been there the last years for you. But now I want to be there for you. Maybe even for the rest of our live.”

Liam said nothing. He just snuggled up to Lars’s shoulder and started to cry again. Lars just hugged him, hoping to comfort his friend this way. It worked and Liam calmed down after some time.

“What do you say? We forget about the others and start a new live?”

“But Kyle still lives with me”, Liam said.

“And I don’t think I will get him out of the flat, anytime soon.”

“Then move in with me.”

“Here? I don’t think this will work out.”

“Well let’s start with a few days. I guess you need some peace and quiet and sleep. Let’s grab some things and you stay here for a few days. What do you say?”

Liam did not want to say anything and just nodded. So both boys went over to Liam’s flat. Only to find it trashed. Stuff was lying around everywhere. And Kyle was in the little space they shared. He seemed to be sleeping. The aroma of alcohol was in the air.

“What a pig”, Lars thought.

Liam did not say anything. He went straight to his room and began gathering some stuff. Meanwhile Lars was waiting for him to finish. Just as Liam was done gathering his stuff, Kyle woke up.

“Hey, what? A good you are back”, he said in a still drunken voice.

“You should get this shit cleaned up as soon as”, Kyles began.

Lars wanted to step in immidiatly, but Liam was faster.

“No. You made the mess, you clean it up.”

“What? How dare you talking to me like”, he began.

“I talk to you however I want. You are nothing more than a dirty pig that is a sucker for my and Lars socks”, Liam said.

Lars was confused why his friend should say something like this.

“You little. I should punch some sense in you. I will show you what kind of sucker I am for”, Kyle said and approached Liam.

Lars wanted to rush over, but Kyle was still so drunk that he fell to the floor directly in front of Liam’s feet.

“So good”, he moaned and began to sniff the feet of Liam.

“That’s what I thought. Come into my room and then you might have more of my feet”, Liam said and went back to his room.

Kyle crawled after him and Lars decided to take a look as well. There was his boyfriend sitting on his bed and the straight jock Kyle just sniffing away at his feet, while playing with his dick. Lars got hard as well just by watching it. Liam looked at him, smiled and tapped on the bed next to him. Unsure Lars sat down next to him.

“How did you?” he began.

“I guess the site worked. It fulfilled my wish. Now everything I say to Kyle, Nils and Martin will happen.”

Lars felt a tug at his feet and saw Kyle pulling off his shoes to sniff his feet as well.

“Now what do you say, Kyle. Would you like to be at our feet forever?”

“Yes. Oh fuck yes.”

“Well then so be it. After all you are nothing more than our socks.”

With that Kyle’s body began to transform. The fabric of the socks began to engulf him, until he was completely covered. He disappeared and was now Liam’s and Lars’s socks.

“He is pretty comfortable. I guess this was a good decision”, Liam said.

Lars was still a little bit confused but was so turned on by his boyfriend right now, that he did not ask anything.

“What happened? Where am I?” Kyle’s voice suddenly echoed through their brains.

He sounded sobered up.

“You are at our feet”, Liam answered and wiggled his toes.

Kyle moaned with pleasure by the sensation.

“This is impossible. When I am getting out here, I will”, he said between moans.

“Oh shut it. You have two options here, Kyle. The first is to continue threatening me and you will stay as you are right now. Or you can shut up and strike a deal with me”, Liam said.

“What kind of deal?”

“I will tell you if you decide. If you want the deal you will have to fulfil it. No getting out of it.”

“Sure. What kind of sick game you wanna play, faggot?”

“That is what I thought. I am giving you six months. In these six months you will have to make Martin and Nils put on a special pair of socks. If you succeed you will not be turned into a sock again. But you will still be a dirty sock loving slave for us. If you fail, well you will just turn back into our socks. Do we have a deal?”

“As if I could lose this. Everything is better than being a pair of socks.”

“Oh well. Then you will turn back into your old self. Let me and Lars leave the flat in peace and try to carry out the deal. You will be handed the special socks. You just need them to put them on. The rest will happen then.”

Slowly the socks began to lose fabric and Kyle was lying back on the ground naked. He stood up and began covering up.

“Oh stop that. This is nothing to be embarrassed of.”

Kyle took his hands away and now Liam as well as Lars got a good look at him. He was smaller than Lars would have thought.

“Guess he got some compensating to do, for this” Liam pointed at Kyle’s dick and laughed.

Then Liam took two pairs of his socks and handed them to Kyle. Lars and Liam left the flat and Kyle to fulfil his part of the deal.  On their way back, Lars began asking Liam.

“How comes you choose this kind of deal for him?”

“Just imagine. His parents have a lot of cash. This way I can take advantage of him as he did of me.”

“Sure but how do you know, I would like this?”

“Do you not?”

“Well”, Lars began.

“No worries. You will soon see how good this is.”

Lars nodded.

“But anyway, why did Kyle agree to the deal? Was that you’re doing as well?”

“Not really. I guess he just heard, that he will not be our socks and that was all he heard. I am pretty sure he will not make it happen. So he will lose anyway.”

With that both boys stopped with the topic and began talking about other stuff. The weeks went by and the relationship between Liam and Lars grew more and more. Lars even told his parents how it was and they were okay with it. Even offered Liam to stay with them. But he just said that he was just waiting for Kyle to move out, which could be every day. And then the day came. Kyle wrote him, that he had fulfilled his part of the deal. Liam was a little bit surprised, but happy. He told Kyle that he would need to wait until tomorrow for conformation and then he would fulfil his end of the bargain.

A little bit earlier:

Nils, Martin and Kyle were sitting together in Kyle’s room. He had the special socks prepared for them and a plan how he would them make them put on.

“Hey how about a game? If I beat both of you in the next game, you will put on theses socks. Just once and then you can take them off again. Sounds good?”

“What the fuck man? What kind of weird game should this be?”

“Oh come on. It will be fun.”

“Well since you will not beat the both of us, we can play. When you lose you will put them on and lick both our feet”, Nils said challenging and looked at Kyle.

Jokes on you, I was waiting for this. God how much I want to lick those soles, Kyle thought and nodded.

So they began to play. Against the odds, Kyle came out victorious.

“Guess I won. Time for you to”, he began, when Nils and Martin already grabbed the socks and put them on.

“Now happy?” Martin asked.

“Sure. You can take them off now.”

Both boys looks at their feet and began to move their toes. Under the fabric, their own socks had disappeared and now they were only wearing Liam’s socks. Nils wore black socks with paws under his feet. Martin wore the same socks but in white.

“You know, somehow they feel pretty comfortable. I guess I will keep them”, Nils said.

“Sure, why not? I don’t care. They belong to Liam.”

“Ha to the faggot? No wonder. Only more a reason to keep them.”

With that they continued playing. Some hours later Martin and Nils went home. They lived close to each other, so they were driving with one car.

“Never expected to have Kyle making us do something like this”, Nils said.

“Me neither. But you were no better. What kind of idea was this?”

“Oh. If he wants to play, then he should pay for it.”

“Yeah and still we lost. But somehow I don’t know why but I don’t want to take these socks off”, Martin said.

“Me neither. They are so comfy and I don’t know. I cannot really describe it.”

“I know man. Bet yours are not as comfy as mine.”

“Bet mine are even comfier.”

“Never.”

“Try them”, Nils said, after he parked the car.

So both boys began exchanging one sock each and now either of them was wearing one black and one white puppy sock.

“You are right they are equally comfy”, Martin said.

“See? Told you. Well then, see you tomorrow.”

With that both boys parted and went into their rooms.

Nils was on his bed thinking about the day when suddenly he got hard as a rock. Confused he pulled his pants down and looked at his dick.

“Man, why am I so pent up?”

He began playing with himself. But today it felt different. It felt wrong to touch his dick. He could not cum. Not even getting closer to it. He was hard but still it felt bad to play with himself. Curios he took his black sock off and put it over his dick. A totally new sensation erupted from it. He began moaning and now he noticed that he was getting closed to an orgasm. A few minutes later he came. The orgasm was something else. It felt different. His dick even felt different. Spent he was lying there, the sperm filled sock still on his cock. But to his surprise his dick did not go down. He was still hard, begging again for release. So Nils began rubbing again. What he did not notice, was that the sock was now stuck to his dick, while the white one was stuck to his foot. He kept rubbing and rubbing. With each stroke his sperm got pushed into the fabric. Not long and he had another orgasm and filled the sock even more. But his dick still refused to go down, so he continued. After some time, the fabric decided that it was time to claim his new host. So it began spreading around his body. Bit by bit was swallowed by the fabric. Black and white. First his legs. Then his belly, his arms, his hands and at last even his head.

“Oh yes”, was the last thing Nils said and would say for the rest of his live.

His mouth was sealed by the sock fabric and he was nothing more than a black and white sock. The third orgasm sealed his new form and so there was no going back. His body began to hollow out. Everything turned to fabric. It felt so good, having his body rearranged. At last there was only socks left of what had been Nils. Martin had the same experience and he was transformed as well. They blacked out and woke up the next morning.

Oh what a night, Nils thought and tried to get up. His body was not responding.

“What the fuck?���, he asked trying to look around.

Everything was black. Where was he? From the smell he must be fallen into a pile of dirty socks.

“Finally awake, I see”, Liam said and sudden light flooded Nils’s eyes.  

Now he could see why it had been so dark. He had been shoved into a shoe. Liam’s shoe.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Oh nothing special”, Liam responded and suddenly Nils saw Martin.

He was on Liam’s foot. So that would mean, he was on Liam’s foot as well. That would explain the smell.

“Release me this instant”, Nils demanded.

“Oh hush, little sock. You are not only on my feet, but on Lars as well. Trust me you will love this new live. You lost the game against Kyle so it was only fair. Now I can take advantage of you, how you did of me. Enjoy it”, Liam said and Nils wanted to answer, when suddenly Kyle came into view.

He was completely naked and hard as a rock. A hand grabbed Nils and he was pulled closed to Kyles face. Air was forced through his body, cooling him down, giving him a shiver, as Kyle inhaled the scent. Then something wet was dragged along Nils’s body. It was Kyles tongue. Every bit of his body that was touched with the saliva was tingling. Nils felt so good. Even though he had no physical dick anymore he felt hard. Kyle continued with his worshipping and Nils felt like he was cumming over and over.  

“That was the a good whish, darling”, Lars said, looking over to Liam.

“I know. He Kyle after you are done with our feet, go make us breakfast”, he said.

“Anything you like master. But please let me cum”, he begged.

“Maybe after breakfast, if you are a good sock slave.”

With that Kyle continued his worshipping. Nils and Martin lost their last resistance with all the pleasure and Lars was happy that Liam finally got what he deserved. A boyfriend and Kyle, how would do anything for them.

[cosmiclove-heavenstruck]

Did I just... rewrite Life Is Strange: Double Exposure? Not completely, obviously, but after watching game plays and reviews on the game I was just so unhappy that I had to put my thoughts down and it escalated a bit. This is really long (over 5000 words), but I remember watching the trailer for the first time and having such different expectations and such a different story in mind that I felt so disappointed when seeing what the game was actually about. This is a rant-turned-sorta-rewrite... so enjoy!

Quick disclaimer, these are just my ideas and opinions – if you enjoyed the game as it is, that's great <3

Okay look. There's dozens of people on YouTube and whatnot who've already laid out why Life Is Strange: Double Exposure feels lacking. The decisions made have no lasting effect and most times two decisions have the same outcome, even the “major” ones. The police officer/detective Alderman, who could've made for an interesting villain or at least an antagonistic force, dies either way and is then brushed off and forgotten. I remember somebody mentioned that those major decisions are also phrased in a way that pushes the player towards one, for example one time the two options on screen aren’t “Accept” and “Decline” but vice versa.

The dialogue feels off, the relationships are shallow and not developed, and the promoted murder mystery surrounding Safi gets abandoned for a cheap marvel-we're-all-superheros storyline. What I'm also missing is the atmosphere and the world-building. A comparison to the original is inevitable, so lets remember how much we could explore of the world of Arcadia Bay: Blackwell Academy with all the classrooms and the two outdoor spaces, the dorms, the junkyard, the swimming pool, the diner, Chloe's house, Jefferson's bunker... we were able to actually get to know the world and its people which are at the final moment put at risk. In the new game, Max runs around the abandoned bowling hall, the snowy campus, the bar and her house... and that's it. It lacks so much in places that when she is caught in her timelines shifting alternative nightmare reality, they used a motel she once stayed in off-screen. Honestly, at first I thought it was from LIS2.

It never feels like Max is actually part of this world. I so wish the game would've started out with Max actually teaching a class instead of just mentioning on the sidelines Oh yeah, she's a teacher now. It would've been a reasonable nod to the start of the original game and to show how far Max has come, how her art style has developed, the differences (and maybe similarities) to Jefferson's teaching. Have a callback to her selfie moment because one of her students takes one. When Max is done with her class, she could explore (a part) of the college/classrooms and then pick up Safi from one of her classes; maybe we even briefly meet Moses. Just so it's established from the getgo that they are part of the staff and not students/set a clear boundary, because that line is SO unclear in the current game. Sometimes the students address Max as “Ms. Caulfield” other times just as “Max” like they are friends and that's just weird to me. (I never went to college or uni, but I doubt it's normal to just address your teacher or professor with their first name, right?)

So, Max picks up Safi and they drive to the outskirts of town to that abandoned bowling alley. That way, we can see some parts of the town Max chose to stay at (plus some nice music)! Also, let us start on a parking lot outside, not directly inside.

But wait, you might say, what about Chloe? What about the endings of LIS1? Well, this came to me surprisingly easy when I thought a bit about the concept for Double Exposure, which is: timelines. Max no longer jumps back in time or through photos, but she discovers she can switch back and forth between two realities. The “real world” splits when Safi gets shot. So, to answer the question: How cool would the new Life Is Strange game have been if the players can start out in two possible realities depending on their choice of the first game? One reality similar to the one in the current game (storm was prevented, Arcadia Bay survives, Chloe isn’t there – because let’s be honest, the new game never intended to serve as a follow-up to the reality where Chloe lives) and then an opposite one. Instead of the two timelines being created through Safi's death, her death is what causes something to open between the worlds.

I understand bringing Chloe back would be too difficult but then you could argue she drove ahead to where Arcadia Bay used to be to visit her mother's grave over Christmas or something like that, and Max’ plan was to come too as soon as the term ends. They’ve had over fifteen years after the storm, I’m sure they have grown to be able to handle being away from each other for some time. Having them break up off screen just feels like a gut punch to most fans who decided to save her. In another scenario, the sequel would've picked up right after the storm, but that makes it even harder to respect both endings.

So, fast forward fifteen years to Caledon University, Lakeport, Vermont.

The realities can't be too different even though they surely would be, but it’s two possible futures to explore through Max and how she discovers these differences. That would require newspaper articles, text messages, diary entries, similar to Max' Arcadia Bay stuff box in Double Exposure.

When does Max realise she can switch between realities? Obviously, Safi's death still only happens in one and when it happens, realities glitch and overlap from Max (she sees everything in double exposure).

Would Safi die in the reality where Chloe lives or died? Personally I think the first option makes the most sense, putting Max on the spot whether she's going to let another town be destroyed or not. Most happening from the start of Double Exposure up until the glitch should in my opinion be the same, with my additions: Max teaching a class and then exploring the college, meeting with Safi and driving to the abandoned bowling alley, going to the Snapping Turtle, watching the meteors with Moses on the roof. Slight differences would include text messages from Joyce vs. from Chloe, etc. Let’s make it clearer which reality is which going forward:

A (Arcadia Bay survives)

B (Chloe survives)

On the roof, Safi acts strange and keeps staring at her phone – then the phone call. Max is worried and decides to follow Safi. When Max takes the photo of the owl, the realities begin to glitch. Max sees herself, hears the gunshot but sees Safi alive – she goes unconscious, wakes up with a bleeding nose, and runs up to the viewpoint to check on Safi.

Quick sidenote on why i really like the owl. Reddit user NihilistStylist put it quite nicely:

I love that! I think the butterfly in LIS1 was a very obvious but nonetheless amazing choice, and so is the owl, though I think it would've been cool to have anything on campus or in the library so Max (and the player) can learn about totem animals and what an owl may symbolise. (Hey, that would've been a great base for a conversation with Amanda. You know, the girl you're constantly told to snog on the bar counter or else...) 

Now it's important in which reality you began the story. If you started out in reality A, you are now in reality B, and vice versa. The A-to-B!Max finds Safi alive. Safi is confused why Max is making such a fuss and she's angry that she followed her even though she told her not to. As they are fighting, Max receives a text – from her dead best friend Chloe. The B-to-A!Max finds Safi's dead body; she was shot in the back. Max is utterly confused/crying and calls an ambulance. As she puts down her phone, she sees a new text – from Joyce (or somebody else from Arcadia Bay, though I suppose Max would have the most connections with Joyce because of her childhood friendship with Chloe). This establishes the two different realities. I like how in Double Exposure, they differentiate the worlds by coloring. When Safi is alive, the colors are warm, almost golden, uplifting the Christmas spirit. When Safi is dead, the colors are bluish-gray and washed-out. (It reminds me of Greta Gerwig's Little Women and her lighting/coloring choices to differentiate “childhood” and “adulthood”). That needs to be kept.

However, what I can whole-heartely go without is the social media app Crosstalk. It's very annoying and it often doesn't make any sense. Max takes a photo (on her instant camera?), somehow posts that picture on social media (that's the real mystery here, guys) and immediately, everybody and their goddamn dog have responded to the post. Also all the pseudo-deep text posts that serve nothing to the story except for me to roll my eyes at characters I don't even know are so useless. Burn it, I say.

Okay, maybe not burn it. But cut 90% of the rubbish that is posted on there. I doubt most people who just want to play the game don’t even read the posts, they are just annoyed by that red dot telling you eight more people have posted some vague shit in the last hour. I can go on Twitter if I want that.

Who should post on Crosstalk? Whose posts are necessary and interesting to the story?

1. Yasmin, as the head of Caledon, or maybe some official account, especially when it comes to official news about Safi’s death and all.

2. Loretta/GetAClue!. Yes, I know some people find her and her podcast annoying, but I think it could be interesting to read the crazy theories and that’s surely where they’ll be. I’ll get to Loretta in a bit. (Fun Fact: I just googled her character and her last name is ‘Rice’ – did anyone know that?)

3. Abraxas. Hear me out, in the current game, they are about as interesting and mysterious as Vinh is modest, but I think with a bit of work they could become some sort of Pretty Little Liars/Gossip Girl account that exposes secrets.

Otherwise I can’t think of anyone else whose posts I’d care about so… back to the story. 

You noticed I kept those first story points roughly the same. They work, they set up the first big questions: What happened to Safi? And what is happening with Max/the realities? What I disliked maybe the most about Double Exposure (apart from Crosstalk) is that it felt like a setup for another sequel, and not just any sequel, no, a Life Is Strange a là X-(Wo)Men or Marvel Infinity War. I was so confused by the last two chapters (if you can even call them that as they were so empty and short) and what Safi's intentions were, and judging by the stats on the “final” decision I doubt many players understood either. I do not want a power revelation, I do not want a team up against the evil, I do not want after credit scenes revealing the powers of a character you barely get to know.  What I wanted was to solve a murder mystery. Why don't we team up for that? I say Max teams up with Moses and Amanda to solve Safi's murder and for that, she tells them about her powers.

It would've been fun to see Max explore her powers when they get interrogated by the police (which the game either didn't show us or just glossed over like that's not something that happens) plus she could find out more about Maya Okada at the police station — the autopsy found traces of a drug in her blood (we’ll see why later). I wanted to see more of Alderman! He was an antagonist, accusing/judging Moses for having something to do with Safi's death, trying to sabotage the investigations, and to kill him off only shortly after he's introduced was so pointless. It felt more like a show-off, and never led to anything. No one was ever in danger of touching their other version ever again!

Why would Alderman sabotage the investigations/put it off as a suicide? Maybe because Safi's mother Yasmin told him to/payed him to. Caledon University doesn't have the best reputation as it seems, and maybe another suicide would look less bad than an actual murder. I think Max (as well as Moses and Amanda) are certain Alderman is trying to hide something, and maybe after overhearing a phonecall with Yasmin at the police station, they decide to break into Yasmin's office.

For that, they need to distract Vinh. Max can tell him the truth (depending on how well earlier conversations went, Vinh is willing to play along and let them in or threatens to snitch on them), lie to him or threaten to spill a secret she found out in the other timeline (that he and Safi dated but she broke up with him and he is therefore more likely to be a suspect in the investigations, that his election to become the head of Abraxas was manipulated, something like that...). The three get access to Yasmin's office. Moses is so nervous he decides to stand guard in case Yasmin (or Vinh, based on the earlier made decision) comes back. Max and Amanda find transfers from Yasmin to Alderman as well as Mails, confirming their suspicion.

And while we're talking about Vinh: His weird thing to turn every conversation with Max sexual needs to go. They work at the same place, he had something with Max' best friend, there's never any indication as to why Vinh does this in the first place and no, later revealing he has daddy issues or some shit does not explain that. The only time his flirty personality sorta works is during the smash/pass game but that also feels out of place. And by the way: Whether or not you are playing the B-reality!Max, I don't need her to have a love interest. This is about finding out who murdered her friend, not whether Max wants to smash the bartender or the cult leader. Back to the story.

They also find: A mail history of Yasmin and Gwen, arguing about Safi's failed book deal. Up til that point, they believed it was Gwen who sabotaged the book deal, but it seems like Yasmin was the one who did not want it to be published. Maybe Safi let some things slide when they were on the roof watching the meteors, which led to Max snooping around Gwen's office. I think that should take place before Max teams up with anyone. She finds mails in which Gwen first praises Safi's book to the publishers, then later cancels the deal. So it seems like Gwen let it fail, but Max doesn't know why until Yasmin's office.

When Max' leaves Gwen's office, she gets ambushed by Loretta. I like Loretta! She is interesting and not one of those polished, perfect characters. she is difficult and nosy and this pretend-detective, sticking her nose in other people's business (a bit like Max, only that she's less secretive about it). Loretta confronts Max about snooping. Max can either give her a satisfying logical answer as to why she was in Gwen's office (school work? picking something up for Gwen?), make a compromise that she gives Loretta a short statement for her podcast and therefore Loretta doesn't tell Gwen, or tell Loretta to stay out of her business which will lead to Loretta (maybe anonymously) telling Gwen. In that case, Gwen loses trust in Max and Loretta grows suspicious. If Max is nice to Loretta, she will later help them with the clues she found out when researching for her podcast.

Back to Yasmin's office. Amanda and Max find a phone locked away and manage to unlock it. There isn't much on there, except for an anonymous chat hinting at a love affair. They use nicknames. Max checks the phone in both realities. In A, the affair seems to have hit rock-bottom, Yasmin hasn't responded to the other person's messages within days; on the day of Safi's death, the messenger asked Yasmin to meet them at “their spot”. In B, the affair is apparently still going on. But who is the other person? Amanda says it sounds like another professor. Max checks Yasmin's calendar and notices most days have a few hours blocked around the afternoon. She takes a picture. 

Outside, someone's coming back. If Max talked to Moses before entering the office/made him more confident, he manages to distract the person and take them to his office. If Max didn't talk to him, she and Amanda have to escape through the window. I think it’d be funny if someone from Abraxas saw them and posted about it on Crosstalk.

Since the anonymous chatter seems to be another teacher, Max needs to check when which professor has their consultation hours and when they are out of the office. Max checks the calendars at the teachers lounge. Gwen and Lucas both regularly have afternoon hours blocked for private reasons, but since Max knows about Gwen's wife, she decides to go after Lucas. She finds out the nickname used in the chat also appears in Lucas' highly praised novel — Yasmin and Lucas have (or had) an affair.

The difference between the two realities:

A (Safi is dead): The affair is over. Lucas wears his wedding ring, but is fighting with his wife or his son over the phone, maybe even tries to get back with Yasmin. Yasmin tries to cover it up, further sabotaging the investigations since that would ruin Caledon's reputation even more.

B (Safi is alive): The affair is still going on. Lucas also still wears a wedding ring when Max sees him. He seems to be on good terms with his wife and son while juggling the affair.

In the game, if you look at the cherry blossom tree on campus, you find out about Maya Okada. It's established she was a writer, Safi's friend, and killed herself some time prior to the start of the game. But why? I like the idea that Lucas was her professor and stole her work, pretending to have written it himself. It’s just that Lucas being an asshole isn’t really enough of a reason to me to steal an entire manuscript and ruin his student’s life.

I think Maya found out about the affair, but before she could tell Safi, Lucas threatened her to stay quiet and stole her book. It broke Maya and then we all know what happens. Why is it so bad that Maya found out about the affair? Well, on one side, she is best friends with Safi and would’ve told her, and on the other side, I think she was part of Abraxas and therefore could’ve spilled the secret on Crosstalk.

In my mind, Safi and Maya were both part of Abraxas. Only that Safi was kicked out after her relationship/fling with Vinh. Maybe she broke his heart, maybe she was trouble, maybe they were afraid her mother would put a stop to it.

Safi doesn't accept that Maya just killed herself for seemingly no reason (they were best friends, she would've known if something was up) and when Lucas' book gets published, she immediately recognizes it as Maya's work. She confronts Lucas, she tells her mother, she even begs Vinh to post about it, but she has no real evidence. The only copy left of Maya's work is with Lucas'. Safi's only escape is writing; her work is very autobiographical though poetic, and Yasmin can tell what it's about. Gwen has had assumptions, too. Max finds Maya's old texts in Lucas' office, confirming that he did steal it word for word. She also finds a gun locked away in a safe alongside the documents.

I’ve been mentioning Abraxas here and there so maybe let’s talk about them now. In Double Exposure, they are blowing smoke. Max comparing them to the Vortex Club is laughable. So how about this: Max gets ahold of Reggie’s mysterious box and has to solve the riddles to get inside. It should be more difficult than just turning the box and pressing some buttons, which would be a great opportunity to explore the campus more. Now, what’s inside? A note with a place and a time for a secret Abraxas meeting for new members. Max tried to talk to Vinh about Maya but he rebuffed her, so she decides to go to the secret meeting to try her luck there.

Abraxas should be some sort of cult/secret society and really pretentious. I’m talking rituals, cloaks, matching tattoos, drug use. Maya was deep in that cult and when she was so upset and confused about Lucas’ stealing her book and all, she went to Vinh/Abraxas for help. During a ceremony/ritual, she overdosed and died. Vinh blames himself for Maya’s death and never told Safi. Caledon only ever officially stated that Maya killed herself.

At that point, Max, Amanda and Moses decide that Max needs to talk to the Safi who's still alive. Both Safis had a similar state of knowledge about what went on with Lucas and Maya. Max can decide whether she wants to let Safi know about the affair between her mother and Lucas AND whether she wants to tell Safi about what Vinh had to do with Maya’s death. This affects Safi's trust in Max but also her rage/longing for revenge. Still, they do not know who shot Safi. Safi points out that nobody's tried to kill her in this reality yet, so there must've been something her other version found out that made her the target. She says if she found out anything, she surely wrote it down or kept the evidence in her house (or apartment? We never even find out where she lives, Jesus.).

Max switches back and they search Safi's place. Turns out the Safi from reality A found out about the affair and, upon receiving backlash from her mother, wrote a mail to Lucas' wife with her evidence. But she didn't use her own name. She used her mothers, pretending it's Yasmin who wrote to the wife.

Max, Moses and Amanda gather all their evidence and review them at Max’ house. Loretta comes over because she saw the missing cat in Max’ living room and she’s investigating that case. She sees what they are doing and wants to help. They suspect her of only having her true crime podcast in mind, but Loretta says that the students deserve to know what happened and she has been secretly investigating Maya Okada’s case. She found out from whom Abraxas is buying their drugs and how they can reveal so many secrets.

Max confronts Yasmin, who didn't know until now who leaked the affair. She admits she told Vinh to help cover any rumors about it and to find out who might've gotten wind of the affair. Max digs deeper, wanting to figure out what Yasmin knows about Safi's death, but she says she doesn't know who did it. Max asks about the affair and the “spot” mentioned in the texts. Yasmin says she hasn't even looked at the phone since before Safi's death and breaks down. The last point of call is Lucas. Max, Moses, Loretta and Amanda decide they should lure him to the viewpoint (the alleged “spot”) via a message over Yasmin's secret phone.

Outside, a storm is raging. It’s snowing heavily. Max recognised it immediately, knowing she has once again gone to far with her powers. She wants to abort the mission (Moses and Yasmin are in favor of this), but Loretta and Amanda say they just need to find Lucas. Surprisingly, he comes to the viewpoint despite the weather.

At first, he’s defensive, then Lucas confesses he was the one to fire the shot, but he thought it was Yasmin. Because of the snow and the dark, he mistook the daughter for the mother. He wanted revenge on Yasmin for destroying his family (that’s his way of viewing it, saint Lucas of course never did anything wrong… ha ha) and thought if she was dead, Safi would stop trying to get the truth about his novel out. Max says they will call the police on him, but Lucas says they have no evidence and pulls out his gun. Loretta comes in and says that they actually got evidence of everything as well as his confession and reveals a recorder for her podcast.

Lucas points his gun at Loretta. Max rips up her hand to stop him and freezes time just like she did in LIS1 when Kate tried to jump off the roof. She manages to take the gun from Lucas’ hand, then the freezing stops. Loretta sacks the evidence, but Lucas is fighting Max, pushing her over the edge of the viewpoint. She can hear the others calling her name, but also the voices of other people like Chloe, Joyce, Jefferson, Victoria, etc.

Then she gets sucked right into the storm.

Okay, wait. Let’s pause for a second.

One big problem my version has that is also present in Double Exposure: What about the other Max? I think in Double Exposure, there isn’t even another Max. The doppelgänger turns out to be Safi, but I’ve cut out her superpowers because I don’t think they elevate the story in any way. I think Max creates these two universes because of her grief and so she is the one variable standing between the realities that later merge into one.

But in my version, there have to be two versions of Max. One from reality A and one from reality B. And which one you play with depends on what ending you chose in LIS1. Let’s try to make sense out of that:

In the beginning, I said: The A-to-B!Max finds Safi alive while the B-to-A!Max finds Safi's dead body. Both saw Safi die in the glitch before they were thrust into the other universe. The gunshot was heard in both realities, which is why the police is called in both realities. I think I mostly wrote from the perspective of the B-to-A!Max, because she witnesses the murder hand-first and is therefore in the midst of the investigations. She has to solve the murder. Meanwhile A-to-B!Max has to confide what she saw to someone, possibly Moses, first. She has to solve a murder that did not happen in this world, but did happen in the other. Both have to solve why they changed places. Both want to get back to their own world… right?

What needs to be established is that Max can run into her other self and that other characters will be confused, saying things like “Weren’t you just at the Snapping Turtle?” or “Didn’t you say you wanted to go home?”. That will lead to more mess/weird conversation. It would be so cool to have a task in the game where you have to hide from the other self in order to get somewhere, similar like Max and Chloe sneaking around the swimming pool to not run into David.

So, what happens in reality B? Yasmin and Lucas are still having an affair, so they cannot convince Yasmin to text Lucas to meet her at the viewpoint for a confrontation. Either way, Lucas is busy that night: He wants to make an announcement about the screen adaptation of “his” novel at the Snapping Turtle (similar to what happens in Double Exposure). Amanda, Moses, Loretta and Max want to expose him.

Now it matters what the other Max told Safi. If the other Max told Safi everything, Safi will not only expose that Lucas stole Maya’s manuscript, but also the affair and Maya’s overdose caused by Vinh and Abraxas. If the other Max didn’t tell her about the affair or Abraxas fault, Safi of course won’t mention it. Lucas and Safi have a back and forth conversation until Safi says that it was Max who told her everything. Lucas storms off stage, grabs Max’ arm and asks her to go outside with him to talk while he secretly shows her he has a gun. She has no choice but to follow him outside onto the terrace. Here, a storm rages as well. Lucas confronts her, wants to know how much she knows and pushes her up to the railing.

The others follow them outside. A close up shot on Max’ face, trying to get Lucas to put down his gun, until Safi interrupts her and points at the storm. It’s really close. In that careless moment, Loretta tries to get ahold of the gun. The gun fires. Lucas pushes Max over the railing. She, just like her other self, gets sucked into the storm.

We need a realities-glitching-nightmare sequence in the game and now it’s time for that. I don’t like that in Double Exposure, it takes place in a motel we have never seen before. Yes, Max has lived a life in those over fifteen years since the first game, but this has no meaning to the player. What I did like about that motel scene is how more and more stuff turned into paintings. It’s a nice illusion and when Max tries to find her way out of the following locations, those optical illusions should definitely stay: Max’ classroom, the bowling alley, the Snapping Turtle, the Abraxas’ location and finally (and here, I’m allowing myself to stray from what I just said) a mirror labyrinth. Max sees dozens of versions of herself in those mirrors until one doesn’t follow her movements. Say hi to your other self, Max! They talk for a bit until the other Max touches the mirror, saying they can make everything go back to normal.

I don’t know if this is big enough for a final decision, but it’s what I’ve come up with. Max can either switch back or stay. It’s a second chance so to say. She got a glimpse of the future she could have had if she decided differently back then in Arcadia Bay. Does she still stand with that? Does she miss [Chloe | Arcadia Bay] so much that she is willing to stay in the reality she previously gave up? Does she miss Safi so much she wants to stay in the reality she’s alive or can she leave her?

[ STAY ] or [ GO ]

[ STAY ] The Max you play doesn’t touch the mirror. She turns back. The Max on the other side is very upset (“NO! COME BACK!”) and hammers against the mirror, but it’s too late. The “portal” is locked, they cannot switch back and forth between realities anymore.

A-to-B!Max is now in the world where Chloe and Safi are alive, but Arcadia Bay got destroyed.

B-to-A!Max is now in the world where Chloe and Safi are both dead, but Arcadia Bay is alive.

[ GO ] The Max you play touches the mirror and through that contact, they get thrown back into their respective worlds. The “portal” is locked, they cannot switch back and forth between realities anymore.

Each Max is back in the world she belongs in. What happened while Max was inside the storm? What are the differences between the final confrontation?

First of all, the storm is gone. Everyone in the area has a headache and some memories are mixed up, just like in Double Exposure. No one remembers that Max switched between timelines and she does not tell anyone.

Universe A (Safi is dead): The confrontation happens at the viewpoint. Amanda and Loretta are holding Lucas to the ground; Moses is calling the police. Loretta has Lucas’ confession on her tape, has the murder weapon, and they all saw that he tried to kill Max as well.

Lucas gets arrested. They all have to testify. Yasmin dissolves Abraxas before having to resign from her post. Max can decide whether or not she wants to give the police the evidence on Vinh and Abraxas. If she does, the police decides the evidence not valid enough, but Vinh gets suspended*. Loretta makes a long podcast episode and writes an article on the steal, earning an award. Alderman gets suspended for obstruction of investigations and corruption.

*The case will not be reopened. Owning the drug is not a direct indication that Vinh/Abraxas were the ones who gave Maya the drug. But the use of drugs on campus is still illegal, so he doesn’t get to keep his job.

Max celebrates an early Christmas with Moses, Amanda and Loretta at the Snapping Turtle before driving to Arcadia Bay.

Universe B (Safi is alive): The confrontation happens at the Snapping Turtle. If Max managed to talk Lucas into lowering the gun before Loretta grabbed it, the fired shot was aimed at Loretta. She dies. (Sorry! But somebody has to die!) If Lucas refused to lower the gun, his shot was aimed at Max but because of the storm, the bullet misses. Amanda and Safi are holding Lucas to the ground; Moses is calling the police. Lucas never confessed but they have enough evidence.

Only if Loretta was shot, Lucas gets arrested. In both cases, his awards get taken away, the book won’t be renewed and Maya’s manuscript gets published. Also his wife divorces him. If Loretta lives, she makes a long podcast episode and writes an article on the steal, earning an award. Max can decide whether or not she wants to give the police the evidence on Vinh and Abraxas. If she does, the police decides the evidence not valid enough, but Vinh gets suspended. (Reasoning explained above)

Max celebrates an early Christmas with Safi, Moses, Amanda and Loretta at the Snapping Turtle before leaving to meet up with Chloe.

I don’t know if this story is enough to split it into five chapters, scrolling back I think it might be four:

Chapter One: Introduction to Max’ new life, ending with Safi’s mysterious death / cliffhanger: Max noticing she must’ve switched realities Chapter Two: Investigations at the police station and at various offices / cliffhanger: Yasmin and Lucas have or had an affair Chapter Three: Maya Okada and Abraxas / cliffhanger: Abraxas killed Maya Chapter Four: Confrontation, Nightmare and End

Splitting them further would make them feel shorter and more empty.

Let me know what you think!

[puhpandas]

I still see fans use the glamrocks dismantlings against greg! which is crazy cuz the game makes us do it and we’re never faced with an alternative ever. It’s not like greg was presented with a faz wrench, realized he could reboot the bots, then turn around and said nahh. He had maybe 3-4 hours left on the clock and I doubt any kid could make a plan to reboot 3 violent robots while also worrying about vanny within that amount of time

Their dismantlings, while sad in ruin, feels like a cheap attempt at glamrock angst when the glamrock angst should’ve been focused on how FE treats/neglects their robots. Why are we blaming the child over the greed/carelessness of men that put him, and everyone else, in that situation? Sotm better pull through and show how evil big corporations are so fans can parallel it with FE smh

YEAH I've actually never really thought about that second part. I think that's actually why I was so miffed by it in ruin and it didnt hit, and I love the glamrocks so it really should have!! it felt too cheap and thrown in, like there wasnt any buildup. and jtop literally SAID in the john interview that they put in chicas rebeakening as fan service to be able to feel that satisfaction at fixing her. he pretty blatantly either said or implied idk which but pretty sure it's the former that it was so you could fix what Gregory had done, which is. kind of strange

I understand it from an outside player perspective, bc it's like everybody felt bad breaking them, but I feel like this wasnt the way to go about it, especially because Gregory himself was not even involved when they were being fixed. theres nothing about the actual situation being expanded upon, just one part being put back into place by the "kind" child to fix what the "other" child had done

I think that's why I was miffed by cassie and roxys relationship too and it didnt hit like Gregory and freddys. it felt so sanitized, like, the whole point of roxy is that she isnt at all what a perfect character for the brand would be like and shes insecure and mean and lashes out, but then as soon as cassie finds her under the forklift shes suddenly back to being a soulless entertainer robot that's nothing but kind? her voice acting LITERALLY turns robotic!! it's like her entire personality was stripped away for her to be more likeable, even if that wasnt the intention, and it just didnt make it feel genuine

that's what it feels like with 'fixing' chica too. theres no real genuineness to it, it's just slapping a bandaid on it and not talking about what really matters about the situation. PLUS in the process it just paints Gregory who's already in an atrocious light from another event from the exact same game in an even worse light, especially with how jtop implied it in the interview that he was the "bad" to Cassies "good".

it feels like less to actually make you care or think about chica being sentient trapped in this building and broken and STILL under the virus and just. heres a bandaid, hope you guys feel better about (gregory) breaking them! isnt cassie a sweetheart for doing this? (theres an unlike unsaid there)

no hate to cassie or anything /gen. I have zero problem with her, it's just how it all as a whole was handled. this feels like a mistake theyve been making a lot recently with focusing on the wrong things. not focusing on the sentient Fazbear ent characters and how they each dont fit into their boxes for one reason or another and instead just the "look roxy and cassie are friends and shes back to acting like her animatronic performer self and now you as the player get to experience satisfaction but nothing about the situation actually changes". it's like this with mimic too, where they keep focusing on the boring mortal parts of mimic of it just being an old ass rusty robot instead of the glitchtrap AI virus parts of it, which are the actual dangerous scary parts that make it feel powerful and hard to beat in any capacity

ur so right about the Fazbear ent stuff not being focused on enough, especially since it's one of the most prominent amazing storylines in sb!! Bonnie in ruin should have served that, but it didn't, it just added more kindle to the fire in our own minds to make the story better. they didnt actually talk about the implications of bonnie being there and dead and phased out but it's there. the implication is good enough I guess, but it's just another thing about how it could have been expanded upon. like cassie could have had a little dialogue putting it into perspective like "omg he was here the whole time? it looked like someone killed him! it's so unfair that they just phased him out like that :(" or something then boom, makes the player think about it

ur so right about all the things u said in ur ask about the "glamrock angst" instead of focusing on the actual sad parts of their story that are AMAZING. especially since they're framing them being broken as the most terrible worst thing to ever happen to them and the ONLY bad thing when it was done by Gregory and not the mistreatment and abuse from Fazbear ent that made Freddy abandon the place (bc of bonnie) which was done BY the company. its framing Gregory as being the bad one twice in the same game when he didnt need another player while Fazbear ent, who is already the culprit of the glamrocks story that isnt expanded upon enough, isnt emphasized so players only focus on Gregory breaking them as being their worst fates

[xmads-omensx]

What Happened To Your Band? - Dougie's Version

Requested

Word count:1,074

content warnings: angst, swearing

Dougie ran off the small stage with a smile on his face, handing his bass back to Stuart, his tech, before heading back to the green room to meet with the others.

Jane Eyre’s Journal had just performed their fifth show as a band, and it had gone great.

The small crowd in the even smaller pub seemed to have loved their songs, which were largely covers as they hadn’t really written many of their own yet.

Production wasn’t cheap in London, so recording was difficult without the private studio that Dougie was used to, or the budget to travel and record somewhere else.

Tyler, the drummer, was keen to get an EP out in the new year, but Dougie couldn’t envision that happening until closer to the summertime.

Songwriting took a while, and the only thing Dougie wanted to write about was McFly, which the rest of the guys didn’t want to record.

Fair enough, as they had nothing do with Dougie’s previous band and were much too young to understand the gravity of their breakup.

Tyler, Jesse and Matty were all in their early twenties whilst Dougie was in his mid-thirties.

He had met them by chance outside of his local gym.

They had been looking for a bass player who had previous band experience since they were new at the musician game.

At the time, McFly had freshly broken up, and Dougie was looking for an outlet.

His life had been stagnant.

Nothing was happening.

He was struggling.

The guys weren’t on speaking terms and Dougie had never felt lonelier.

Gi had been in touch to check in with him, but he hadn’t heard from the others.

The rest of Jane Eyre’s Journal didn’t really care.

They knew Dougie wasn’t dealing with it amazingly, but as long as they had their award-winning bass player, they didn’t really care how he was feeling.

Jane Eyre’s Journal.

Dougie hated the name. He didn’t understand why they had chosen that name, especially since he was convinced that at least half of the band were illiterate.

Jesse had told Dougie they had chosen that name to make themselves seem more intellectual and interesting, when in actuality, they weren’t

They were a terrible band if Dougie was being honest.

Matty didn’t have the same energy that Danny did.

Tyler wasn’t as funny on stage as Harry was.

Jesse didn’t have the quick wit that Tom did.

Dougie missed them.

Suddenly, the green room door burst open, the rest of the band piling into the small room.

“That was fucking sick!” Matty gasped.

“We fucking smashed it mate.” Tyler agreed, high fiving Jesse.

Dougie smiled at them. “It was fucking ace!”

“Ace?” Jesse laughed. “God sometimes I forget how old you are.”

The rest of the guys laughed.

Dougie hated how separated he was from the rest of the band.

It was something he could never change, and he would just have to get used to it.

“Hey, why don’t we work on that new song when we get to the hotel?” Tyler suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Matty agreed.

“Song?” Dougie questioned.

“Oh yeah, we bounced some ideas around the other day while Jesse was at his girlfriends, and you were at the gym. It wasn’t planned or anything, we were just bored.” Tyler shrugged.

“Yeah that sounds good. It would be good to get some songs going.” Dougie said, scratching the back of his neck.

The walk back to the hotel was cold.

Frost lightly dusted the pavement, making the walk slippery too.

It didn’t take as long as he expected to get to the hotel.

Grabbing the room key out of his backpack, Jesse led the way to the room he was sharing with Matty, which was a small, mildly run-down room on the third floor.

Ironic.

Sitting on the creaky bed, Dougie allowed himself to momentarily reminisce the early days touring with McFly.

He would always room with Harry or Tom. Danny snored too much.

He missed those days.

But since he was not on speaking terms with the guys, he would never get that back.

The breakup had been rough. Much rougher than their brief break following the McBusted split.

But Dougie had to move on.

He needed to.

“So here it is.” Tyler said, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of his backpack and laying it on the floor in front of them.

The top of the page read ‘Eternal Mourning’.

“Bit heavy don’t you think?” Dougie questioned.

“Well, we’re thinking about switching up genres.” Tyler shrugged.

“You can’t just switch genres without talking to the rest of us.” Dougie said, mildly irritated.

“We did?” Matty said with a confused expression.

“No, Matty. We talked about that when we were at mine. Doug wasn’t there.” Jesse added.

Dougie was used to them hanging out without him and making decisions without him.

“Okay, but when were you going to tell me?” He asked.

“Now. We’re telling you now. Happy?” Tyler said, sounding irritated.

Dougie just sighed. It wasn’t like he was going to get much of a say in the matter anyway.

The three of them began discussing lyrics, whilst Dougie just listened.

He knew the others wouldn’t take his ideas into consideration.

The thought he was too “pop-minded” as Tyler had put it.

“That reminds me of this hook we did back when we were touring Motion In The Ocean.” Dougie began to explain before he was cut off.

“Okay, look Doug. We don’t care about what you used to do with your old band. You’re in this band now. Deal with it. Move on.” Tyler snapped.

Silence filled the room.

Dougie wasn’t sure what to say to that.

After all, Tyler was right.

“But it’s still a good idea to-“ Dougie began.

“Shut up mate. Stop talking about McFly, it’s just getting sad. You’re a thirty seven year-old man hanging out in a band with a bunch of twenty one year-olds. Go get a fucking life.” Matty sighed angrily.

That’s when it hit him.

He wasn’t in McFly anymore.

It didn’t exist.

After 21 years, it had ended.

He was raised in that band.

He became a man in that band.

Harry had taught him how to shave.

Danny had taught him his best pick-up lines.

Tom helped him set up his first bank account.

He did everything with them.

Now he didn’t have them.

McFly was gone.

[swemtpotamtam]

Yikesss, bioware taking away all the previous choices from the whole series and limiting them to only 3 choices (all of which are trespasser-only) is wild in the worst way possible <:D

The excuse for it being "we don't want new players to get overwhelmed" is weird too 'cause they could've gone with a default world state thing, just like they did with Inquisition if you didn't have saves/Keep info from previous games.

Like, are you telling me that all those things don't matter? Why? Because we're not in Southern Thedas? That's weird 'cause the world is, you know, interconnected. The decisions made in Southern Thedas would still reflect on the Northern part.

I understand that writing all of those things in, tying it all together, is hard but I don't believe that it was straight-up impossible. And using the "new players won't understand" excuse is just.. cheap? People aren't dumb. People can catch on to little details as they go, you don't need to know everything from previous titles to experience the story and enjoy it. In actuality, it gives new players the incentive to go back and play the whole series from Origins to Inquisition, and then replay Veilguard after they've seen everything to make everything click even better now that they possess the knowledge from those older entries.

I just... I dunno. It feels wrong to even just say that the whole of Inquisition can be narrowed down to: 1) who your inky was (race and gender) and who they romanced, 2) if they wanted to hunt down or redeem Solas and 3) if you disbanded the Inquisition or kept it around. What about other choices? What about who became the Divine? Sure, it might not affect Tevinter or any other Northern kingdoms but come on, it still has ties to all those other areas. No Well of Sorrows stuff? That was such a cool and mysterious detail, with no resolution in Trespasser as well. What about Hawke? What about Hero of Ferelden? No mentions at all? Wild 'cause there's a chance that Hawke went to Weisshaupt and also Hero of Ferelden is part of the Grey Warden history. And does this mean that Kieran isn't a thing?

I know that there's still a whole month ahead before we find out everything but this just puts such a sour taste in my mouth.

The game that was all about player agency and consequences just suddenly ditches this whole system.

Edit: I might come around on this whole thing if Veilguard proves that there is a reason why they cut down on choices carrying over. Perhaps they decided to do this because it really is a more secluded story, kinda like it's own little thing with no outright outside connections aside from some cameos. I don't know yet.

But I will likely revisit this post, adding on to it my thoughts and opinions after I get my hands on the game and complete it at least once.

[meyerlansky]

what is special about civilisation vi? (i really love strategy games and i want to know if it's worth buying during the sale :)

tl;dr ABSOLUTELY worth the sale price, which is, holy shit, 95% off? that's SO STEEP, literally everyone on the planet should buy it right now

uh that totally threw off my train of thought, that is. so cheap. ANYWAY. with the caveat that i haven't played previous civ games, and with the second caveat that i am the type of person to sink hundreds of hours into a single game as a matter of course [please do not ask how many hours i have in patho 2, dwarf fortress, or crusader kings 3], there is something REALLY addictive about the gameplay loop in civ vi, and the many varied routes to victory opens up so much potential for replay value. i also really enjoy that there's built-in challenges in the achievement list [in steam, at least] for every civilization, in addition to the "win with x civ" chievos—they're fun hints for different ways to play a given civ that's not necessarily what that civ is suited for. i'm thinking specifically of the genghis/mongolia bonus achievement:

as fits his whole shtick, genghis is suited to an early/mid-game domination victory, so going for the cultural victory instead opens up other options, ones a player might not think to try were there not a reward for doing so! there's a lot of stuff like this in the bonus achievements, and it definitely makes the game even more fun for me

the gameplay itself is... i think if someone doesn't have experience with strategy/4X games, there's a bit of a learning curve, but i did find the in-game hints system pretty useful for my first few runs. if you DO have experience with those kinds of games, i get the sense civ vi isn't very far outside the expected format/play style, so it should feel pretty familiar. firaxis has also put out a LOT of updates; they've almost tripled the amount of leaders playable since launch, added new modes, and introduced different playsets you can turn on or off at your leisure. a lot of the DLC is on sale as well as the base game, and the total's pretty steep if you're buying every pack, but that 95% off base game is doing. a LOT of heavy lifting. good god that's such a discount.

[saintjosie]

WAIT YOUR EYELINER IS SO CUTE WHAT (DROP THE TUTORIAL!!)

Also where did you or your spouse get the my melody plush in your pinned post? Asking for a friend

jess won the plush in a crane game so you’re probably SoL there

side note: jess is one of the most gifted crane game players i’ve ever seen and she regularly walks up to one, puts in a quarter, and comes back with a prize and it’s absolutely insane.

i’m assuming you’re talking about this eyeliner?

idk how to do makeup tutorials but as best i can describe, there’s a couple of things going on here.

i will add the caveat that this works for me bc of my asian almond eye shape and a lot of what i do is specifically for asian monolids

first, i am wearing false lashes. my eyelashes are good length but having the monolid and asian eye fold means that any eyeliner that goes into the fold essentially disappears when my eyes are at rest and then is wayyyy too dark when my eye brows go up. i use a very subtle false lash that looks like i’m wearing mascara instead of mascara because i’ve found that the band of the lash helps fill in the eyelid fold without using eyeliner.

second, nyx epic ink liner. waterproof, drugstore so it’s cheap and can find it anywhere, and comes with a nice thin tip, great for doing a subtle wing.

i very subtly line the inside corner of my eye all the way out to the outside corner of my eye, while being careful not to over line the fold of my eyelid too much. then i extend it ever so slightly into a wing that goes juuust outside the corner of my eye.

the trick to this particular style of eyeliner comes from the outside corner of the wing relative to your eye shape. i have an almond shaped eye that slants slightly upward, so the outside corner of the wing follows that natural shape and the corner of the wing comes out just slight past where my eye would if it continued in that shape. it accentuates the shape of my eye without being over the top. it might take a couple of tries to get the shape just right because if you go too high, it ends up looking like a wing proper instead of your natural eye shape and if you go too low, it looks like you have sad eyes. both are completely fine styles but just isn’t what i’m going for when i’m going for a more natural look. this is mostly how i do my eyeliner when i’m going out but don’t want to go full glam.

to contrast, if i am going full glam, i’ll use a much heavier false lash but i’ll bring the wing out more and use a fun shape. but the trick is that i’m still following the natural shape of my eye with the wing.

here’s a pic of a more complex eyeliner for contrast (throwback to my blonde era). note that the wing still follows the natural shape of my eye and ends where the corner of my brow shape is so create these really satisfying lines.

damn i’m fucking hot

[trickstarbrave]

exploring elder scrolls lore is a lot like playing historian and theologian. its interesting, complex, and contradictory in ways many media tries and fails to create realism. it is told primarily through unreliable narrators, in game texts that contradict each other as much as they agree, with varying opinions and perspectives you are tasks to sort through and come to your own conclusion on often enough. sure, skyrim drops the ball sending you on infinite annoying fetch quests and plots that feel like they dont even effect the world around you and killing a god has about the same weight as getting a cool sword, but there is still some meat behind the bland surface they couldn’t quite scrape out despite their best efforts.

the problem with it i find, like most fantasy stories and epic tales, is that is male focused.

“but brave” people cry “female characters do things all the time!” this is true, we do actually have more substantial female characters in the elder scrolls who are just as important as their male counterparts. sure their male counterparts are usually not important at all, but there is equality in there. and you can be bi presumably because bethesda couldnt figure out how to code any other sexuality in the game. but what i mean by “male focused” is that most of the lore and mythos we get concerns male heroes, battles, and war. there are politics sure, but mostly things like religion and battles. the importance of textiles is never considered, different cuisines are afterthoughts, fashion is relegated mostly to armor and cheap trinkets for you to enchant. if it does not exist to further grand tales of combat, is largely ignored, and this is increasingly more and more the norm in the elder scrolls.

it isnt entirely non-existent. if you go looking you can find bits and pieces. but most things presumed to be “women’s work” are largely ignored despite making up most of daily life. weaving isn’t a skill you can learn when historically we do see people wear armor made of linen, but you can sure mine and melt down metal, something also mundane and usually boring, because blacksmithing and mining are seen as a traditionally masculine jobs. so saying “ugh no one wants to spin thread” doesn’t exactly hold up when its equally as boring to make dozens of iron ingots and iron daggers to level up smithing.

it’s also just a shame because (and this is touched upon more in older games at least) what clothes people wear can tell a lot about their culture, background, and class. it could be used for stealth, for blending in, and if you are dressed incorrectly you look like and are treated like an outsider. how food varies region by region shows what food they have available to them, what they produce, what goods are more expensive, and also can talk about background and class. riften and solitude should not be eating largely the same food just with different mead. nor should they be mostly dressed the same. these things add richness and complexity to a world that is now largely ignored because who gives a shit just pick up a weapon and fight that’s all that really matters.

skyrim in lore has sheep. of course it does, because they live in a cold climate with a limited growing season, they have devote more time for crops to feed their people and not on textile crops like you might see in warmer climates with longer growing seasons. yet you dont see any sheep, just goats. you don’t see shepherds, or hear about them. you dont see piles of wool, or women spinning thread by the fire or weaving. you don’t see them dyeing yarn or fabric or sewing clothes. even if you don’t want to make your player do it as a game mechanic you could have it be present in the world as a logical part of the setting just as you have npcs working in fields. instead clothes just magically appear in chests and other loot cabinets and are relatively worthless except to enchant despite fabric being a very expensive, labor intensive product to make. it just pops into existence anonymously, largely unimportant and uninteresting. they always say very little, and mean nothing unless you want to play dress up or enchant for a spell caster.

it’s not like the designers have never had to think about these things before. they have, at least subconsciously. fabric is still very clearly heavy and wool. it contains classic pop culture “viking” imagery (including some that are uhhhh very not historically accurate like men wearing women’s broaches), but that’s about it. why they dress like this is unanswered. how their ancestors dressed isn’t really important. how they vary from location to location is also not important, because large swaths of land obvious wear and eat the exact same thing, that’s why there is no regional food or styles of dress across all of europe /sarcasm

anyways throw a dog a fucking bone every now and then i am tired of constantly looking for lore that isnt about fighting and killing and breaking shit. what did they wear and why, how did jewelry evolve, what dyes do they have accessible to them and how rare are they, fabric weaving, gossiping, give me it back so the world feels slightly more alive.